Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Galaxy A5 (2017): comparison of smartphones of different classes

Almost two weeks ago, a presentation of new smartphones took place Samsung Galaxy A3 and A5, around which there have been many rumors for a long time and which were awaited with special interest. The main highlight of the new series of mobile devices is the transition from the use of traditional Korean plastic in cases to real metal: both new items received all-metal cases made of aluminum. With this step, the company finally met the expectations of many, because the main reason for criticism of Samsung from users has always related precisely to the dubious design, as well as the stubborn reluctance to offer metal as a material in the production of cases mobile devices.

But nevertheless, the main sensation is not this: the high price at which the Korean company is going to sell its new smartphones, which are not only far from the flagship ones, but even for “solid middle peasants” claiming with a stretch, is striking. The Samsung Galaxy A5 smartphone, which we tested, turned out to be built on an entry-level chip, equipped with a far from flagship 720p screen, devoid of most of the functions and capabilities of its top counterparts, but at the same time it is sold at the price of a full-fledged flagship.

Video review

To get started, we suggest watching our video review of the Samsung Galaxy A5 smartphone:

Now let's take a look at the characteristics of the new item.

Main characteristics of Samsung Galaxy A5 (model SM-A500F / DS)

	Samsung Galaxy A5	Huawei Ascend G7	Sony Xperia C3	LG L Bello	Acer liquid jade
Screen	5 ″, Super AMOLED	5.5 ″, IPS	5.5 ″, IPS	5 ″, IPS	5 ″, IPS
Resolution	1280 × 720, 294 ppi	1280 × 720, 267 ppi	1280 × 720, 267 ppi	854 × 480, 196 ppi	1280 × 720, 294 ppi
SoC		Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (4-core Cortex-A53) @ 1.2 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (4 Cortex-A7 cores) @ 1.2 GHz		MediaTek MT6582 (4 cores Cortex-A7) @ 1.3 GHz
GPU	Adreno 306	Adreno 306	Adreno 305	Mali 400 MP	Mali 400 MP
RAM	2 GB	2 GB	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB
Flash memory	16 GB	16 GB	8 GB	8 GB	8 GB
Memory card support	microSD	microSD	microSD	microSD	microSD
Operating system	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.4
Battery	non-removable, 2300 mAh	non-removable, 3000 mAh	non-removable, 2500 mAh	removable, 2540 mAh	non-removable, 2100 mAh
Cameras		rear (13 Mp; video 1080p), front (5 Mp)	rear (8 Mp; video 1080p), front (5 Mp)	rear (8 Mp; video 1080p), front (1.3 Mp)	rear (13 Mp; video 1080p), front (2 Mp)
Dimensions and weight	139 x 70 x 6.7 mm, 123 g	153 x 77 x 7.6 mm, 172 g	156 x 78 x 7.6mm, 150g	138 x 71 x 10.7 mm, 137 g	140 x 69 x 7.5mm, 110g
average price	T-11755838	T-11030516	T-10958363	T-11036010	T-11168663
Samsung Galaxy A5 offers	L-11755838-10

SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916), 4x ARM Cortex-A53 (64-bit), 1.2GHz
GPU Adreno 306
Operating android system 4.4.4
Super AMOLED touchscreen display, 5 ″, 1280 × 720, 294 ppi
Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB, internal memory 16 GB
SIM-cards: 2 Nano-SIM
Support for microSD memory cards or a second SIM card
Data transmission LTE Ca4 (150/50 Mbit / s)
Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, point wi-Fi access, Wi-Fi Direct
GPS / A-GPS, BDS, Glonass
Position sensors, proximity, lighting, electronic compass
Camera 13 MP (F2.0), autofocus, LED flash
Camera 5 MP (F2.2), front
Battery 2300 mAh
Dimensions 139 x 70 x 6.7 mm
Weight 123 g

Appearance and usability

As far as the design is concerned, we can state that no breakthroughs have happened here. In appearance, the new devices are practically indistinguishable from their predecessors. This is especially true of the front panel - the easily recognizable style of Samsung smartphones has not changed at all.

As for the materials, the devices actually received metal cases, and they are entirely made of this material. That is, the back wall and sidewalls in such a case make up an integral "trough", and gluing takes place in the place where the glass of the screen is adjacent to the metal in the front part.

However, either the experience of the Koreans turned out to be not enough for handling metal, or the design idea failed, but everyone recognized the fact: Samsung managed to make such a case out of metal that no one except themselves could notice it. The metal here is carefully primed and painted in such a way that it gives the full impression that we are facing plastic, both in appearance and in touch. The presence of metal can be recognized only by surfaces that are colder than that of plastic, and by unpainted chamfers on the side edges. And then the confirmation of the company representatives themselves was required, because in previous models the Koreans very skillfully faked their plastic rims to look like real metal. And nevertheless, why it was necessary to hide the metal under the paint so diligently remains a mystery. It is hard to believe in the explanations of the company's representatives - they say it was done solely for better grip with the palm.

“I am very glad that Samsung has honored me and offered me to participate in the announcement of a new series of Samsung Galaxy A smartphones in Russia. As an Olympic champion, this cooperation is especially pleasant for me, since Samsung has been supporting the Olympic movement for many years, ”said Viktor An, a Russian athlete and six-time Olympic short track speed skating champion during the presentation. “I am very proud of Samsung, which creates great innovation that helps Olympic athletes and millions of people around the world every day. I am sure that the Samsung A-series smartphones presented today, as always, will be a great success! "

Leaving aside the unusual behavior of Samsung and proceeding to a direct statement of facts, we can note that the Galaxy A5 came out not large, not heavy and not thick. The smartphone looks and feels similar to other nifty five-inch solutions like the Nexus 5, Lenovo Vibe X2, or Alcatel Idol X +. Due to its small size, the device lies well in the hand, although hard, sharp and straight wide edges of comfort when handling the device clearly do not add.

