Samsung Galaxy A7 Mid-Range Tries To Mix Best Of All Worlds [UPDATE]

Missing out on CES 2015 by just a few days, Samsung has finally unveiled the Galaxy A7, the last of the three "Galaxy A" siblings that have tried to bring the metallic body of the more premium Galaxy Alpha down to the mid-range level. Matching much of the leaks and rumors, which might not be a good thing, the Galaxy A7 does indeed sport only mediocre specs, but Samsung pretty much tries to make up for it with some features found in its higher end devices.

There are two models available for the Galaxy A7, one with pure LTE and one with a 3G+LTE dual SIM combo. The LTE-only version has a higher processor, with a 1.8 GHz + 1.3 GHz octa-core combo, while the dual SIM variant has a slightly lower 1.5 GHz + 1.0 GHz octa-core chip. In everything else, both are similar, with the same 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage, The display is 5.5 inches, larger than the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5, but sadly only HD here. The battery is sadly only 2,600 mAh.

That said, there might be a few things that the Galaxy A7 might be proud of. Of course, there's the metallic frame that it inherited from the Galaxy Alpha. Samsung also touts the smartphone's slim profile of 6.3 mm, though that is definitely not the slimmest one around. The Galaxy A7 does have a 13 megapixel rear camera, but the front-facing wide-angle 5-megapixel front camera might be more interesting to selfie lovers.

Software wise, the Galaxy A7 unsurprisingly still runs on Android 4.4 KitKat. Aside from camera features like Auto Selfie, the smartphone also has features like Private Mode, useful for "shared" devices, and Multi Screen functionality found only in Samsung's higher end phablets.

Samsung is positioning the Galaxy A7, along with the Galaxy A5 and A3, as devices with "superior Samsung design" at an affordable price. That said, the OEM has not yet made known the availability and pricing details of this smartphone, though we can pretty much be sure that they will first appear in emerging markets.

[UPDATE] Seems like Samsung made a slight boo-boo. After labeling the Galaxy A7's screen as "HD sAMOLED" in their original announcement, the OEM has updated all its materials to reflect the fact that the smartphone indeed boasts a 1920x1080 Full HD screen, taking it closer to a high-end setup.

SOURCE: Samsung