The great Samsung machinery plods on, and this time around we have the latest word on the Galaxy A5 (2017) and the Galaxy A7 (2017). These two look set to continue the trend of maintaining the same name but having a different model year, which makes it a whole lot easier for everyone to remember since there are simply way too many smartphones rolling off production lines these days to properly keep up.
First of all, the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) has been said to have shipped from South Korea to India for performance testing, and there has been leaks of its performance figures. Word has it that the Galaxy A5 (2017) picked up a 817 score on the single-core test, achieving 4,692 on the multi-core test. With the code name of SM-A520F, it is touted to arrive with a 5.2" Full HD display, encased in a metal and glass unibody to keep up with the times.
Underneath the hood, the Galaxy A5 (2017) is touted to run on an Exynos 7880 chip alongside 3GB of RAM. The Exynos 7880 is no pushover, as it is an octa-core CPU which sports a quartet of Cortex-A72 at 1.87GHz, another four Cortex-A53 at 1.3GHz, mated to a Mali-T860MP4 GPU. It should be far friskier compared to its predecessor, and with a promise of Android 7.0 Nougat update next year, the Galaxy A5 (2017) bodes well with Android 6.0 Marshmallow right out of the box.
It remains to be seen whether the 13MP camera at the back and the 5MP front-facing chooter will be improved though.
The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) is said to come with the model number SM-A720x, and it is touted to be a larger sized device with a Full HD display that measures 5.5” across diagonally. This would place it on par with that of its predecessor, the 2016 model, so what are the changes underneath the hood that make it better?
Apparently, a benchmark of the Galaxy A7 (2017) has already appeared over on GFXBench, where it does provide a beefier processor in the form of the powerful octa-core Exynos 7870 chipset. This chipset will be based on 14nm architecture, and is accompanied by a Mali T830 GPU. The amount of RAM will remain the same at 3GB, but at least you get 32GB of internal storage which is double of what the 2016 model carries.
What makes the 2017 Galaxy A7 stand out from the rest of the crowd would probably be its camera. There will be a 16MP shooter at the back -- and the front carries a similar resolution camera as well. This ought to make your selfies look sharper than ever before, but there are also other situations to be considered when it comes to image quality of selfies. Unfortunately, video recording maxes out at Full HD and not 4K resolution. Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow ought to arrive with it right out of the box with 4G LTE and NFC support, in addition to a fingerprint sensor for additional security capabilities alongside Samsung Pay compatibility.
There is no word on pricing on the availability of the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) and Galaxy A7 (2017) just yet, although chances are they will be announced some time in December. This would normally be followed by retail availability early next year if history were to be repeated. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there will be no battery explosions with these new Samsung handsets.
