Samsung Galaxy A3 Smartphone Review

Samsung's Galaxy A3 is more expensive than most comparison devices, but it is also equipped with a more modern SoC, 16 GB of flash storage, 1.5 GB of working memory, and LTE. Furthermore, the camera equipment is decent. Overall, the Galaxy A3 gives the impression of a fair total package, particularly when considering the high-quality casing.

Communication & GPS 

The Galaxy A3 connects to Wi-Fi networks with the 802.11 b/g/n standards, but only in the 2.4 GHz frequency. Reception is decent: we still had 3/4 of the starting signal through three walls and a distance of ten meters (~33 ft) to the router. Websites also still opened quickly at this point.

The Galaxy A3 is on par with the Galaxy A5 in mobile networks, and is thus superior to the majority of comparison devices. LTE Cat. 4 with speeds of up to 150 Mbit per second in downstream and 50 Mbit per second in upstream are not a matter of course in the lower mid-range. Neither is support for a total of six LTE frequencies as well as both four GPRS and UMTS frequencies.

The A-GPS module also supports the GLONASS and BeiDou networks, making satellites available virtually everywhere in the world. However, this is possible only in the outdoors because the reception quality is too weak indoors. We were located with an accuracy of up to 3 meters (~10 ft) outdoors.

We took the device and the Garmin Edge 500 on a car trip to test its navigating accuracy. The GPS module in the Galaxy A3 measured an approximately 160 meter (~175 yd) shorter route than the Garmin Edge 500. However, the devices did not display any major differences in pinpointing on the street. Neither navigation system located us perfectly, but they did not deviate too much from the driven route. In the woods the Galaxy A3 was slightly more accurate than the standalone navigation system. Thus, it is possible to confidently use the smartphone for navigating purposes.

Telephone & Voice Quality

The phone app can be used in both landscape and portrait mode, has a large keypad, and many additional options like favorite contacts and an extensive list of features for calls including a sorting function.

The voice quality is rather mediocre. In our tests, the microphone recurrently had minor interruptions. Although the speaker is quite loud, voices do not come across as clearly as expected from current premium phones. The hands-free mode was acceptable, but the microphone also occasionally dropped out.

Cameras & Multimedia

The Galaxy A3's rear-facing camera has a slightly lower resolution than its larger Galaxy A5 brother. It has "only" 8 megapixels, but still features auto focus and an LED flash. However, the front, features the same 5 megapixel selfie-camera as the Galaxy A5. The Galaxy A3 is superior to its mid-range rivals solely in terms of resolution. Only Acer's Liquid E3 has a rear-facing camera with higher resolution,  but its front-facing camera has a resolution of only 2 megapixels.

The pictures taken with the rear-facing camera exhibit a slight color fringe when zoomed in. However, their sharpness is good. Exposure is relatively high, which is probably due to the aperture's wide opening. The images look a little too bluish, but overall, the pictures are very good for a mid-range smartphone. The front-facing camera also takes decent selfies that can even be joined to a very wide-angle picture with the "Group-selfie" feature and panning. It is also possible to take a selfie with the rear-facing camera via the self-timer. This should focus automatically, but did not always function perfectly. In addition, multiple successively shot pictures can be compiled into an animated GIF, and record decent looking videos in 1080 p with 30 frames per second.

The image quality in low-light conditions could be better, at least when the LED flash on the rear is not used or with the front-facing camera. The pictures then quickly exhibit a heavy color noise.

Accessories

A good in-ear headset, the charger and a USB cord are included in the box. As with the Galaxy A5, Samsung offers a protective cover for the A3, which encloses the casing's bezel like a frame and also protects the rear. It costs 20 Euros (~$23). The flip cover is more exclusive, but unlike the Galaxy A5, it does not have a plastic window that allows quick access to important functions. It costs 30 Euros (~$34).

Warranty

Samsung includes a 24-month warranty on the phone, and only six months on the accessories and battery.

The touchscreen is very accurate up to its edges, and supports multi-touch gestures without any problems. Furthermore, Samsung enables a good number of gestures that can be used for control. For example, incoming calls can be muted by turning the smartphone around or covering it with a hand. Screenshots can be made by stroking over the screen with the side of the hand. All these functioned quite reliably. 

The virtual keyboard is at its limits on the 4.5-inch screen. A screen should not be smaller for a keyboard. The typing accuracy is noticeably different from the 5-inch Galaxy A5. However, Samsung's keyboard is still impressive with its many features and settings. Three different input methods are also possible: voice dictation, swipe to input, or simply via the keyboard.

Samsung treats the Galaxy A3 to a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with 960x540 pixels. The resolution is the common standard in the lower mid-range, but it could have been higher to match the Galaxy A3's price, particularly since Acer's Liquid E3 proves that a 720p screen does not have to cost a fortune. On the other hand, the screen in the Galaxy A3 is very bright, especially for an AMOLED screen that usually could not compete with the brightness of other screen types in the past few years. 433.4 cd/m² is a very competitive average rate among the comparison devices. The illumination of 96% is also extremely homogeneous.

The screen's very good contrast and the relatively high brightness are strong indications of good legibility in the outdoors. However, the glossy screen counters that. In fact, it is quite possible to distinguish outlines of the content, at least roughly, even in bright surroundings. Brightly lit rooms or the shaded areas are not a problem from the outset.

Internet browsing is also somewhat faster with the Galaxy A3 than with the comparable devices. However, the review sample cannot match the speed of Google's Nexus 5.

TThe storage in the Galaxy A3 is very fast and even beats the access times of Google's Nexus 5. The write access in particular, is performed at very high data rates.

The performance differences compared with the rivals is lower in 3D performance. The Adreno 306 cannot really stand out from the graphics solutions in older chips, and is even outperformed by the Adreno 305 in Sony's Xperia M2 Aqua or HTC's Desire 610. Nevertheless, the graphics card should be adequate for fast game play.

The graphics card is adequate for most games in Google's Play Store. However, high details push it close to the limits of micro-stutters for example in "Asphalt 8: Airborne". This makes it evident that it is not a top-of-the-line graphics solution. Slightly less demanding games like "Minecraft - Pocket Edition" and 2D games like "Angry Birds: Star Wars 2" run quite smoothly. The precise touchscreen and sensors also contribute to pleasant gaming.

Temperature

The temperature development in the Galaxy A5 was hardly noticeable even during load, and the same is true for the smaller Samsung Galaxy A3: The device reached an absolute maximum of 31.5 degrees Celsius (~89 °F) in our tests. This is, in fact, only marginally more than in idle mode where we measured 27.7 degrees (~82 °F).

We also checked whether the graphics card throttles during prolonged load with the battery test of GFXBench. We can give the all clear signal here: The performance remained stable even in the thirtieth repetition of the test.

Battery Runtime

The non-removable battery in Samsung's Galaxy A3 provides 7.2 Wh or 1.9 ampere hours. Thus, it is slightly smaller than the one in most comparison devices. However, the Galaxy A3 achieves quite decent runtimes due to its low consumption. Internet browsing via Wi-Fi is possible for almost 8 1/2 hours, and 4 1/4 hours can be achieved under full load.