As already mentioned, the back wall and sidewalls are made of metal here, the case does not have removable elements, you cannot get to the battery yourself. Accordingly, the SIM card and memory card are installed in the side slots, driving into them on metal skids. According to the prevailing recent times not a very pleasant tradition, here it is proposed to compromise and choose only one of the possible options for using the cards: either install two Nano-SIM cards without the possibility of expanding memory, or put a microSD card in the second slot, but then with two SIM cards the device will not work. This strange idea of \u200b\u200bsaving has captured the minds of not only Chinese developers, but, as it turns out, Korean ones too. It is completely incomprehensible what benefit this solution should provide - after all, the market is full of devices with simultaneous support for two SIM-cards and a memory card, and even with two "full-size" Mini-SIM cards, there is nothing special in this.

Despite the fact that the body of the smartphone is not distinguished by supernatural thinness, the camera module nevertheless protrudes noticeably from the back wall. In this regard, the new Samsung smartphones turned out to be no better than the notorious Apple iPhone 6/6 Plus, which only the lazy didn’t “wash the bones” for this option of placing the camera module.

On both sides of the camera lens, the same square-shaped LED flash and a chrome speaker grill were symmetrically distributed. Since the protruding camera module does not allow the table surface to overlap the grill, the sound of the smartphone lying on the table is practically not muffled. But for the flash, the built-in flashlight mode was not provided, the flash module itself has only one section.

The front of the smartphone is completely covered with Gorilla Glass, which adjoins directly to the metal frame, without any gasket. A longitudinal hole is cut in the glass for a chrome-plated earpiece grille. Sensors and a peephole of the front camera are visible nearby. Strange, but there was no place in the device for such a useful element as the LED alert sensor.

In the lower part under the screen, there is an oval mechanical key and two touch buttons on either side of it. The buttons have a bright white backlight with adjustable duration. The front panel under the glass has a dotted texture, which makes the smartphone prettier and more expensive.

On both sides there are mechanical volume and lock keys, the buttons are large enough, hard, metallized, traditionally there are no complaints about the controls in Samsung devices. But the Micro-USB 2.0 connector and the audio output for headphones with a diameter of 3.5 mm, this time huddled on one bottom end, very close to each other. Accordingly, there is nothing on the top end except for the second auxiliary microphone. It's just amazing, but the creators did not even bother to equip the smartphone with the price of 24 thousand rubles with OTG (USB Host) support.

The smartphone does not have protection against dust and moisture, does not support wireless charging, cannot be found on the case and strap mounts. In addition to the white version of the color, there will also be a dark blue Galaxy A5 on sale, in which all elements, including the side frame and the front panel under the glass, are also painted in the general color of the case.

Screen

The Samsung Galaxy A5 smartphone is equipped with a Super AMOLED sensor matrix. The physical dimensions of the display are 62 × 110 mm, the diagonal is 5 inches. The screen resolution in dots is only 1280 × 720 (dot density 294 ppi), such a resolution is not enough for a device of the price category for which the hero of the review claims. The area of \u200b\u200bthe five-inch screen of the Galaxy A5 is not that small, moreover, the screen is made using Pentile technology.

The brightness of the display has manual and automatic adjustment, the latter is based on the operation of the light sensor. There is also a proximity sensor that locks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to handle 10 simultaneous touches. Side bezels around the screen are not impressive: the distance from the edge of the case to the edge of the screen is about 4 mm at the sides, and at the top and bottom - approximately 14 mm. Unlocking the screen by tapping or any other gesture is not provided, and nothing is said about the possibility of working with the screen with gloves.

Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, conducted a detailed examination using measuring instruments. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the test sample.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are not worse than that of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Samsung Galaxy A5, then they can be distinguished by their size):

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy A5 is slightly lighter (brightness in photos is 101 versus 98 for the Nexus 7) and does not have a pronounced shade. Note that reflections from bright objects on the Samsung Galaxy A5 display have a faint bluish halo that is slightly more pronounced laterally. The doubling of reflected objects in the Samsung Galaxy A5 screen is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass-to-air type) with very different refractive indices, screens without an air gap look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. The outer surface of the Samsung Galaxy A5 screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, noticeably better than the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are much easier to remove, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of regular glass.

When displaying a white field in full screen and when manual control brightness, its maximum value was 340 cd / m², minimum - 4.7 cd / m². You also need to take into account the fact that in this case, the smaller the white area on the screen, the lighter it is, that is, the actual maximum brightness of the white areas will almost always be higher than the specified value. For example, when displaying white on half of the screen, the maximum brightness when manually adjusted increases to 360 cd / m². As a result, readability in the daytime in the sun should be at a fairly good level (we did not have the opportunity to check the possibilities). The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device without any problems even in complete darkness. Automatic brightness control works according to the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front loudspeaker slot). Adjustments can be made to how this function works by moving the setting slider from -5 to +5 units. Further, for three conditions, we give the screen brightness values \u200b\u200bfor three values \u200b\u200bof this setting - for −5, 0, and +5. In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness decreases to 4.7, 9.6 and 21 cd / m2, respectively (the first is dark, the others are normal), in an office illuminated with artificial light (about 400 lux), the brightness is set to 62, 147 and 297 cd / m² (darkish - just right - lightish, which corresponds to the specified correction), in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or slightly more) - increases to 340 cd / m² regardless of the position of the slider. This value is equal to the maximum with manual adjustment. In general, the result of the automatic brightness control function is as expected. Only at medium and low brightness levels there is modulation with a frequency of 240 Hz. The figure below shows the dependence of brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis) for several values \u200b\u200bof brightness adjustment:

