Review and characteristics of Samsung Galaxy a5 2020 - Video

The Galaxy A series can be considered unique not only for Samsung, but also for the Android smartphone market in general. Typically, manufacturers try to cram more powerful hardware into mid-priced smartphones, and their design is made according to the residual principle. The first generation of Galaxy A devices had exactly the opposite: the appearance was interesting, but the hardware let us down. Technically weak smartphones made of metal and glass managed to receive a lot of negative reviews from the press, and yet these devices were popular. This is understandable and even expected: there are not many smartphones with an interesting design for 20-25 thousand rubles; “fashionistas” who don’t want to spend money on a flagship model don’t have much to choose from.

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) in pink – official photo. White, black and gold colors will also be available for new products.

Now the Galaxy A family has been updated, and the technical characteristics of the devices have improved, since the capabilities of previous gadgets did not even reach the unspoken middle-class standards. The new generation has solved this problem - at least “on paper” the characteristics of the Galaxy A3 and A5 look very good. What are they like in practice? We will answer this question after thorough testing of both devices. It is noteworthy that the previous A3 and A5 remain on sale along with the new ones, while the older Galaxy A7 2020 has pushed its parent off the shelves. We'll talk about it in detail another time.

⇡#Technical characteristics

Smartphone Samsung Galaxy A5 2020

Stylish, but underperforming

Content

• Specifications
• Design
• Screen
• Operating system and software
• Performance
• Playing video
• Autonomous operation, heating and communication
• Camera
• conclusions

A year ago, Samsung released a completely new line of Galaxy A smartphones, including the A3, A5 and A7 models. Unlike the flagship Galaxy S line, the emphasis here was not on performance and functionality, but on design. At the same time, the price of the Galaxy A models was lower than that of the Galaxy S line. At the beginning of 2016, the tradition was continued with the release of three new models. They decided not to philosophize with the name and simply added the designation of the year - 2020.

Of the three models in the line, the middle device looks the most interesting: the Galaxy A5 2020. The fact is that it combines an impressive design, a screen with the most universal size (5.2 inches) and a low price (about 26 thousand rubles at the time of writing, which much more attractive than the A7 2020 model, not to mention the current S series smartphones).

We examined the device and tried to figure out what compromises the user would have to make for the sake of an attractive design and low price.

Let's take a look at the characteristics of the new product.

Specifications Samsung Galaxy A5 2016

• SoC Exynos 7580 Octa
• CPU Cortex-A53 @1.6 GHz (8 cores)
• GPU Mali-T720MP2 @650 MHz
• Operating system Android 5.1
• Touch display 5.2″ AMOLED, 1920×1080, 424 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB
• Permanent memory: 16 GB
• Supports microSD memory cards up to 128 GB
• SIM cards: 2 × Nano-SIM
• Communication GSM/GPRS/EDGE/3G/LTE
• Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/A-GPS
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• GPS with A-GPS, Glonass
• Cameras: 5 MP (front) and 13 MP (rear) with LED flash and autofocus, f/1.9, Full HD video shooting
• Battery: lithium polymer 2900 mAh, non-removable
• Dimensions 144.8×71×7.3 mm
• Weight 155 g

For clarity, we decided to make a table with the characteristics of two competing models from other manufacturers, as well as the first generation Samsung Galaxy A5, in order to visualize the difference between it and the new product.

*according to official data from manufacturers

The progress of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020 compared to last year's model is obvious: higher display resolution, newer OS version, more powerful SoC. However, compared to its competitors, the new product does not look so attractive. For about the same money you can buy the LG Nexus 5X, which offers more powerful hardware, USB Type C, 4K video recording and the latest version of Android. Or - the much cheaper Huawei Honor 5X, the characteristics of which are generally of the same level, but the price is much lower (about 17 thousand rubles at the time of writing).

However, the main trump card of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020 is its design, so we’ll talk about it in more detail.

Design

The smartphone arrived to us without packaging, so we won’t talk about the packaging and will go straight to the design of the device. The appearance of the smartphone really makes a pleasant impression. It has a metal chassis and a glass back. It looks stylish, although it brings to mind Sony devices from the Xperia Z line. However, compared to Sony, the edges here are not straight, but slightly rounded, as a result of which the smartphone lies in the hand more comfortably than Sony devices with sharp edges.

The solution with a glass back cover also has a minus. It is quite easily soiled, which is why the device does not look so attractive after just a few minutes of use. Fingerprints (especially when exposed to direct light) are immediately visible on the back cover. Of course, you can scrub them off, but you won’t be doing this all the time!

An important advantage of the Galaxy A5 2020 design is the very narrow bezels around the screen. In this parameter, the smartphone is significantly superior to, for example, the iPhone 6s Plus, which, with a screen area only slightly larger than the Galaxy A5 2020, looks significantly more bulky.

Unlike its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 is equipped with a fingerprint scanner. It is located in the Home button. We compared its speed with the iPhone 6s Plus and came to the conclusion that the iPhone 6s Plus still has a faster fingerprint sensor.

Continuing the comparison with the iPhone, we note that in both smartphones the camera eye protrudes noticeably above the level of the back cover. And with Samsung this is much more noticeable, since the camera module itself is larger. As for the consequences for use, the disadvantage of this solution (with a protruding camera) is that if the smartphone is placed on a table, it will not lie tightly, but will rise slightly at the top, since the camera is located under it.

The arrangement of connectors and slots is standard. On the right side there is a power button and a slot for Nano-SIM and microSD cards. The slot is combined, you can use either one Nano-SIM and one microSD, or two Nano-SIM.

