Samsung Galaxy A5
Specifications
Pricecompare
Average of 29 scores (from 39 reviews)
Reviews for the Samsung Galaxy A5
Who knew? Samsung stuck to polycarbonate, removable batteries and a slightly fancy design for years... and then it launches the Galaxy A lineup and takes a U-turn. We will see whether there are more surprises by examining the 5-inch Galaxy A5 model.
Source: NDTV Gadgets Archive.org version
The Samsung Galaxy A5 Duos was launched early this year, but is still selling for around Rs. 22,000. Frankly, this is a little too steep by any standard. You can get significantly more powerful phones for the same price or less like the OnePlus One (Review | Pictures) or the Xiaomi Mi 4 (Review | Pictures), and similarly specced phones like the Lenovo A6000 Plus and Yu Yureka are available for a fraction of the cost. We are not saying that the Galaxy A5 Duos is a bad phone. In fact, it is well-rounded and does everything well. It only needs to be a lot more realistic and a lot less expensive.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 05/25/2015
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 50% performance: 60% display: 70% mobility: 60% workmanship: 80%
Source: Tech Advisor Archive.org version
The A5 is a stylish, thin and lightweight phone with good cameras. However, its processor isn't particularly powerful and also happens to be found in the Moto E which costs only £109. The Moto E is also a 4G phone and if you're not fussed about its slightly smaller, lower resolution screen and mediocre cameras is a much better value choice.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 05/21/2015
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 60% performance: 50% features: 70% workmanship: 90%
Source: Gadgetguy Archive.org version
Samsung sure manages to surprise us every so often, and while we’ve loved seeing what its engineers can do in regards to a flagship product, it’s this year’s mid-range marvel that is impressing us greatly, taking technology from the past year, a design that meshes two of Samsung’s products, and making something that could possibly be Samsung’s best value phone altogether.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 04/23/2015
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 80% performance: 80% features: 90% workmanship: 90%
Source: Gadgets Now Archive.org version
The Samsung Galaxy A5 is a slick and stylish phone that copes with your typical day-to-day life and looks good doing it too. The only caveat is its price: £349 is a lot of money, especially as there are cheaper options available that sport better specs. Still, if design and quality tops your agenda, it's well worth a look.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 04/09/2015
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Hardware Secrets Archive.org version
The Galaxy A5 is a slim smartphone from Samsung, with a five-inch HD (1280 x 720) touchscreen, Android 4.4 operating system, and powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 CPU. The Samsung Galaxy A5 is a great mid-range smartphone with an excellent slim design and good cameras. Altough its cost/benefit ratio is not as good as the ASUS ZenFone it delivers a better and more compact design, and better cameras.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/31/2015
Source: Trusted Reviews Archive.org version
The A5 is in a tough position – its quality metal construction, performance and features are up there with the best of the mid-range class. But it’s also priced at the top end of that spectrum, encouraging comparisons with slightly dated but still highly capable top of the range phones such as the LG G3 and Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/26/2015
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 70% performance: 80% display: 80% mobility: 80% workmanship: 100%
Source: Pocket Lint Archive.org version
As a nod to where Samsung is heading with design, the Galaxy A5 is a great example of quality. Indeed, we'd rather have one in the pocket than the flagship Galaxy S5 - but that's just about to be replaced with the S6 come April, which fuses the best of both design and power worlds together. It's the marvellous exterior where the Galaxy A5 really wins points, acting as a hint of things to come from future Samsung phones. As a lesser powerful Android alternative to the Apple iPhone 6 this handset will turn heads, without costing a fortune to buy in the first place.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 03/13/2015
Rating: Total score: 90%
Source: Expert Reviews Archive.org version
The Galaxy A5 is a beautiful-looking handset, but it's somewhat disappointing performance will no doubt drag it down compared to its more sprightly brothers. Its bigger battery may give it an advantage over the smaller Galaxy A3, but we'll have to wait and see how it fares once we get our hands on a full review sample. It may be more attractive, but for now, it looks as though the Galaxy A5 is very much the awkward middle child of Samsung's new A series.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 03/03/2015
Source: Recombu Archive.org version
Samsung's Galaxy A5 already has us excited about the upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship, further proving that the Korean giant can produce a smartphone with gorgeous and solid design and resist from cramming it full of pointless features. It's a shame that the likes of the fingerprint scanner are missing in action, but for a respectable price you get a slick and dependable smartphone that's great for everyday action.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 02/24/2015
Rating: Total score: 90%
Source: Techradar Archive.org version
The Samsung Galaxy A5 is a fine phone for the mid range market – albeit a bit underpowered, coming with a CPU that's only marginally better than that found in most Android Wear smartwatches. The design is definitely a step forward and, along with the 13MP camera, will probably be what tempts customers looking for a new handset when browsing the shelves of the local phone seller.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 02/13/2015
Source: Techspot Archive.org version
The Galaxy A5 uses one of the nicest designs I’ve ever seen in a Samsung smartphone. It’s thin, light and well built, using a premium selection of materials that looks clean and fantastic from most angles. Place the A5 next to a Galaxy S5 and the cheaper handset far outshines the more expensive, which goes to show how far Samsung’s designs have come in a short period of time.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 02/11/2015
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: GSM Arena Archive.org version
Samsung did well with the Galaxy A5, which should surprise no one who have already seen the Alpha - or the Galaxy A3 for that matter. The phone is built to flagship standards. It has great aesthetics and Samsung have picked the materials to match the purpose. Throw in a 720p Super AMOLED, a 13MP camera and the potent software package with Multi window and other perks here and there, and you have a phone that's more than adequately equipped to rule the midrange.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 01/30/2015