It can be seen that at the maximum and close to it brightness, the modulation amplitude is minimal and its frequency is 60 Hz (screen refresh rate), as a result, there is no visible flicker. However, when the brightness decreases (somewhere up to 70% and below), modulation appears with a frequency of 240 Hz and a large relative amplitude. Therefore, the presence of such modulation can already be seen in the test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, such flickering can cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses a Super AMOLED matrix - an active matrix on organic light-emitting diodes. A full color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a micrograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above, you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), while repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without gaps and overlaps. For such matrices, Samsung has introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer considers the screen resolution for green subpixels, for the other two it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this variant is close to the case of the screen and some other newer devices from Samsung and not only with AMOLED screens. This PenTile RGBG version is better than the old one with red squares, blue rectangles and green subpixel stripes. Nevertheless, some uneven contrast borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the sufficiently high resolution, they have a minimal effect on the image quality.

The screen has excellent viewing angles, though white color when deflected even at small angles, it acquires a light blue-green tint, but black is just black at any angle. So black that the contrast setting is not applicable in this case. The uniformity of the white field is excellent when viewed from a perpendicular view. For comparison, here are the photos on which the screens of the Samsung Galaxy A5 (profile Main) and the second comparison participant displayed the same images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2, and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K. White field:

Note the excellent uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And the test picture (profile Main):

Color reproduction is good, however, the color balance of the screens is slightly different and the colors of the Samsung Galaxy A5 are slightly more saturated (at least, this is how the image is recorded by the camera). The photo above was taken after selecting a profile Main in the screen settings, there are four of them. Profile Adaptive display differs in some kind of automatic adjustment to the type of displayed image and the surrounding conditions, which is obtained by choosing the two remaining profiles shown below.

AMOLED movie:

The saturation and color contrast are noticeably increased, the skin is excessively reddish.

AMOLED Photo:

Saturation is still high, but color contrast is back to normal. Now at an angle of about 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen (again the profile Main). White box:

The brightness at an angle on both screens decreased noticeably (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed was increased by 2 times in comparison with the previous two photos), but in the case of Samsung, the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness screen samsung The Galaxy A5 looks much brighter visually (compared to LCD screens), as the screen of a mobile device often has to be viewed from at least a slight angle. And the test picture:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness at the Samsung angle is noticeably higher. The switching of the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the turn-on front there may be a step with a width of 16.7 ms (which corresponds to a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz). For example, this is how the dependence of brightness on time looks like when switching from black to gray and vice versa:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to trails trailing behind moving objects, but in normal use these artifacts are difficult to see. Quite the opposite - dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high definition and even some "jerky" movements.

For profiles AMOLED Photo and Main The gamma curve plotted from 32 points with equal intervals by the numerical value of the shade of gray did not reveal any blockage in either highlights or shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power function is 2.21-2.23, which is very close to the standard value of 2.2 , while the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence (the captions in parentheses show the exponent of the approximating power-law function and the coefficient of determination):

For profile AMOLED movie The gamma curve has a slightly S-shaped character, which increases the visible contrast of the image, but in the shadows the shade remains distinct.

Recall that in the case of OLED screens, the brightness of image fragments dynamically changes in accordance with the nature of the displayed image - it decreases for generally bright images. As a result, the obtained dependence of brightness on the hue (gamma curve), most likely, does not correspond a little to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential output of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. This dynamic picture is enhanced when the option is selected. Auto tuning screen brightness... In this case, on the graph of the dependence of the brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis), when passing from black to white and vice versa, a falling section appears, that is, the brightness of the white field after about 0.3 s begins to decrease:

Color gamut in case of profile AMOLED movie very wide, but does not cover Adobe RGB coverage:

When choosing a profile AMOLED Photo the coverage changes slightly:

When choosing a profile Main coverage is significantly reduced, almost to the borders of sRGB:

Without correction, the spectra of the components are very well separated:

In case of a profile Main with maximum correction, the color components are already noticeably mixed with each other:

Note that normal sRGB-optimized images appear unnaturally saturated on screens with a wide gamut without proper color correction. Hence the recommendation - in most cases, watching movies, photographs and everything natural is better when choosing a profile Main, and only if the photo was taken on the Adobe RGB setting, it makes sense to switch the profile to AMOLED Photo... Profile AMOLED movie, despite the name, the least suitable for watching movies and anything else.

The gray scale balance is imperfect, but generally acceptable. Color temperature in profile AMOLED movie above 6500 K, in the other two it is close to 6500 K, while this parameter does not change very much in the significant section of the gray scale. The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) remains below 10 units for most of the gray scale, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, and also changes slightly:

(In most cases, the darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there does not really matter, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen has a sufficiently high maximum brightness and has good anti-reflective properties, so the device is most likely without special problems can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. It is permissible to use the mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works quite adequately. The advantages of the screen include a very good oleophobic coating, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB and an acceptable color balance (when choosing the appropriate profiles). At the same time, let's recall the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), excellent uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than that of LCDs, a drop in image brightness when viewed from an angle. The disadvantages include modulation of the screen brightness. Users who are particularly sensitive to flicker may experience fatigue as a result. However, the overall screen quality is very high.

