Samsung’s New Galaxy A Smartphones Bring Samsung Pay To The Masses

Galaxy A range is expanded with three new metal-bodied devices, set for release in April

Samsung has revealed three new devices in its Galaxy A range as it looks to set out its stall early for 2016.

The new devices – the 5.5in Galaxy A7, 5.2in A5 and 4.7in A3, act as a refresh of Samsung’s existing Galaxy A devices, and are all equipped with a long-lasting metallic build and top features such as Samsung Pay, all for a wallet-friendly price.

The company first launched the Galaxy A family back in January as a lower-cost alternative to its premium flagship Galaxy S range, which most recently saw the introduction of the Galaxy S6 Edge +.

Stylish

samsung galaxy a7The Galaxy A7 (pictured left) is the most powerful of the trio, sporting a 1.6Ghz octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which can be expanded up to 128GB via micro-USB. Weighing in at 172g, it also comes with Android Lollipop 5.1, a 13MP rear camera and 5MP front shooter, 3,300mAh battery and a fingerprint scanner.

The Galaxy A7 is equipped with MST technology, meaning that it can be used for Samsung Pay, the company’s mobile payments service.

Next comes that Galaxy A5, which has a smaller 5.2in FHD screen with Super AMOLED display, but still features the same octa-core processor, 16GB storage and 13MP/5MP rear and front cameras. However it does only 2GB of RAM and a less powerful 2,900mAh battery, and also weighs less at just 155g.

It will also work with Samsung Pay, and offer connectivity to LTE Cat6 networks, allowing speedy downloads for users.

samsung galaxy a3Last of all is the Galaxy A3, which packs a 4.7in HD screen with Super AMOLED display and weighs in at 132g. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this device features the least powerful hardware of the three, being powered by a 1.5Ghz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM and a 2,300mAh battery. It also will not support Samsung Pay or come with a fingerprint scanner.

This being said, it does still offer connectivity to LTE Cat4 networks, and packs the same cameras and expandable storage capacity as the A7 and A5, so could be an attractive proposition for businesses looking to equip their workers with a low-cost yet still powerful device.

Samsung isn’t revealing costs for any of the devices yet, so it’s probable that we’ll have to wait until CES 2016 in January for more information., however it has confirmed that all three Galaxy A smartphones will be able to buy in the UK from April.

What do you know about the smartphones of 2015 so far? Try our quiz!

Samsung Galaxy A7

Image 4 of 18