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Under KG Archive.org version
video review
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 01/28/2015
Source: Android Authority Archive.org version
As expected the Samsung Galaxy A5 does not disappoint and is a great mid-range offering from the company. While it looks the same as the last few generations, the change in the build material from plastic to metal finally allows for the premium feel in the hand that many have been waiting for.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 01/20/2015
Rating: Total score: 85%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Chip.de DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/30/2016
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 83% performance: 78% features: 52% display: 87% mobility: 63%
Source: Stiftung Warentest - Heft 7/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 06/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 88%
Source: Stiftung Warentest - Heft 7/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 06/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 88%
Source: Android Magazin - Heft 3/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 05/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 78%
Source: Android Welt - Heft 3/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 05/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 90%
Source: Smartphone Magazin - Heft 3/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 05/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 89%
Source: Netzwelt DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/30/2015
Rating: Total score: 64% features: 50% mobility: 60% workmanship: 80%
Source: Turn On DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/16/2015
Source: MobiFlip DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/09/2015
Source: Allround-PC.com DE→EN Archive.org version
Comparison, online available, Medium, Date: 03/04/2015
Source: Tom's Hardware DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/23/2015
Source: Futurezone.at DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 02/18/2015
Source: Computerbild - Heft 4/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 02/16/2015
Rating: Total score: 85%
Source: Notebookinfo DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/09/2015
Rating: Total score: 91% performance: 85% display: 90% mobility: 90% workmanship: 100% ergonomy: 95% emissions: 95%
Source: Netzwelt DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/06/2015
Rating: Total score: 64% features: 50% mobility: 60% workmanship: 80%
Source: Turn On DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/01/2015
Source: Inside Handy DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Connect - Heft 3/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 02/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Telecom Handel - Heft 3/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 02/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 81% price: 67%
Source: e-media - Heft 4/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 01/16/2015
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Android Pit - Heft 2/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 01/01/2015
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Android Magazin - Heft 1/2015
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 12/01/2014
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Teleguru PL→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 01/19/2017
Rating: Total score: 71% performance: 80% display: 60% mobility: 60% workmanship: 70%
Comment
Model: The Samsung Galaxy A5 is a stylish smartphone with premium materials and powerful hardware. Design is kept fairly similar to most of Samsung's current smartphones with the standard physical home button centered between the menu and back touch sensitive keys. The entire chassis is slightly rounded and the back cover has the faux-leather texturing. The rear panel contains a camera, a heart rate monitor, an UV sensor and a speaker.
The build quality is particularly good this time with the Samsung Galaxy A5 sporting a tougher screen plus a water and dust-resistant exterior. The Android 4.4.4 KitKat device comes with a 5 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen with 294 ppi pixel density and covered with a protective layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 4. On-board is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Cortex-A53 quad core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz.
This coupled with 2 GB RAM and an Adreno 306 GPU ensures that the Samsung Galaxy A5 runs smooth like butter. Users can up the storage with a microSD up to 64 GB. There is a 13 MP autofocus, LED flash rear camera and a 5 MP front-facing secondary shooter. Image capture quality is good with vivid colors. Other features include Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio, A-GPS and NFC for the LTE variant. Battery life is good with a non-removable Li-Ion cell rated at 2300 mAh powering the Samsung Galaxy A5 up to 15 hours.
Qualcomm Adreno 306: Integrated mid-range graphics card in the Snapdragon 410 SoCs that supports OpenGL ES 3.0 and features unified shaders.
These graphics cards are not suited for Windows 3D games. Office and Internet surfing however is possible.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
410 MSM8916: 64-Bit Cortex-A53 Quad-Core with an Adreno 306 GPU manufactured in 28nm» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
5.00":
This display is tiny. You will probably see very little on the screen and be able to use mini-resolutions.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Samsung: Samsung Group is the largest South Korean conglomerate and was founded in 1938. Samsung Group employed 489,000 people in 2014 and is one of the world's largest companies in terms of revenue and market strength. The name Samsung means "Three Stars" in Korean and represents the three sons of the company's founder. The company was founded in 1938 as a grocery store. With its subsidiary Samsung Electronics, founded in 1969, Samsung took up the production of electrotechnical items, focusing on consumer electronics and household appliances at an early stage. Other branches in which the large corporation is active include mechanical engineering, automobiles (Hyundai), insurance, wholesale, real estate and leisure. Samsung manufactures a wide range of electronic products, including smartphones, televisions, home appliances and semiconductors. The company's Galaxy line of smartphones is one of the most popular in the world. Samsung is also a major player in the semiconductor industry, making memory chips and processors for many other electronics manufacturers.
80.38%: This rating is slightly above average, there are somewhat more devices with worse ratings. However, clear purchase recommendations look different.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.