Sound

The device has one main speaker, it emits a loud enough sound, saturated with the entire frequency spectrum. The smartphone sounds nice, the sound is not distorted at the maximum volume level. In the conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor, timbre and intonation remain recognizable, the conversation is quite comfortable.

For playing melodies, a proprietary player with the maximum number of settings is used as standard. All sound effects are combined with a technology called SoundAlive - although some of them are available only with connected headphones. The same goes for the sound optimization function. There are a lot of various virtual effects, visually they are combined into a matrix of squares.

There is an FM radio in the standard configuration of the smartphone, and a voice recorder was also found. The dictaphone is simple, unlike the top-end Samsung smartphones, there is no such variety of recording modes, everything is standard. The radio will not work without headphones connected as an external antenna, but it can record programs. The device cannot record telephone conversations from the line.

The main rear 13-megapixel camera has an f / 2.0 aperture, autofocus and LED flash. The settings menu is clear and intuitive, it is divided into equivalent cells, each of which is always visible and interactive. In addition, each of the cells can be pulled up and made a shortcut from it for quick access in a separate top line. The drawing of the icons is clear, everything is perfectly visible even in the brightest sunlight, and in general the implementation of the camera control menu in the latest Samsung devices is one of the best on the market.

However, the camera itself is far from as rich in capabilities as the cameras of flagship devices: there is no function of intelligent optical stabilization (Smart OIS) and selective focusing mode for blurring the background, there is no slow-motion or fast-motion video recording, and there is no possibility to shoot video in 4K or at a speed of 60 fps. From the shooting modes - only traditional panoramic, portrait, night.

Video samsung camera Galaxy A5 can shoot at a maximum resolution of Full HD 1920 × 1080 (30 fps); 4K resolution and 60 fps are not supported here. The quality of video recording can be judged by the test clips below.

Movie # 1 (42 MB, 1920 × 1080 @ 30fps)
Movie # 2 (46 MB, 1920 × 1080 @ 30fps)

	Attention to detail quickly fades as the shot is removed, but overall the sharpness is not bad.
	The branches are well worked out. In the lower left corner, you can see a large area of \u200b\u200bblur.
	Despite the hard work of noise reduction, the house looks good, and the inscriptions are worked out well.
	There is excellent sharpness in the center on all shots, but the left side of the image spoils the whole picture.
	Another confirmation that it is better not to put important details on the left side of the frame when composing - all the plans are good on the right.
	“Smeared” noises are visible on the asphalt.
	Sometimes the noise reduction works quite softly with monophonic surfaces.
	But he does not always succeed.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	Close-ups pay much more attention to small details than general ones.
	In poor lighting conditions, there is a high likelihood of smearing. Exposure 1/33 second.
	The text is very blurry, and it's not about the sharpness, but the long exposure (1/25 second). It is best to shoot text indoors with a flash.

Well, everything is quite expected here. Samsung put not a weak, but not the best camera in the smartphone, which corresponds to the positioning of the device. And in some places the feeling that the camera could shoot better, but it seems to have not been specially modified, so as not to stand out against the background of the surrounding hardware, does not leave.

However, the camera itself is quite good. They didn't stand on ceremony here with software processing - they just took what is simpler and better, and one cannot say that this is a bad option. Sharping is noticeable, but very mild, and occurs only in places. The details in the background are not given much attention by the camera, but it does not spoil them with attempts to improve. Shumodav is quite working and neat enough, but can afford radical measures in the form of banal "smearing" of noise on monophonic surfaces. There are areas of blur in the corners, but sharpness in the center is decent. However, in low light, the camera resorts to relatively long (1/33 s) shutter speeds, and images when shooting handheld come out blurry.

It's not worth using a camera for artistic photography, but it will cope with documentary photography very well.

Telephone part and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and there is also support for fourth-generation LTE Cat4 networks with a maximum possible speed of up to 150 Mbit / s for reception. In practice, with the SIM-card of the domestic operator MTS, the smartphone confidently recognizes and works with 4G networks.

Networking capabilities are modestly implemented: there is support for NFC technology, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, as standard, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. But unlike the flagship brothers, there is no 2 × 2 MIMO mode, no support for the Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard, no ANT + and DLNA. Also, it does not support connecting external devices to the USB port in OTG mode, and there is no MHL support either.

The navigation module works with both GPS and the domestic Glonass system, and also sees the satellites of the Chinese Beidou (BDS). There are no complaints about the navigation module, the satellites are located very quickly.

Drawing letters and numbers of virtual keyboards is quite large, it is also possible to resize the entire desktop, or you can separately reduce the block of the virtual keyboard and even move it anywhere on the screen. The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, when dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. For fans of Swype, there is a method of continuous input with a stroke from letter to letter, for this you need to enable the T9 service in the settings.

The smartphone supports work with two SIM-cards, and in general, the work with them in the menu is organized according to the familiar principle: you can assign any of the SIM-cards to the main one for organizing voice calls, transferring data or sending SMS messages. When dialing a number, you can also select the desired card by calling the context menu from the notification menu. A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G (LTE) networks, however, only one of the cards can work in this mode at the same time (the second will work only in 2G). There is only one radio module installed in the device, however, the so-called "Active mode", which is standard for all Samsung Duos models, is implemented here, which allows you to receive a call to the second SIM-card when the first one is busy. This is done by setting up cross-forwarding of the numbers of both cards to each other. The active dual SIM mode relies on mobile operator services such as call forwarding and call waiting / holding. After turning on the mode, the device prompts you to manually enter two numbers that will be forwarded to each other. For the function to work, the call forwarding service must be activated on both SIM cards. You can read more about the implementation of the "Active mode" on the manufacturer's website.

