Samsung Galaxy A5 2016
Specifications
Secondary Camera: 5 MPix f/1.9, 24 mm
Price comparison
Average of 18 scores (from 31 reviews)
Reviews for the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016
Upgraded mid-range. Just one year after the first Galaxy A5 generation, Samsung introduces the successor. Updates are found in screen, wireless module as well as the SoC. However, the performance still proves to be a minor shortcoming.
Source: PC Pro
Archive.org versionThe Samsung Galaxy A5 is a tough smartphone to pigeonhole. On the one hand, it looks as good as any flagship phone, and battery life is stupendous; on the other, the hardware inside isn’t quite up to snuff, falling fractionally behind rivals such as the OnePlus 3, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P for speed and camera quality.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 07/18/2016
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Expert Reviews
Archive.org versionThe only real problem with the Galaxy A5 (2016) is that it currently costs just as much as a Galaxy S6 if you're buying on contract. When the S6 has a higher resolution screen, a faster processor, more onboard storage and a better camera, it's not really much of a contest. The one thing the A5 (2016) does have in its favour, though, is a microSD card slot, which the S6 is entirely lacking. As a result, this makes the A5 much more flexible than the S6, as you can always upgrade your storage later on (it supports cards up to 128GB) rather than being stuck with what you buy upfront.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 07/14/2016
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Recombu
Archive.org versionThe Samsung Galaxy A5 6 is a brilliant refresh of an already solid smartphone, and one of the best £300 mobiles you’ll find (alongside greats such as the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and Motorola Moto X Force). Dependable performance, solid battery life and great features like the excellent dual cameras and fingerprint sensor make it an essential purchase for those who desire flagship quality, but can’t afford those premium price tags.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/09/2016
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Tech Advisor
Archive.org versionThe Galaxy A5 2016 is an enormous improvement over the Galaxy A5 2015, and now resembles last year’s flagship Galaxy S6. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as fast or feature-packed as that phone, making its now-£50 price difference seem insane. If you can afford the Galaxy S6 we’d recommend it over the A5, but if not you won’t be disappointed with this excellent mid-range Android phone.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/27/2016
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 80% performance: 80% features: 80% workmanship: 80%
Source: Think Digit
Archive.org versionThe Samsung Galaxy A5 is amongst the best designed phones in the market, but at Rs. 29,400, it is just too expensive to recommend. It's performance isn't comparable to its competitors and you would be better of buying an HTC One A9 or the much cheaper Nexus 5X.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 04/01/2016
Rating: Total score: 68%
Source: NDTV Gadgets
Archive.org versionThe new Galaxy A5 has a shot at success if Samsung corrects its price quickly. In our opinion, around Rs. 20,000 would be the sweet spot considering the specifications and features this phone offers, and the competition it has to face. The Galaxy A5 excels in terms of build and aesthetics, packs an excellent display, and offers very good battery life. We quite liked the quality of pictures it takes too, although the camera app could have been designed better. We also don't understand the reasoning behind ditching the notification LED.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/21/2016
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 60% performance: 70% display: 80% mobility: 90% workmanship: 80%
Source: Android Authority
Archive.org versionSo there you have it for this closer look at the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)! The Galaxy A5 is essentially the Galaxy S6 with mid-range specifications, and poorer camera, but does actually offer more than its flagship counterpart in other areas, such as improved battery life, and the return of expandable storage. The disappointing camera may be a let down for some, but if you loved the Galaxy S6 but wished that it was cheaper, significantly so in this case, the Galaxy A5 (2016) is the device for you.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/03/2016
Rating: Total score: 89% performance: 87% display: 82% mobility: 84% workmanship: 92%
Source: PC Pro
Archive.org versionThe Galaxy A5 found itself lost in the shuffle last year because its price was awkwardly positioned between better-value, lower-end phones and faster mid-range phones. This year, with its price bump and processor boost, it may be able to shake that off, but much depends on its competition.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 02/24/2016
Source: GSM Arena
Archive.org versionThe Samsung Galaxy Alpha was Samsung's attempt go shake off its phablet obsession and create a compact flagship. The Galaxy A series, which it helped spin off, occupied a lower segment than the flagship-grade Galaxy Alpha. With the 2016 edition, the Galaxy A returns to the finer things in life. The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) in particular actually looks and feels like a slightly better Galaxy S6 thanks to its fine metal frame and sculpted glass faces.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 02/11/2016
Source: Phone Arena
Archive.org versionAt present, this year's Galaxy A5 costs around $400, which means it has to compete with some rather solid smartphones out there. The sub-$400 Nexus 5X, for example, has none of the A5's style, but immeasurably better performance. And then there's the much cheaper OnePlus X, which doesn't have the brand authority, but actually looks as good as the A5, and also has way better performance and user experience. Choose wisely!
