Samsung’s new Galaxy A7 (2017) smartphone features a premium metal frame and 3D glass back that draws on Samsung’s premium design heritage. With a sleek camera and home key, the device is more seamless than ever and comfortable to hold and use.
The Galaxy A7 is available in three stylish colours including Black Sky, Gold Sand and Blue Mist. The variant, which was sent to us for review, was the Gold Sand one. The A7 is the priciest and the most premium model in the new Galaxy A series, which also includes the A3 and the A5.
Samsung Galaxy A7 – Camera
On the front of the device, you will find a 5.7-inch AMOLED display, which is quite brilliant to look at. The overall construction of the phone is a mix of metal and plastic. The overall finish gives the phone a premium look and feel.
The display is a full HD one and comes with Gorilla Glass protection. The A7 is rated IP68 – which means that it is dust and water resistant. So you are safe for up to 1.5-meters in depth for up to 30 minutes. Under the hood, the phone runs on an Exynos 7880 Chipset with 1.9 GHz A-53 Octa-core processor and Mali-T830MP3 GPU.
The Samsung Galaxy A7 features a 5.7-inch full HD AMOLED screen
You also get 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is further expandable to up to 256GB using a microSD card. Turn the phone around and you come face to face with a 16MP primary camera that offers an f/1.9 aperture. The camera is capable of shooting 1080p videos at 30 frames per second.
On the front, you also get a 16MP secondary camera with an f/1.9 aperture, for beautiful selfies. Under the display, you will find a front-mounted fingerprint sensor, which also doubles up as the physical home button. The Galaxy A7 is also powered by a 3,600mAh battery with fast charging support.
The 16MP primary camera offers an f/1.9 aperture
What we like about the A7 is that it offers a Dual SIM capability, which takes in two nano SIMs. You also get a dedicated microSD card slot, so you don’t have to sacrifice one SIM slot for expanding the storage capacity of the device. This is sign of a true value for money, mid-range device and kudos to Samsung for doing that.
In terms of OS, the A7 runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, with Samsung’s very own UI on top of it. If you have been a Samsung Galaxy customer previously, you will find the UI on the A7 familiar. Other connectivity options include 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB Type-C support. You also get a USB Type C to micro USB adapter inside the box, with the A7.
The Samsung A7 runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS
Photography has always been a strong point of Samsung Galaxy devices and the A7 does not disappoint on that regard. We were able to shoot some amazing images and videos under good lighting conditions. Even under low light conditions, we were able to shoot good looking pictures and videos.
Performance-wise, the Samsung Galaxy A7 isn’t really a powerhouse. But then, the device is not supposed to offer flagship-like performance. The A7 is a true mid-range device that is designed to offer good looks, premium build, good feature sets and mid-range performance, and the A7 does just that with aplomb.
Are you on the market for a very good mid-range device, that can offer good build quality and design, good performance, good photography capabilities and dust and water resistance? If you answered “Yes!” to all of that, you cannot go wrong with the Samsung Galaxy A7.
[highlight color=”yellow”]Price: AED 1749[/highlight]