OS and software

Samsung Galaxy A5 even after the official release of the fifth version of Android OS goes on sale and runs initially on the Google Android software platform version 4.4.4, an update to version 5.x is promised later. On top of the OS interface, the proprietary graphic user interface TouchWiz is traditionally installed here. The rendering of all elements, the internal arrangement of the shell, the location of menu items, settings sections and pop-up contextual submenus - everything is familiar and very similar to what is implemented in the same Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Alpha, with the exception of some flagship features that are missing in the new smartphone. For example, the Galaxy A5 has a very limited set of gestures supported.

The hardware and software complex of the hero of the review, unlike even the non-flagship Samsung Galaxy S5 mini, is simplified beyond recognition. There is no fingerprint scanner built into the front button, no infrared transmitter on the top, and no familiar heart rate sensor usually found on the back of Samsung's top devices.

Accordingly, among the applications, even the favorite Samsung developers program for monitoring their own health called S Health is not preinstalled, which could measure heart rate and stress resistance. Energy-saving mode, privacy mode, the ability to work simultaneously in two windows remained in place. Added a news panel Briefing, called on the left by a side swipe - similar to HTC Blinkfeed.

Performance

Like Huawei Ascend G7, the hero of the review is one of the few mid-range mobile devices whose work is organized on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 platform. The platform is quite new, 64-bit, but this is far from a top-end chip - rather, an entry-level solution that produces a very low performance. The central processor here has 4 Cortex-A53 cores operating at a frequency of 1.2 GHz. The graphics are processed by the Adreno 306 video processor with a core frequency of 400 MHz. The device has 2 GB of RAM. The smartphone does not have a lot of built-in memory - about 11 of the nominal 16 GB of internal memory are available to the user. The possibility of expanding the built-in memory is provided: you can install a microSD card in the smartphone, but then the second SIM card will have to be removed. But the device does not support the mode of connecting external devices to the USB port (USB Host, USB OTG) - an external flash drive cannot be connected.

According to the test results, if we compare the performance of the new 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 platform with the previous 32-bit SoC Snapdragon 400, then there is no particularly noticeable increase. There is certainly a difference, but against the background of the results of higher-level platforms, the significance of such an increase is leveled. Here, all the same modest results (up to 20K) in AnTuTu against the background of 45K and higher in the top models and 30-35K in the models of a confident mid-range. The graphics accelerator of the novelty looks especially sad in comparison with competitors. Even the modest Asus Zenfone 5 on the Intel Atom Z2560 platform, which even after the price increase costs only 10 thousand rubles, confidently bypasses the Snapdragon 410 with its Adreno 306 in all graphics tests.

So, devices based on the Snapdragon 410 platform, albeit 64-bit, can only be called “middling” devices, their hardware performance is below average.

Testing in latest versions complex tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

All the results obtained by us when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks, we have summarized for convenience in tables. Several other devices from different segments are usually added to the table, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain behind the scenes - due to the fact that they once passed the "obstacle course" on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in the 3DMark gaming tests, GFXBenchmark, and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark for the highest performing smartphones, it is now possible to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Samsung Galaxy A5	Huawei Ascend G7 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 / Adreno 306)	Sony Xperia C3 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 / Adreno 305)	LG L Bello	Acer liquid jade (Mediatek MT6582 / Mali-400MP)	Asus Zenfone 5 (Intel Atom Z2560 / PowerVR SGX 544MP)
3DMark Ice Storm Extreme (more is better)	2624	2620	2855	2127	2050	3596
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (more is better)	4386	4452	4668	2881	2817	5697
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen)	9.6 fps	9.8 fps	4.0 fps	9.8 fps	7.2 fps	12.4 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	5.4 fps	5.3 fps	—	4.2 fps	4.1 fps	7.0 fps
Bonsai benchmark	1726 (25 fps)	1707 (24 fps)	1290 (18 fps)	2112 (30 fps)	1290 (18 fps)	3321 (47 fps)

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for evaluating the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowances for the fact that the results in them significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so that the comparison can be truly correct only on the same OS and browsers, and this possibility is available when testing not always. In the case of Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, do not expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

According to the test results, the subject was not provided with full support for all the necessary decoders, in this case, audio ones. To fully play most of the most common files on the network, you will have to resort to using a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, in it, you will first have to change the settings, switching from hardware decoding to software or to a new mode called Hardware + (not supported by all smartphones). By the way, in the latest versions of the program, unfortunately, due to licensing problems, support for the AC3 audio codec, used in the vast majority of video content on the Internet, was removed, so users lost sound when watching their favorite TV series and films. But there is a way out of this situation: you need to manually connect the codec downloaded for specific model processor in the smartphone by the user. Here short instruction for those who encountered this problem:

In the settings of the MX player, select the section "Decoder" → "Download custom codec" (the bottom line). After that, a page should open in the browser asking you to select and download the desired codec for your phone (the player itself will tell you which version to choose). After downloading, we return to the MX player settings, again go to the "Decoder" section, only now we select the penultimate item "Select custom codec", a list of internal folders will open, from which you need to select the folder where you downloaded the codec. We choose it and confirm our choice. The sound will reappear.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Native video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 2200 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 1400 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 3000Kbps, AC3		played without sound
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 4000 Kbps, AC3	plays fine with custom codec	played without sound
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920 × 1080 8000Kbps, AC3	plays fine with custom codec	played without sound

Testing of video output features was carried out Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. For this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see "Testing methods for video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)"). Screenshots with an exposure of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with different parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps) from). In our tests we used the MX Player video player in the "Hardware +" mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Note: If both columns Uniformity and Skips green ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problemsrelated to playback of the respective files.