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/05/2016
Rating: Total score: 65%
Source: NDTV Gadgets
Archive.org versionThe Galaxy A5 (2016) and Galaxy A7 (2016) smartphones have been launched in India with price tags of Rs. 29,400 and Rs. 33,400 respectively. Both phones will go on sale starting February 15 and will be available in physical retail as well online through Snapdeal. To woo customers, Samsung also announced a bundled Airtel data plan which will give users up to 30GB of data free over six months.
Comparison, online available, Very Short, Date: 02/04/2016
Foreign Reviews
Source: Notebooksbilliger Blog
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/24/2016
Source: Chip.de
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/28/2016
Rating: Total score: 84% price: 100% performance: 86% features: 77% display: 91% mobility: 92%
Source: Smart Web
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/28/2016
Rating: Total score: 84% features: 85% display: 84%
Source: Android Magazin - Heft 3/2016
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 05/01/2016
Rating: Total score: 88%
Source: A1 Blog
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/05/2016
Source: Stiftung Warentest - Heft 5/2016
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 04/01/2016
Source: Area DVD
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/29/2016
Source: Android Mag
DE→EN Archive.org versionComparison, online available, Medium, Date: 03/20/2016
Source: Billiger-telefonieren.de
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/15/2016
Source: Netzwelt
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/05/2016
Rating: Total score: 84% features: 80% mobility: 90% workmanship: 90%
Source: Teltarif
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 02/03/2016
Rating: Total score: 91% features: 87% workmanship: 98% ergonomy: 90%
Source: Turn On
DE→EN Archive.org versionComparison, online available, Long, Date: 01/29/2016
Source: PC Welt
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/20/2016
Rating: Total score: 84%
Source: Inside Handy
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/19/2016
Rating: Total score: 90%
Source: Allround-PC.com
DE→EN Archive.org versionComparison, online available, Long, Date: 12/25/2015
Source: PC Welt
DE→EN Archive.org versionComparison, online available, Long, Date: 12/02/2015
Source: FAQsAndroid
ES→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 11/24/2016
Rating: Total score: 71% price: 65% display: 80% mobility: 70% workmanship: 75%
Source: Descargar.mobi
ES→EN Archive.org versionPositive: Good cameras; long battery life. Negative: Mediocre hardware.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/14/2016
Source: André Mitera
SK→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Short, Date: 04/18/2016
Rating: Total score: 82% price: 60% performance: 70% display: 95% mobility: 90% workmanship: 100% emissions: 85%
Comment
Model:
Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 is a mid-range dual-sim smartphone under the Samsung Galaxy A series. Samsung Galaxy A series which initially stood Alpha. The A series smartphones are similar to Galaxy S series but with lower hardware specifications for a lower price. The Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 measures at 144.8 x 71 x 7.3 mm (5.70 x 2.80 x 0.29 in) and weighs at 155 g (5.47 oz). It is quite thin for a mid range smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 features the Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 chipset, Octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU coupled with Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB of RAM. For storage, it features an internal storage of 16GB. To expand storage, it features a microSD card slot which supports up to 256GB. Expanding storage is highly recommended especially for users who store a lot of photos and videos because an internal storage of 16GB is only sufficient for normal mobile app usage. As for operating system, Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 runs on Android v5.1.1 Lollipop but can be upgraded to Android v6.0.1 Marshmallow via the over-the-air upgrade.
The display of this smartphone is 5.2 inches super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. It has multi-touch support and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 from minor scratches and damage. Super AMOLED display is commonly built into many of the Samsung’s smartphone to deliver high contrast and brighter display quality. The pixel density is at approximately 424 ppi which is quite high for a 5.2 inches display. Screen-to-body ratio of this smartphone is at approximately 72.5% which is at an average percentage. Looking at camera, the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 features a primary camera of 13 megapixels with f/1.9 aperture which comes with optical image stabilisation (OIS), autofocus and LED flash. Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) promises less blurry photos and videos by detecting camera’s movement path with sensors and calculate the lens movement to counteract. The primary camera can support features such as geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama and HDR. The camera is capable of capturing 1080p video at 30fps. As for the secondary camera, it features a secondary camera of 5 megapixels with f/1.9 aperture, capable of capturing 1080p videos too.
As for connectivity, the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS, FM radio, near-field communication (NFC) and microUSB v2.0 port which support USB On-The-Go. Sensors built into the smartphone are fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, proximity and compass. The smartphone has a non-removable 2900 mAh Li-Ion battery capable of delivering up to 16 hours of talktime on 3G. For extended power, it supports fast charging with Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging-enabled chargers.
Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam
ARM Mali-T720 MP2: Integrated graphics card in ARM based SoCs. Can be configured with up to 8 cores (T720 MP8) and 650 MHz core clock (at 28nm). Supports OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.1, DirectX 11 FL9_3, and Renderscript.
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.
7580 Octa: Octacore SoC with four Cortex-A57 and four power saving Cortex-A53 cores manufactured in 28nm.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