On the left side there are volume buttons. All buttons are metal, as are the edges. They press moderately elastically.

On the bottom edge there is a speaker grille, a microphone, a 3.5 mm headset jack and a Micro-USB connector. And now with OTG support (last year’s model did not have OTG).

The top edge contains only the hole for another microphone.

In general, the smartphone has an impressive and pleasant design, fits comfortably in the hand and fully deserves its fashion status. The only problem is that the back surface is dirty. This can seriously spoil the impression.

Screen

Compared to last year's model, the screen diagonal of the Galaxy A5 has grown from 5 to 5.2 inches; The resolution has also increased - from HD to Full HD. Perhaps this is the most balanced combination, because the benefits of a higher resolution with such a diagonal are ambiguous, but the disadvantages (reduced battery life, the need for increased performance...) are undeniable. However, resolution and screen diagonal are not all parameters that deserve attention. Detailed testing of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020 display was carried out by the editor of the “Projectors and TV” section, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Below is his conclusion.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected when the screens are turned off (on the left is Nexus 7, on the right is Samsung Galaxy A5, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy A5 is only slightly brighter (average brightness in photographs is 114 versus 109 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects on the screen of the Samsung Galaxy A5 is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, screens without an air gap look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. On the outer surface of the Samsung Galaxy A5 screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than in the case of regular glass.

When the white field was displayed in full screen and with manual brightness control, its maximum value was 395 cd/m², the minimum was 1.8 cd/m². You also need to take into account the fact that in this case, the smaller the white area on the screen, the brighter it is, that is, the actual maximum brightness of the white areas will almost always be higher than the specified value. As a result, readability during the day in the sun should be at a fairly good level. The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. Automatic brightness adjustment works based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). You can make adjustments to the operation of this function by moving the settings slider. Below, for three conditions, we present the screen brightness values ​​for three values ​​of this setting - for 0%, 50% and 100%. In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness is reduced to 1.8, 7.9 and 16 cd/m², respectively (the first and second are too dark, the third is normal), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 400 lux) the brightness is set to 37 , 125 and 300 cd/m² (dark - just right - bright, which corresponds to the specified correction), in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) - increases to 520 cd/m² regardless of the position of the slider. This value is greater than the maximum for manual adjustment. If you increase the brightness of the external illumination (in the area of ​​the light sensor) to somewhere around a hundred thousand lux (corresponding to direct sunlight), then the screen brightness increases a little more - up to 525 cd/m². This brightness should definitely be enough for the image on the screen to be clearly visible in any natural conditions. In general, the result of the automatic brightness adjustment function is as expected. At any brightness level there is significant modulation with a frequency of approximately 60 or 240 Hz. The figure below shows brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis) for several brightness settings:

It can be seen that at maximum and close to it brightness, the modulation amplitude is not very large, and as a result, there is no visible flicker. However, as the brightness decreases, modulation with a large relative amplitude appears. Therefore, the presence of such modulation can already be seen in a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses a Super AMOLED matrix - an active matrix on organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), and by repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without breaks or overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer calculates the screen resolution based on the green subpixels; based on the other two, it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this version is close to the case of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and some other newer devices from Samsung (and not only) with AMOLED screens. This version of PenTile RGBG is better than the old one with red squares, blue rectangles and stripes of green subpixels. However, some unevenness of contrast borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the very high resolution, they have a minimal impact on image quality.

The screen is characterized by excellent viewing angles, although the white color, when deviated even at small angles, alternately acquires a light blue-green and pinkish tint, but the black color is simply black at any angle. So black that the contrast setting is not applicable in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is good. For comparison, here are photographs in which identical images are displayed on the screens of the Samsung Galaxy A5 and the second comparison participant, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K. White field:

Let us note the good, although in this case clearly imperfect, uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture ( Main

):

According to visual assessment, the tested screen has good color rendition, the colors are moderately saturated, the color balance of the screens varies slightly. Let us remind you that photography cannot

serve as a reliable source of information about color rendering quality and are provided for illustrative purposes only.
In this case, apparently, due to the peculiarities of the emission spectrum of the AMOLED screen, the color balance in the photograph is noticeably different from what is visible to the eye and determined by a spectrophotometer. The photo above was taken after selecting the Main
in the screen settings, there are four of them:

Profile Adaptive display

differs in some kind of automatic adjustment to the type of displayed image and environmental conditions, which is obtained by selecting the two remaining profiles shown below.

Movie AMOLED

:

Saturation and color contrast are noticeably increased.

Photo AMOLED

:

Saturation is almost as high, but color contrast is closer to normal. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen ( Main

). White field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed has been increased compared to previous photographs), but in the case of the AMOLED screen the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the Samsung Galaxy A5 screen visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since you often have to look at the screen of a mobile device from at least a slight angle. And a test picture:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Samsung at an angle is noticeably higher. Switching the state of the matrix elements is almost instantaneous, but at the turn-on edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to a screen refresh rate of approximately 60 Hz). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing behind moving objects. However, dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

For Photo AMOLED

and
The main
gamma curve constructed using 32 points with an equal interval in the numerical value of the shade of gray did not reveal any blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows, and the index of the approximating power function is 2.11-2.13, which is slightly lower than the standard value 2, 2, while the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence (the captions in parentheses show the indicator of the approximating power-law function and the coefficient of determination, which shows the closeness of the gamma curve to the power-law dependence):

For profile Film AMOLED

The gamma curve has a pronounced S-shaped character, which increases the visible contrast of the image, but in the shadows the distinguishability of shades remains.