According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video files playback on the screen of the device itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with more or less uniform intervals and without frame drops. When playing video files with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels (720p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the edge of the screen, one to one pixel by pixel, that is, in the original resolution. The worlds display PenTile features - the vertical world through the pixel looks like a grid, but on the horizontal world with stripes through the pixel there is no typical greenishness. The brightness range displayed on the screen actually corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows only a couple of shades merge with black, but all the shades are displayed in the highlights.

Battery life

The capacity of the lithium-ion battery installed in the Samsung Galaxy A5 is not the largest - just a modest 2300 mAh. However, the smartphone proved to be quite worthy when tested in traditional load modes, which, in general, is not surprising - after all, there is neither a powerful productive platform, nor an energy-intensive high-resolution screen. The novelty does not break records of autonomy, but everything is at a very decent level.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Samsung Galaxy A5	2300 mAh	14h 00m	11h 00m	4h 20m
Huawei Ascend G7	3000 mAh	20 h 00 m	13h 30m	6h 30m
Sony Xperia C3	2500 mAh	14h 30m	9h 30m	5h 50m
LG L Bello	2540 mAh	14h 00m	10h 20m	4h 50m
LG L Fino	1900 mAh	10h 00m	7h 00m	4h 10m
LG L90	2540 mAh	15h 20m	10h 00m	4h 50m
Acer liquid jade	2100 mAh	13h 20m	8h 40m	4h 30m
Wexler Zen 5+	2000 mAh	8h 10m	5h 30m	3h 00m
Alcatel Idol 2 mini S	2000 mAh	15h 50m	9h 00m	4h 00m
Huawei P6	2000 mAh	14h 50m	7h 10m	4h 00m
Asus Padfone E	1820 mAh	15h 20m	7h 10m	3h 50m
Samsung S4 mini	1900 mAh	16h 40m	10h 30m	4h 40m
LG G2 mini	2440 mAh	16h 00m	10h 00m	5h 00m
Motorola Moto G	2070 mAh	15h 20m	8h 00m	4h 20m
ZTE nubia Z5 mini	2300 mAh	11h 05m	8h 00m	3h 50m

Continuous reading in fBReader (with a standard, light theme) at the minimum comfortable level of brightness (the brightness was set to 100 cd / m²) lasted about 14 hours until the battery was completely discharged. When watching videos continuously in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level through home network The Wi-Fi device lasted 11 hours. In 3D games mode, the device worked for almost 4.5 hours. A full charge takes just over 2 hours.

Outcome

Something strange is going on with marketing at Samsung, and it looks like it is due to declining revenues and complicated competition with hardened Chinese manufacturers stepping on their heels. The Koreans have released a smartphone that is completely simplified on all fronts, cutting out everything that is possible from it, and now they are trying to sell it at the price of a full-fledged flagship. Do not Samsung seriously think that just due to the appearance of metal in the case, users have to put up with poor performance, screen resolution, far from the flagship, docked user interface, and take 24 thousand rubles to the cashier for this? And this despite the fact that, even unlike the cheaper brother, the Galaxy S5 mini model, the hero of the review has neither a fingerprint sensor, nor a heart rate sensor, nor an infrared transmitter, nor moisture protection. It’s not even mentioning that the smartphone lacks a lot of such fundamentally useful little things as an LED indicator of events, a flashlight, support for USB OTG and the second Wi-Fi band (5 GHz), etc., etc. competitors do not even have to say: for the same 24 thousand, an excellent, the most rich in functions and capabilities true flagship, HTC Desire Eye, was presented almost simultaneously, and even for a much smaller amount you can still buy twice as powerful Lenovo Vibe X2 with a Full screen HD. The Samsung Galaxy A5 smartphone, even though it is made of high-quality materials with a high level of performance inherent in the company, is nevertheless very simple in its capabilities and characteristics, and its place is in a completely different price category.

The Samsung Galaxy A5 was awaited with particular interest, because this model, along with the A2, should have been the first articles in which Samsung finally abandoned the usual glossy plastic. Samsung Galaxy A5 is made entirely of aluminum, it has good, but still far from flagship specifications... First of all, the model will attract their attention from those users who are willing to pay for a metal case and solid design, not paying much attention to other features of the model.

Design and ergonomics

Outwardly, the new model Samsung Galaxy A5 is difficult to distinguish from its earlier counterparts. Yes, it's still the same corporate identity from Samsung - a strict but elegant body, slightly rounded edges, an oval mechanical Home button. At the same time, it is very difficult to guess that the case is made entirely of aluminum - it is painted over so that the feeling of high-quality plastic is created to the touch. Only a silvery border at the ends reveals the metal in the body.

The smartphone turned out to be thin, light enough and compact, it fits comfortably in the hand and does not slip out thanks to the very coating that for some reason “disguises” the metal body. Samsung Galaxy A5 is monolithic, it cannot be disassembled, so you cannot change the battery, and slots for a memory card and SIM-cards are located at the end of the device. The front of the smartphone is covered with Gorilla Glass, there are also sensors and a camera peephole, although there is no LED alert sensor.

When buying, it is worth remembering that you will not be able to use two Nano-SIM cards and microSD at the same time, since the second SIM slot is combined with the memory card slot. We'll have to make a compromise, although it is not clear why in such a far from the most budget model to implement such savings, while there are smartphones on the market that are 2 times cheaper, where you will not have to choose between memory expansion and a second operator. The protruding camera is also inconvenient.

In general, the design of the Samsung Galaxy A5 is familiar to Samsung users, the smartphone looks expensive and beautiful, and it is comfortable to work with it.

