Samsung Unveils 2017 Galaxy A Series with IP68 Water Resistance, Samsung Pay, and 16MP Camera

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 2 Jan 2017

Samsung today announced its 2017 mid-range Galaxy A lineup comprising of the Galaxy A7, Galaxy A5, and Galaxy A3. The handsets share many of the premium features that Samsung first debuted with its flagship Galaxy S handsets over the last couple of years.

The three A-series handsets unveiled today feature a premium metallic frame and 3D glass back similar to what we have seen on Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S6 in the last couple of years. The handsets also feature IP68 rating that makes them dust and water resistant. All the three phones are 7.9mm thick, with their dimensions varying depending on their screen size. Samsung will be making the Galaxy A7, A5, and A3 available in four colors: Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist, and Peach Cloud.

The Galaxy A7 is the most powerful and biggest phone in Samsung’s lineup that was announced today. It features a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.9GHz octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, and a microSD card slot. It also features 16MP shooter at its front and rear with an f/1.9 aperture and a 3600mAh battery with fast charging.

As for the Galaxy A5, it features a 5.2-inch 1080p AMOLED display, 1.9GHz octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, and microSD card slot. Like the A7, the A5 comes with a 16MP f/1.9 shooter at the front and rear, and a 3000mAh battery with fast charging support.

Lastly, the Galaxy A3 is the lowest rung handset of the bunch. It comes with a 4.7-inch 720p AMOLED display, 1.6GHz AMOLED display, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, and a microSD card slot. It also features a 13MP f/1.9 shooter at its rear and an 8MP f/1.9 aperture shooter at the front. The handset comes with a 2350mAh battery and lacks fast charging support.

All the three handsets feature USB-C ports, NFC, Samsung Pay support, fingerprint scanner, Always on Display, Dual-SIM connectivity, and LTE Cat 6 support. They also run on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and come with features like Samsung Cloud and Secure Folder. The devices are also capable of using their front screen as front flash while taking selfies.

Samsung says that the Galaxy A will be first available in Russa from early-January, with availability to follow in other markets in the coming months.