Let us recall that in the case of OLED screens, the brightness of image fragments dynamically changes in accordance with the nature of the displayed image - it decreases for generally light images. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely slightly does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

Color gamut in case of profile Film AMOLED

very wide, it almost covers the Adobe RGB gamut:

When selecting the Photo AMOLED

coverage is adjusted to Adobe RGB boundaries:

When selecting the Main

the coverage is already compressed to the sRGB boundaries:

Without correction, the spectra of the components are very well separated:

In the case of the Main

with maximum correction, the color components are already noticeably mixed with each other:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, without appropriate correction, the colors of regular images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated. Hence the recommendation - in most cases, watching movies, photographs and everything natural is better when choosing the Main

, and only if the photo was taken on an Adobe RGB setting does it make sense to switch the profile to
Photo AMOLED
.
Profile Movie AMOLED
, despite the name, is the least suitable for watching movies or anything else at all.

The grayscale balance is good. Color Temperature in Film AMOLED

above 6500 K, in the remaining two - close to 6500 K, while in a significant area of ​​the gray scale this parameter does not change very much, which improves the visual perception of color balance. The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) across most of the gray scale remains below 10 units, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, and also does not change very much:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is acceptable (and in bright light it is necessary) to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works quite adequately. The advantages of the screen include a very good oleophobic coating, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB and an acceptable color balance (if you select the appropriate profiles). At the same time, let us remind you about the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), a noticeably smaller drop in image brightness than LCDs when viewed at an angle. Disadvantages include modulation of screen brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. However, overall the screen quality is very high.

Operating system and software

The smartphone has the Google Android 5.1.1 operating system installed. It is reported that the Galaxy A5 2020 will receive an update to Android 6.0, but it is not yet available.

The appearance of the OS interface is typical for Samsung mobile devices.

As for the software, it is worth paying attention to the fact that Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, Skype), as well as a gift catalog, are installed on the smartphone.

In this catalog you can find in-game currency for popular games (for example, Cut The Rope 2), Navitel maps, liters books, 3 months of subscription to the ivi.ru online cinema and other nice bonuses.

Performance

The smartphone runs on SoC Exynos 7580 Octa. This is far from the top-end solution that Samsung previously used in the Galaxy S5 Neo (a later modification of the Galaxy S5, differing only in SoC and camera) and the Galaxy J7 tablet. This SoC is not found in any truly popular model. However, along with the Galaxy A5 2020, it is also installed in the Galaxy A7 2020. The SoC is created using a 28 nm process technology and includes eight Cortex-A53 processor cores with a frequency of 1.6 GHz, as well as a Mali-T720MP2 GPU.

Note that both the A5 2020 and A7 2020 are available with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615. Also, frankly, not a flagship chip, but still much more common than the Exynos 7580 Octa. But we had a model specifically based on the Exynos 7580 Octa, so we will study its performance.

Let's start with browser tests: SunSpider 1.0.2, Octane Benchmark and Kraken Benchmark. We will also add to our standard set JetStream - a new browser benchmark recommended by the creators of SunSpider as a replacement for it. We used the Chrome browser on all devices. If there is a dash in the table field, it means that the corresponding smartphone was not tested in this benchmark (or in this version of this benchmark).

In browser tests, the overall picture becomes clear: the Galaxy A5 2016 significantly outperforms its predecessor and generally maintains parity with the Huawei Honor 5X, but is far behind the LG Nexus 5X.

Now let's see how the gadget performs in complex benchmarks - AnTuTu 6 and Geekbench 3.

Unfortunately, we do not have AnTuTu 6 results for the previous Samsung Galaxy A5 and LG Nexus 5X, since we tested them in the fifth version of the benchmark, and it was radically different in the principles of scoring, so it is incorrect to compare the results. We'll have to be content with what we have.

In this group of benchmarks the picture is generally similar, but the Exynos 7580 performed better than in the browser benchmarks, narrowing the gap with the leader and increasing the lead over other competitors. Obviously, this is due to the number of cores (eight) and the benchmarks' ability to use them all. Of course, this does not mean that ordinary software will also be capable of this.

The last group of benchmarks is dedicated to testing GPU performance. We used 3DMark, GFXBench, Epic Citadel and Bonsai Benchmark. All of them show real 3D scenes and allow you to clearly see how the devices cope with them.

Let's start with GFXBench. Let us remind you that Offscreen tests involve displaying images in 1080p, regardless of the actual screen resolution. And Onscreen tests mean displaying a picture in the resolution that matches the device screen resolution. That is, Offscreen tests are indicative from the point of view of the abstract performance of the SoC, and Onscreen tests are indicative from the point of view of the comfort of the game on a specific device.

The picture is depressing. Neither device will be able to play games at the level of the T-Rex and Manhattan scenes. As for the results of smartphones relative to each other, the situation here is similar to what we saw in previous benchmarks.

The next tests are Epic Citadel, 3DMark and Bonsai Benchmark.

The fact that the new Samsung smartphone showed more than 30 fps in Bonsai Benchmark is a reason for joy. But otherwise, of course, the picture is depressing. In Epic Citadel, made on the Unreal engine (games Dark Meadow, Horn and others), it was no longer possible to reach 30 fps, but in 3DMark the loss of the LG Nexus 5X was huge (with parity with the Huawei Honor 5X).

