From the family of the Galaxy A-series smartphones, which have a reputation for their metallic unibodies, the Samsung Galaxy A7 has also made an attempt to make itself distinct from the usual plastic-bodied smartphones. The first such phone under Samsung which was launched in India was the Galaxy Alpha, which made its entry in September 2014.
At an estimate value of Rs 30,499, the Galaxy A7 is essentially less costly than the Samsung Galaxy Alpha whose initial price was at Rs. 39,990, but in many aspects, the Galaxy A7 seems to be holding better value for the price it holds.
Setting aside the slower octa-core processor, the Galaxy A7 sports a higher-resolution primary and secondary cameras, a full-HD screen rather than the usual HD, and a memory expandability by means of a microSD card. It features 16GB of internal storage, while the Galaxy Alpha has 32GB however no microSD card space. The Galaxy A7 has a non-removable 2600mAh battery which is much bigger than the Galaxy Alpha's 1860mAh.
A slim, tall smartphone, the golden version of the Galaxy A7 has a sparkly gold-dust finish on its back panel, and a somewhat less gleaming front display that is designed and secured in glass that goes straight up to the edges. The company claims this phone to be its slimmest phone ever, its thickness being a 6.3mm. The back panel houses a protruding rear camera, whose protruding nature may be a reason for the user's fingerprints being smeared on the lens, which is another disadvantage. The rear camera is mated to a LED flash and the speaker, a combination that may seem to be weird, but doesn't seem to have a negative effect over each of its components individually. But however, the volume output of the speaker seemed to be a bit lower than the other Samsung models.
Looking upon to the rear end 13MP camera, Samsung seems to have done some decent work on the Galaxy A7, as the photos and videos shot by this phone seemed to have a sharp quality, with very less or no noise in the pictures. The secondary 5MP camera is made for the selfie lovers and has inbuilt selfie softwares like Ultra-Wide Shot and Auto Selfie.
Compared to the Alpha's A7, this smartphone features a bigger display of 5.5-inches, while the former features a 4.7-inch screen. But the bigger screen size may come in as a disadvantage to the Galaxy A7 as it doesn't become “handy” anymore. The display is Super AMOLED, which seems to be a standardized characteristic of all the smartphones released by Samsung. The Galaxy A7 also features far more better viewing angles besides the vibrant full HD display. Another disadvantage of this phone, is the reduced brightness when compared to other Samsung smartphones, even when it is in its full-brightness mode.
Though it has a seemingly slower octa-core processor, when compared to the Alpha, as mentioned earlier, this smartphone doesn't put up much lag while flipping through apps and is quite fast in starting up a new application as well as while playing games, which clearly indicates that this phone has been designed for the multi-taskers.
The microSD card slot is on the same right end of the phone, as like its SIM card slot, alongside the power button, and the volume button is on the left. The Micro-USB port and 3.5mm sound jack are at the base. Generally speaking, Samsung seems to have made a strong comeback into the smartphone market with the gadget's construct quality. The telephone feels misleadingly light for its metal-rimmed form, however it does tip the scales at a moderately solid 141 grams.
On the whole, Samsung appears to have made a good move with the Galaxy A7. Stay in touch for some more detailed reviews on the latest smartphones to be launched this year.