Screen

Super AMOLED screen with a 5-inch matrix has a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels and an average pixel density per inch - 294 ppi. The picture is not displayed with print quality, which one would expect from a smartphone of this price category, but it is convenient to work with the display. There is an automatic brightness control, a light and proximity sensor, you can also manually adjust the brightness indicator. Multi-touch supports up to 10 touches at a time. The smartphone is of medium size, the frames around the screen are about 4 mm, so the area is not used very economically, given the rather large diagonal.

The display has good anti-glare properties; working with the Samsung Galaxy A5 under the sun will not present any problems. There is no air gap between the glass and the matrix. The Galaxy A5 also boasts an excellent oleophobic coating that is very easy to remove fingerprints from. Also, the model has very large viewing angles, when watching movies or photos from an angle, the colors are practically not distorted.

Camera

The cameras in the Samsung Galaxy A5 have worked well, with this in the latest models of the manufacturer there are usually no problems. An excellent front camera with a 5 megapixel module allows you to take very high-quality pictures, "selfies", and provides a good picture during video calls. It has an f / 2.2 aperture and is capable of shooting 1080p video.

The main camera has a 13-megapixel module, autofocus, LED flash. The settings and controls menu is very convenient, it is divided into cells and is intuitive. You can move your most frequently used shortcuts to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Looking to buy a phone that can shoot Full HD video? Check out the Asus Zenfone 6 review - a smartphone with a great camera!

The camera does not have optical image stabilization and the ability to set spot focus; it also cannot shoot video at 60 frames per second. But at the same time, the quality and implementation of the Samsung camera is one of the best on the market today.

Performance and software

The Samsung Galaxy A5 is equipped with a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 4-core processor with a clock speed of 1.2 GHz, as well as an Adreno 306 graphics accelerator. 64-bit platform. Nevertheless, the smartphone works smoothly and quickly, copes well with heavy games and applications, does not freeze. 2 GB also play a role random access memory... The built-in memory in the device is 16 GB, and free for the user - 12 GB. As we already wrote, this volume can be expanded, but only by sacrificing the ability to use a second SIM card.

Read a review of an LG phone with similar specifications

Galaxy A5 runs on Android 4.4.4 OS with TouchWiz proprietary shell. The user will be able to change themes and customize desktops, install S Health apps and kid mode. There are also preinstalled programs for photo editing, creating collages and video editing. The model supports almost everything communication capabilities - 2G, 3G, LTE networks, as well as NFC, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth, Beidou, GPS, Glonass, but there is no USBOTG mode. FM-radio is a nice bonus for the user.

Battery and battery life

The Samsung Galaxy A5 has a 2300 mAh non-removable battery. This is not enough for a device of this class, but in general, the model demonstrates good results. autonomous workin particular thanks to the optimized chipset. Under very heavy loads, the GalaxyA5 will hold out for a day, with the same use the S5 worked for about half a day. You can watch videos in high quality for more than 12 hours. You can fully charge your Samsung Galaxy A5 in less than two hours, which is very convenient. The model does not have wireless charging capabilities.

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW

The Samsung Galaxy A5 has both advantages and disadvantages. But good camera, good performance and a metal case look advantageous, so there will definitely be fans of this device.

The Samsung Galaxy A5 is a normal mid-range phone. Although there are some nuances: an improved processor, which is slightly better than those installed on most Android devices in this segment, plus the presence of S martW atches.

The design has certainly taken a step forward. Buyers will clearly love the 13MP camera.

In general, it turned out to be a good mid-range smartphone, without any surprises.

PROS

Neat design
More powerful screen

MINUSES

Can't handle multitasking at times
May be more expensive the better the models in this category

Which one to choose: Samsung Galaxy S6 or Galaxy A5 (2017)? Perhaps you are faced with such a question and can not make a choice in any way: take the two-year-old flagship or the brand new mid-range Galaxy A series of 2017? Some people are really difficult to define, so today we intend to compare them.

There is a significant age difference between them, as you probably know. new mid-range phone using modern technologies, but is it superior to the flagship with the most advanced inventions at the time?

Display and design

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy A5 (2017) have almost the same diagonal screens - 5.1 and 5.2 inches, respectively. The flagship of 2015 has 2K-resolution, and this year's mid-range is Full HD, so the point is not in favor of the new device. However, the Samsung A5 2017 is equipped with a Super AMOLED panel, which is made with more advanced technologies, due to which its quality has improved. The A5 has a slightly better screen-to-body ratio, but falls short of its rival in pixel density.

Both devices use the same materials for their cases: metal and glass. The front and back panels are covered with impact-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The frames are made of very durable aluminum in both cases. The build is very high quality, none of them have any problem with it.

In addition, the 2017 Galaxy A5 boasts IP68 certification, which makes it water and dust resistant like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.

Galaxy S6 vs Galaxy A5 (2017): specifications

Samsung has equipped these gadgets with excellent 8-core processors. In the case of the Galaxy A5 (2017), you only get the energy-efficient Cortex-A53 cores, while the Galaxy S6 has 4 high-performance Cortex-A57 cores and 4 energy-efficient Cortex-A53 cores. Moreover, the device in the middle segment is equipped with a three-core video accelerator, while the flagship is equipped with an eight-core one.

At the moment, the phone from Samsung, which received the name Galaxy A7, is considered one of the best smartphones on the market for similar equipment. However, due to the high cost, which generally corresponds to the quality of the device, the device is not very popular with buyers. It is because of this that the company decided to transfer a large number of functions and design components to another phone of the same line. Let's talk about him in this article. Its name is "Samsung Galaxy A5". It was released in 2017, but it was already sold in quite a large number among consumers. Perhaps the point is that the gadget has taken a place in the middle price category. In order to compose full description device will be based on customer feedback.