In general, the benchmarks allow us to draw the following conclusions regarding the performance of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020. Firstly, compared to last year’s Galaxy A5, there is progress, and very significant. Secondly, by today's standards this is still a very average level, which does not allow you to comfortably play many 3D games even two or three years ago. Thirdly, if you find a version of a smartphone with a Snapdragon 615, you won’t get a significant gain - the picture as a whole will be similar.

However, for everyday use and operations that do not require GPU performance, the smartphone is quite suitable, since the amount of RAM is more important here. And the model has enough of it - 2 GB. Of course, this is not a record, but it is quite normal for the smartphone not to slow down even with a large number of open applications.

Playing video

We did not find the MHL interface (yes, branded and expensive Samsung adapters can now be safely thrown away), as well as Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 frames/ With). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Note: If both columns have Uniformity

and
Skips
are given green ratings, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the device itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. True, it’s not that UHD files at all, but even Full HD with a frame rate of more than 30 fps, the smartphone does not reproduce, which is strange by modern standards. We also note that the screen refresh rate is slightly lower than the typical 60 Hz, but in the case of files with 60 fps there may not be frame drops; apparently, they are played back a little slower. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen. The clarity of the image is high, the output is carried out one to one pixel by pixel, but PenTile features appear: the vertical world is through a pixel into a grid, and the horizontal world is slightly greenish. However, this is noticeable only on test worlds, and the described artifacts are absent in real images. The brightness range displayed on the screen actually corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows only a couple of shades merge with black, but in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed.

Autonomous operation, heating and communication

The smartphone has a fairly capacious battery (by the standards of relatively compact smartphones). In particular, its capacity is greater than that of its predecessor and even than that of the Nexus 5X.

Of course, this had a positive effect on the battery life - especially in those modes that are not associated with a heavy load. Thus, the smartphone is capable of playing video from the network for more than 10 hours, and in reading mode it works even longer.

But as soon as it comes to applications that seriously load the SoC, battery life drops sharply. In the Epic Citadel test, the smartphone lasted less than four hours.

Below is a thermal image of the rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program:

The heating is localized in the upper part, closer to the upper right (when viewed from the front) corner, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 38 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is not very much.

As for communication capabilities, the smartphone is fine here. Supports LTE Advanced, NFC, you can use two SIM cards. There are no complaints about the quality of voice transmission over cellular communications. The only parameter in which the smartphone does not reach the top level is the lack of support for the Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard. But in real life this can hardly be felt.

Camera

The smartphone is equipped with two cameras. The front one has a resolution of 5 megapixels and can be used for selfies and video communication. The rear camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels, which is average by today's standards. In addition, it cannot shoot 4K video (maximum 1080p at 30 fps). The quality of photographs taken with the rear camera was analyzed by Anton Soloviev

.

The camera turned out to be good. It is far from flagship, but not budget either. Weak but noticeable sharpening, not very accurate noise reduction, and even small areas of blur walking around the frame - all this is typical for mid-segment Samsung devices. Although these shortcomings do not spoil the overall picture much. In general, the camera can handle documentary and sometimes art photography quite well.

conclusions

We called last year's Samsung Galaxy A5 an overrated model. It seems that when creating and releasing its “successor”, Samsung decided not to change its pricing policy. Indeed, for the kind of money that is being asked for the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020, today you can buy a significantly more productive and functional device from an equally well-known brand (the same Nexus 5X). Or - pay significantly less, but get a device of a similar level. And this is even if you don’t take any “Chinese” (who, however, have no less nice devices with a price of about $200 - watch our weekly program “Chinese Flea Market!”).

Of course, the main drawback of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020 (besides the price) is its very weak hardware platform. Its capabilities are sufficient for everyday use and undemanding games, but not enough for serious 3D games. However, how many people actually regularly play top games on smartphones? Still, most people are much more interested in battery life, design and screen quality, communication capabilities, and that nothing slows them down during normal use (mail, social networks, instant messengers, browser, maps...). Well, plus, preferably, a good camera. The Samsung Galaxy A5 2020 fully meets these requirements. Yes, it does not set records for any of these indicators, but it provides a level that is comfortable for 95% of users.

Simply put, if the Galaxy S line of smartphones is for IT observers, lovers of spectacular technological innovations and those who want to have a flagship device, then the Galaxy A line is made for ordinary people. Those, however, are willing to overpay for the brand and the confidence that they will get a truly balanced and beautiful device for their money.

In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2020 smartphone:

⇡#Appearance and ergonomics

Of course, Samsung fans will appreciate the fact that the current Galaxy A series smartphones are very similar to the flagship Galaxy S6. This was achieved through the use of similar body proportions, close corner radii and identical color schemes for both flagships and mid-rangers. Indeed, it’s easy to confuse the 2020 Galaxy A5 and the Galaxy S6 with each other, even from a short distance.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (right) and A5 (left) – front panel

However, what the new product has in common with the flagship model is the use of tempered Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on the rear panel. The previous generation Galaxy A had a metal back, while the new one has a glass back. This is, perhaps, more beautiful, and Gorilla Glass 4, as we know from experience with other smartphones, is resistant to minor damage and scratches: you can carry devices in the same pocket with keys and coins. But you shouldn’t drop them - the glass will most likely break after the first fall. This is perhaps the main and only disadvantage of using glass instead of metal. By the way, the front panel of the devices is also covered with the same glass - with an oleophobic coating and an anti-glare filter.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (left) and A5 (right) – rear panel

