Samsung has announced a refresh update of their Galaxy A line up. The best of the group is the Galaxy A7 (2016). So, what has changed?
| Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) | Samsung Galaxy A7 |
|---|---|
| 5.5-inch Super AMOLED (1080 x 1920 pixels) display, 401ppi | 5.5-inch Super AMOLED (1080 x 1920 pixels) display, 401ppi |
| Corning Gorilla Glass 4 | |
| 1.6GHz Octa-core chipset | 1.8GHz Exynos 5 Octa 5430 chipset |
| Mali-T628 MP6 | |
| 3GB of RAM | 2GB of RAM |
| 16GB internal storage | 16GB internal storage |
| Expandable up to 128GB via microSD | Expandable up to 64GB via microSD |
| 13-megapixel f/1.9 autofocus rear camera w/ OIS, LED flash | 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera w/ LED flash |
| 5-megapixel f/1.9 front-facing camera | 5-megapixel front-facing camera |
| 4G LTE | 4G LTE |
| Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band |
| Bluetooth 4.1 w/ A2DP, EDR, LE | Bluetooth 4.1 w/ A2DP, EDR, LE |
| GPS w/ A-GPS, GLONASS / BDS | GPS w/ A-GPS, GLONASS / BDS |
| NFC | NFC |
| FM Radio | FM Radio |
| Fingerprint scanner | |
| Non-removable Li-Ion 3300mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 2600mAh battery |
| Android 5.1.1 Lollipop | Android 4.4.4 KitKat (upgradable to Lollipop) |
| 151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3 mm | 151 x 76.2 x 6.3 mm |
| 172 g | 141 g |
To start, the new Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) still has the same screen size and resolution but as you can see from the image above, it has a thinner bezel over the last year’s version. It even has a different chipset inside but it is still unknown since Samsung just said it is an octa-core chipset running at 1.6GHz. Last year’s model has a speedier 1.8GHz Exynos 5 Octa 5430. Although, the new model now has a bigger 3GB RAM and a faster LTE Cat6 radio. The camera is still a 13-megapixel sensor but with optical image stabilization and a large f/1.9 aperture. It also has a bigger battery rated at 3300mAh. Due to this, it’s now thicker at 7.3mm vs 6.3mm and heavier at 172g vs 141g.
The 2016 version will ship with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop out of the box which is disappointing since Android 6.0 Marshmallow is already out. The new Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) will be available first in China this month before heading to the rest of the market. Pricing is yet to be announced.