General inspection

The Samsung A5 phone in such a short period of time was able to establish itself as a rather powerful device for its price category. The operating system that is used is "Android 6.0", in other words, "Marshmallow". Moreover, the interface and the menu of the phone look quite interesting and fresh. This is because the manufacturer has installed their own skin. The gadget works as quickly as possible due to the presence of 3 GB of RAM and an 8-core processor.
The screen received a diameter of 5 inches, a resolution of 1080 × 1920 pixels. Consumers are fully satisfied with these characteristics. What else can the display boast of? It does not fade in direct sunlight. Outdoors, visibility is excellent in all weather conditions.
Smartphone "Samsung Galaxy A5" received the module wireless internet, works with frequencies 2.4 and 5 GHz. The manufacturer has built in a fingerprint scanner, which functions perfectly.
Even with such excellent characteristics, consumers still caused some nuances of a negative reaction. In Russia, the average cost of a device is 28 thousand rubles. It is much more expensive than all of its competitors. But of course, in terms of quality, the latter are significantly inferior.
The Samsung A5 phone received distinctive characteristics. What is it about? On the presence of glass that covers the body, as well as on the use of protective technology. The latter makes the smartphone resistant to dust and water. Also, the device received a unique design, which quite claims to be premium. The manufacturer took care of fast charging... The 3,000 mAh battery takes about 1 hour to charge.

Pros and cons, according to consumers

Consumers immediately after the purchase began to look for disadvantages and advantages. Let's consider first the positive characteristics of the phone.

The screen is large and perfectly fits the size of the case. There is a separate port for the memory card. The case is protected from water and dust. The design is incredibly good. Charging is as fast as possible.And what are the disadvantages of the owners? It should be noted right away that they do not hit the Samsung A5 phone's reputation much. A more detailed overview is presented below, while we briefly look at the disadvantages.

Due to the ratio of the dollar to the ruble, the cost is slightly overstated. Although for the American buyer, it is ideal. Some consumers note the disadvantages of using the Marshmallow operating system. Due to the presence of glass on the case, the device seems rather fragile, but no one has yet dared to test it for strength.

Specifications

The phone went on sale in mid-January 2017. Around the same time, a cover for Samsung A5 began to be sold. The average cost of a gadget, which has already been mentioned above, is 28 thousand rubles. Available in blue, gold and black. The form factor is already clear: a smartphone. Dimensions of the gadget: length - 14.6 cm, width - 7.1 cm, thickness - 0.7 cm. Total weight phone - 160 gr. Of the available touch functions, the following can be noted: barometer, accelerometer, fingerprint scanner, compass, light, proximity, hall sensors. There are also the usual mechanical buttons: power keys, volume control. You can protect your device with a PIN, password, pattern, or fingerprint.
These are the characteristics of the Samsung A5 phone. Only more is missing detailed description each of the elements.

Inner memory

The package bundle is also worth considering. The phone is sold with a special coupon from the service, instructions for the user, headphones, a charger and a rechargeable battery.

Display and design reviews

Most consumers call the thickness of the device "Samsung A5", the characteristics of which already make one think about buying it, normal. By today's standards, it cannot be declared too small, but it is optimal. I was also pleased with the weight of the device. Moreover, due to the use of protective technology, it was quite expected that the dimensions would become somewhat large. Consumers called the presence of a speakerphone on the right side part a good move. An additional improvement is that the camera doesn't stick out of the body. The consumers liked it pretty much. After all, when the device is on the table, it does not swing.
Buyers noted good screen... It is possible to display any applications on the active display in order to have quick access to them. Many reviews have focused on how amazing the screen-to-body ratio is. The phone is easy to hold and operate.

CPU and memory reviews

When it comes to processor and memory, gaming enthusiasts immediately revive. I must say that the phone works great with fairly capacious programs, even when it comes to 3D graphics. So, gamers should also pay attention to the Samsung A5.
RAM reviews are also good. Users note that due to the built-in shell, which consumes few resources, the phone does not slow down and works as quickly as possible. Some were upset that out of all 32 GB, only 23 GB is available to the user. But the memory can be easily expanded with external storage.

Camera Reviews

We continue our review of Samsung A5. Reviews of the camera are only good. Consumers note some difference between the images of the front matrix and the main one. The first is devoid of autofocus and flash, but the photos are still of high quality. Everyone recognizes that this option is considered almost the best.
I was also pleased with the ability to shoot video at 30 frames per second. The material is obtained in Full HD quality, which cannot but deserve laudatory reviews.

Feedback on communication

Some Samsung A5 owners (95% positive reviews) reacted with skepticism to the fact that the manufacturer made two ports for nano-type SIM cards. Two radio modules work at once, so both numbers are always active. The phone supports interoperability with 4G networks, the transmission speed also impressed many. The device has a built-in bluetooth module that works flawlessly.
What impressed the buyers? The phone has a built-in port that allows you to connect charger, sync with your computer, and work with a mouse and keyboard.
The fingerprint sensor is equipped in the Home button. Buyers were divided in opinion: some liked this solution, while others did not. It works on touch technology, so there is no need to "wake up" the phone again.

Reviews about the software

Consumers note that the gadget has received an excellent set of software. Even though the device works with "Marshmallows" from "Android", the manufacturer has installed a proprietary shell, therefore, interacting with the phone is pleasant and comfortable. High-speed performance and multitasking are of the highest level, so buyers of the Samsung A5 write only positive reviews.