The Galaxy A3 and A5 themselves are very similar to each other. The main difference, of course, is the dimensions. The “Five” turned out to be larger: its display is half an inch larger, which could not but affect its weight - it weighs 155 grams, while the “three-ruble” weighs only 132 grams. To be honest, my hands don’t get tired from both smartphones – their weight is acceptable. The younger model turned out to be thinner - 6.9 versus 7.3 mm. In general, the Samsung Galaxy A3 is a compact smartphone that is convenient to use with one hand; To reach all four corners of the A5 display, you will have to hold the device in your hand, like most modern Android gadgets.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (top) and A5 (bottom) – sides

Another difference between the Galaxy A5 and A3 is the central key. In the younger model it is convex, in the older one it is flat. Why? Because it has an integrated fingerprint scanner, but the three-ruble phone doesn’t have one. On the sides of the central button are the usual touch keys “Menu” and “Back”, equipped with time-configurable backlight.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (right) and A5 (left) – center keys

The fingerprint sensor works stably, quickly and accurately. During testing, the device made almost no mistakes and correctly recognized the finger of its temporary owner. The fingerprint scanner is controlled from the corresponding settings section. In order for the device to remember the owner’s finger, it is necessary to touch it to the sensor several dozen times - the same as everywhere else.

The layout of controls and connectors on the Galaxy A3 and A5 is absolutely identical. The device's power key is located on the right side of the case, next to it is a slot for one Nano-SIM card and a combined Nano-SIM/microSD slot. The volume control buttons are on the left side of the device. The top edge of both smartphones is empty; the MHL interface, which combines Micro-USB and video output, is placed on the bottom edge. There is also a 3.5 mm audio jack and an external speaker slot. The frame of both devices is metal, which is clearly visible on the side edges.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (left) and A5 (right) – sides

The back panel of the devices is glossy, but smartphones do not strive to escape from the hands of the owner at the first opportunity - holding both A3 and A5 is convenient. The surface of the “back”, of course, is quite easily soiled – it actively collects dust, “fingers” and other fine dirt. However, thanks to the oleophobic layer, you can get rid of them with any cloth. On the back panels of the Galaxy A3 and A5 there are only main camera lenses and single LED flashes that protrude slightly from the body.

We have no complaints about the assembly of both devices - there are enough stiffening ribs in the structures. The devices can withstand pressure from the sides without any problems - there are no questionable creaks, no colored streaks on the display, all the parts fit well together.

Appearance and ease of use

There have been many changes in the appearance of the new generation Galaxy A5. If we compare the Galaxy A5 of the first generation and the second, we will see two different devices. There are no borrowed design solutions; everything is based on the new design solutions of the 2020 Samsung flagships.

The front side is covered with protective glass, which has a rounding, the so-called 2.5D. The glass is very similar to what is installed in the iPhone 6/6s.

At the top of the front panel there are proximity and light sensors, an earpiece, a front camera and the manufacturer's logo. There is no missed event LED. Below the screen is a traditional Samsung combination of two touch buttons and a home key combined with a fingerprint scanner.

The sidewall is covered by a metal frame. Externally, it is the same as in the Galaxy S6. On the left side there are volume keys. On the right there is a power button and a tray for a nanoSIM SIM card and a microSD memory card. There is only an additional microphone on top. At the bottom there is a 3.5 mm audio jack, a microUSB port, a multimedia speaker and a microphone.

The back side is covered with glass. The phone case is non-separable. The camera module protrudes approximately 1mm above the body. The flash consists of one LED.

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) can be made in several color options - black, gold, rose gold and white. At the same time, the metal frame is also painted in the color of the back of the case. In all variants except white, the front side is black. We received the gold version for testing.

If we talk about ease of use, then using a 5.2-inch display is a very good move. After all, this screen size can be called optimal. The smartphone is moderately large, but it is comfortable to use with one hand. The use of glass and metal makes the Galaxy A5 (2016) feel like an expensive device. Using a smartphone outside during frost is uncomfortable due to the metal frame, which is very cold on the hand, but this is rather nit-picking. But the fact that the phone is slippery and often tries to slip out of your hands is a problem. During my use, I almost dropped it several times for this very reason, so I recommend that future owners consider buying a case.

The fingerprint scanner performed well. It feels like it works the same as on the Samsung Galaxy S6. Unlocking is very fast.

⇡#Displays

The screens of the Galaxy A3 and A5 are completely different: the younger model has a 4.7-inch matrix with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels, and the older one has a 5.2-inch Full HD. Both displays are made using Super AMOLED technology with subpixels arranged according to the PenTile scheme. Because of this, the picture on both displays looks grainy, despite the fact that the pixel density is quite decent here and there: the A3 display has 312.5 ppi; the A5 display has 423.6 dpi. Moreover, if in the A5 the notorious graininess from PenTile is compensated by the high resolution - and as a result, the picture on the display of this smartphone looks more or less smooth, then in the A3 the grain is visible to the naked eye from an arm's length distance. Particularly fastidious users may find it somewhat uncomfortable to read from the A3 display – here the A5’s screen will certainly benefit. For multimedia and gaming tasks, we will assume that both smartphones have sufficient resolution.

The displays of the A3 and A5 are very responsive - they respond to touch quickly and quite accurately. The percentage of errors and inaccurate clicks during testing was minimal. The devices support up to ten simultaneous clicks and accurately recognize gestures. Unfortunately, touching gadgets with loose gloves is most often misunderstood or not understood at all - you can only work with them with your bare hands.

The white field luminosity of both screens is quite high - 362 cd/m2. This is a very good indicator for AMOLED matrices. Just in case, let us recall that the white luminosity of displays of this type is not the sum of the luminosities of red, green and blue, as in IPS; it is approximately one and a half to two times less than this same amount. That is, individual colors on AMOLED screens are brighter than on IPS screens with the same white luminance.

Both displays are quite bright and have wide backlight boundaries, making it easy to work with the devices in any lighting conditions. The displays do not fade in direct sunlight - the absence of an air gap between the front panels and matrices of the A3 and A5, as well as the presence of very effective polarizing filters, come in handy here. We consider the contrast of AMOLED displays to be conditionally infinite, since the black color on screens of this type is not illuminated. Accordingly, blacks look very deep even at maximum brightness.

Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 – maximum brightness

Both smartphones are equipped with light sensors. Thanks to them, gadgets can independently set the backlight level that is comfortable for working in given conditions. In automatic mode, the brightness changes smoothly, in accordance with the surrounding environment. The user can adjust the automatic brightness adjustment up or down, depending on their own preferences.

New Samsung smartphones don’t have many options for personalizing color rendering. In particular, it is impossible to adjust the white balance - the user cannot make the picture “cooler” or “warmer”. But there are four color profiles - “Adaptive”, “Movie AMOLED” (very, very oversaturated colors), “Photo AMOLED” (colors a little more saturated than they should be) and “Main”. All screen tests were carried out in the latter mode.

The white balance on both displays is quite accurate - in all shades the color temperature is close to the reference value of 6500 K. This means that the picture on the screen of the Galaxy A3 and A5 looks natural, without yellow or blue impurities. This is a particularly good result for AMOLED screens - usually they are openly drawn to the blue.

Both displays are set up well. All gamma curves are close to the reference curve; a small deviation can be safely neglected - it is too insignificant. “Correct” gamma curves indicate that all shades and midtones on the screens of the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 look exactly as bright as the authors intended - without overexposure or failure.

The color gamut of the Samsung Galaxy A3 and A5 displays - which is again fantastically surprising in the case of AMOLED matrices - is close to the sRGB reference space. Typically, this type of screen has a much wider color gamut, which is not very good - because of this, the colors turn out to be too “cartoonish”. This is why many users do not like AMOLED displays, but many, on the contrary, do - we recommend that they select a different mode in the settings, where all the miracles characteristic of AMOLED begin. However, in the main mode, the A3 and A5 have no problems with oversaturation.

In general, we can confidently rate Samsung excellent for its displays - fine tuning in combination with the conditionally infinite contrast of AMOLED gives a very pleasant picture. If only I could do something with the Pentile grain on the Galaxy A3, it would be pure delight.

Camera

The smartphone is equipped with 13 megapixel and 5 megapixel cameras. They both have an f/1.9 aperture. The main camera received optical image stabilization, which should help combat image blur. The maximum resolution for video recording is Full HD at 30 frames per second.

The camera interface is familiar to all Samsung smartphone users. There is HDR, continuous shooting, night mode and even manual mode. True, the latter has very few settings. You can change ISO, exposure and lighting type settings.

The photos look very attractive on the phone screen, but if you look at the photo from a laptop, there are still some comments in it. In most cases, white balance is determined correctly. But there are problems with focusing, especially when shooting macro. Autofocus is not detected the first time. The camera copes well with shooting at night.

Video recording example:

⇡#Hardware and performance

First of all, it should be said that the 2016 Galaxy A line of smartphones will look different for different countries. Depending on the region, you can find either platforms from the Samsung Exynos family or the familiar Qualcomm Snapdragon. New products come to Russia with new Exynos systems-on-a-chip.

Now is the time to remind our dear reader that the Galaxy A3 and A5 are mid-priced smartphones. Accordingly, you can’t count on the presence of top-end technical components in these gadgets - their hardware corresponds to their price category. Thus, the “treshka” runs on the entry-level platform Samsung Exynos 7578, which includes four junior cores from the current ARM line - Cortex-A53, which operate at a frequency of 1.5 GHz. They are accompanied by an ARM Mali-T720MP2 graphics controller operating at 600 MHz. It is noteworthy that the version of the Galaxy A3 (2016), intended for other countries, runs on the Snapdragon 410 platform, which is the American equivalent of the Exynos 7578 in terms of performance.

The Galaxy A5 has a more serious system-on-chip – Samsung Exynos 7580 Octa. It is eight-core - all eight cores are the same, ARM Cortex-A53. They operate at a frequency of 1.6 GHz. Of course, the cores can function either individually or all together, depending on the task at hand. The same ARM Mali-T720MP2, operating at 600 MHz, is responsible for the graphics. As an analogue for other countries, a solution based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939 is offered, which we have talked about more than once in reviews of smartphones and tablets - it should have slightly better graphics, and the same with processor power.

Both Exynos platforms are manufactured using a 28nm process technology.

The performance level of smartphones turned out to be more or less the same. Judging by the general synthetic tests of Geekbench 3 and AnTuTu Benchmark 5, the Galaxy A5 is just a little more powerful than its younger brother. How can this be, since the A5 has a more powerful system-on-chip? The thing is that the A3 has a significantly lower screen resolution - HD versus Full HD for the A5. Accordingly, the younger model needs fewer resources to quickly draw the picture. This is especially clearly seen in the simple game task Basemark 2 Taiji, in which the “three mark” is head and shoulders above the “five”.

So it turns out that if we take into account the resolution of the displays, the level of computing power of the A3 and A5 is approximately the same - and it is not as high as we would like. Let's put it this way: this is the minimum possible power reserve for mid-priced smartphones. More is possible (and necessary!), less is in no case allowed, otherwise it will be completely unsightly on the part of the manufacturer.

RAM in the “three ruble” is one and a half gigabytes, in the “five” it is a little more – two. The amount of built-in flash memory is the same in both smartphones – 16 GB, of which about 11.5 GB are at the user’s disposal. If necessary, you can install a microSD memory card into the device, but for this you will have to sacrifice a second SIM card - the connectors in the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 are combined.

On the other hand, both gadgets cope with all everyday tasks - they quickly switch between open applications and smoothly display the operating system animation. For web surfing, reading electronic documents and multimedia tasks, both devices are very suitable. The main thing is not to offer them to solve more resource-intensive problems: here they can start to slow down and hint in every possible way that more powerful mobile chips were invented for a reason.

You can only play casual 2D arcade games on smartphones. Heavier toys noticeably slow down even at minimum graphics settings. It is noteworthy that all our graphics tests clearly demonstrated: the Samsung Galaxy A3, due to its lower display resolution, is much better suited for gaming purposes. However, “better” does not mean “good”: if you want to play serious games, look towards flagship smartphones.

⇡#Communication and wireless interfaces

Perhaps another advantage of the tested smartphones is that they can work with two SIM cards. Everything is standard here: the user needs to determine which of them to call and send SMS/MMS, and which to access the Internet. The call log shows which card this or that activity was on - you won’t be able to get lost in SIM cards. Both smartphones support LTE – the “three-ruble phone” is content with Cat. 4 (150 Mbit/s), A5 owners will have access to high-speed Internet access using the Cat standard. 6 (300 Mbit/s).

Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 – SIM card manager

The device uses two Nano-SIM cards. We have already talked about the only serious disadvantage of implementing two support for two SIM cards - you will have to sacrifice a microSD memory card. It is convenient to talk on both gadgets: the volume reserve is decent, and the interlocutors did not complain about poor audibility.

The sets of wireless interfaces for the Galaxy A3 and A5 are the same: the devices support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC. They do not have an infrared port for controlling household appliances, but they are not entitled to one according to their status. The devices navigate the terrain quickly enough. Half a minute after launching the profile test, both gadgets found more than fifteen satellites of the GPS and GLONASS systems each and were guided by ten of them. The navigation error radius was quite moderate - around 12-16 meters. Both devices cope with the role of navigators very confidently.

Screen

The display is the main advantage of any South Korean smartphone belonging to the A-series. It is precisely because of this that it is worth overpaying without even looking at cheaper Chinese devices. The fact is that the screen installed here is created using Super AMOLED technology, which implies the absence of a separate backlight layer. As a result, power consumption is noticeably reduced and blacks become truly black. And this cannot be conveyed in photographs if you view them on a standard monitor or smartphone with an IPS matrix.

The resolution of the screen built into the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) is 1080 x 1920 pixels. With a 5.2-inch diagonal, this is more than enough - if pixelation can be noticed, it is only under a magnifying glass. The viewing angles here are maximum—even with any deviations, the colors on the screen are practically not distorted. But the device should be praised even more for the brightness of the display - the picture is clearly visible even outdoors, under midday sunlight.

Nothing bad can be said about the sensor layer. Presses and other gestures are recognized with a bang - almost instantly. If you compare a smartphone with some budget models, the difference in gesture recognition speed is obvious even to the naked eye.

In the settings of this model you can find many items related to the display. In particular, the smartphone allows you to select the color temperature. This will please those who find the colors on such a screen to be oversaturated.

⇡#Cameras

The front cameras of the “three-ruble” and the “five” are the same - with a five-megapixel sensor, without autofocus and flash. Their minimum aperture value is f/1.9 (remember: the smaller the better). Thanks to high-aperture optics, more light reaches the sensor, which has a positive effect when shooting in low light. Self-portraits on the A3 and A5 front-facing cameras come out quite acceptable - without obvious shortcomings, although without any special advantages either. When shooting indoors, the picture turns out to be rough, with background noise, but quite readable. In the dark, both cameras are predictably powerless. Video conversations on Galaxy A3 and A5 are convenient.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (left) and Galaxy A5 (right) – main cameras

The rear cameras of the A3 and A5 are thirteen-megapixel, but they have different modules. In particular, the main camera of the Galaxy A5 has an optical stabilization system, while the A3 camera does not. Of course, they both come with LED flash and autofocus.

The Samsung Galaxy A3 and A5 cameras are a great example of how not all megapixels are created equal. It's not so much about the number of megapixels, but about the optics and the quality of the sensor. In the daytime scene, both cameras performed approximately equally imperfectly - the dynamic range of the photographs could have been wider and the microcontrast higher. However, if you are not too picky, the pictures are tolerable: quite detailed and with natural colors - there is no shame in uploading them to social networks.

When shooting conditions worsen, the Galaxy A3's camera begins to noticeably fail - the photos turn out dark and noisy. The older model performed much better in a photo taken indoors: there are fewer “grains”, higher sharpness, and the photo itself is brighter.

The Galaxy A5 captured the evening landscape mediocrely, while the Galaxy A3 did it frankly poorly. Both photos are blurry, and the younger model's photo is also in the shadows. The rear camera of the three-ruble note is openly afraid of the dark - and this is very bad.

Both cameras coped well with shooting a printed document. However, again, it is worth paying attention to the fact that with the A5 camera the photo turned out to be more detailed and at the same time less “noisy”. In general, for those for whom smartphone photography is important, the Galaxy A5 is not very suitable, and the Galaxy A3 is not suitable at all.

Differences between Galaxy A5 SM-A510F and Galaxy A5 A500H

Essentially, the A5 SM-A510F is an improved A5 A500H. Let's see how much the new version has changed compared to the previous one. Key innovations in the 2020 A5:

• Compared to the 2014 model, the resolution was increased from HD to FullHD, and the diagonal was increased from 5 to 5.2 inches.
• The 4-core Snapdragon 410 is replaced by a more powerful 8-core Exynos 7580 processor.
• An optical image stabilization system was added to the camera module, the aperture increased to f/1.9, but the functionality of the interface was reduced.
• The battery capacity has increased by 600 mAh, and fast charging has been added.
• A fingerprint sensor has appeared.
• Initially, the A5 A500H ran on Android 4.4, then received an update to version 5.0.2. The A5 SM-A510F comes with Android 5.1.1 installed out of the box, and the TouchWiz shell is the same as in top Samsung models.
• The new model looks more solid; glass has been added to the body materials. The smartphone has also become 32 grams heavier.

As a result, the Samsung Galaxy A5 SM-A510F (2016) Duos is superior to its predecessor in many ways. Considering that some stores are still selling the old version for $352, the advantage is clearly on the side of the A5 SM-A510F.

⇡#Autonomous work

The younger model has an 8.7 Wh battery (2300 mAh, 3.8 V) - this is not very much for a modern smartphone. However, here it is worth taking into account the fact that the Galaxy A3’s display is of low resolution, and the platform used is not at all power-hungry - it has only four cores. So this gadget’s appetite is quite moderate – the device can easily last a working day away from a power outlet. During testing, it never ran out of charge during the day. The same goes for the Galaxy A5. True, the “five” has a more mature battery – 11.02 Wh (2900 mAh, 3.8 V). This is logical, there is a larger display and a more power-hungry platform. There is no access to batteries in both smartphones - the cases are non-separable. If necessary, you will have to contact a service center to replace the batteries.

The only available energy saving scenario involves reducing the screen brightness, disabling a number of power-hungry options and limiting the frequency of the computing cores. Unfortunately, there is no way to configure all this - either turn it on or off. But the Galaxy A3/A5 has an unusual mode called “Extreme Energy Saving”. It will be very useful in cases where you cannot remain without a connection and there is no outlet nearby. It disables all “smart” functions - only basic options such as a notebook and SMS/MMS journal remain available to the user, and the design color scheme changes to black and white. Since the black color in AMOLED displays is not backlit, this mode can greatly extend the life of A3 and A5 batteries.

In our standard test of continuous HD video playback at maximum screen brightness with an active Wi-Fi connection and data updating in the background, both devices lasted a traditionally long time for Samsung. The older model played the video on repeat for more than nine and a half hours - and this is a very good result. However, baby A3 managed to do this even longer – almost 11 hours! Both indicators can rightfully be considered remarkable. On these smartphones, if you lower the brightness a little, you can watch an entire season of your favorite TV series without interruptions to recharge. True, when performing more resource-intensive tasks, for example in games, the battery runs out much faster - this should also be taken into account.

Design

The smartphone really looks very nice and beautiful. “Beauty will save the world!” — apparently, it was with this approach that manufacturers developed the 2020 A-line. The main material of the case is aluminum, which is covered on both sides with Gorilla Glass 4 protective glass.

The fact that the back side is also hidden under glass makes the Samsung Galaxy a5 smartphone much more interesting than just metal, and even more so plastic. With such materials, the device looks more fashionable and not so boring. There is only one thing that confuses me -

This glass gets very dirty, and you have to wipe it quite often.

The Samsung a5 fits very well in the hand, as it turns out to be a relatively compact device. In terms of dimensions, everything is within the moderate range. Using the device even with one hand will be quite easy. But, as always, there is one “but”: the A5 is quite slippery and must be handled with extreme caution.

Both in terms of materials and assembly, there are simply no complaints about the Samsung a5 and there cannot be any - it is assembled to the highest possible quality. This smartphone has never even heard of the concept of creaks, gaps and “plays”. It looks, of course, a little “pop,” but that doesn’t make it any less attractive.

If we talk about the location of the buttons, then everything is traditional, “Samsung-style”, in its place. Separate volume keys on the left side. On the right is a lonely, boring power and lock key, next to which there is a tray for a SIM card and memory card. Regarding the latter, everything is not so simple. The Samsung Galaxy a5 2016 has a selection system - either two SIM cards, in which case you can forget about the memory card, or a memory card and one SIM card. In general, the choice here will not be easy.

At the bottom end there is a headphone and USB jack, and a speaker with a microphone is located right next to it. The multimedia speaker can be praised for its detail and criticized a little for its volume. I wish he would yell louder.

On the back of the Samsung Galaxy a5 2020 there is the main camera and flash. On the front side: at the top there is a front camera peephole, a speaker and sensors; at the bottom there are three control buttons, one of which is mechanical, in the center. It has a built-in fingerprint scanner, which is well-developed and allows you to simply place your finger on the button, and not, as before, swipe it. The recognition itself occurs very quickly and the fingerprint is identified in any position. Including in cases where your hands are wet. False positives practically never happen.

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