Comparison of Samsung Galaxy A5 series. Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for transmitting data over close distances between various devices. Operating system and software
A year ago Samsung company released completely new line Galaxy smartphones A, including models A3, A5 and A7. 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 - 2016.
Of the three models in the line, the middle device looks the most interesting: the Galaxy A5 2016. 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 2016 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
- Touchscreen 5.2″ AMOLED, 1920×1080, 424 ppi
- Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB
- Permanent memory: 16 GB
- Map support microSD memory 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 model Samsung Galaxy A5 of the first generation to visualize the difference between it and the new product.
| Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 | Samsung Galaxy A5 | LG Nexus 5X | Huawei Honor 5X | |
| Screen | 5.2″ AMOLED, 1920×1080, 424 ppi | 5″ AMOLED, 720×1280, 294 ppi | 5.2″ IPS, 1920×1080, 424 ppi | 5.5″, IPS, 1920×1152, 401 ppi |
| SoC (processor) | Exynos 7580 Octa (8 cores Cortex-A53 @1.6 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (4 cores Cortex-A53 @1.2 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (2x Cortex-A57 @1.8GHz + 4x [email protected]) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 (8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @1.5 GHz) |
| GPU | Mali-T720MP2 | Adreno 306 | Adreno 418 | Adreno 405 |
| Flash memory | 16 GB | 16 GB | 16/32 GB | 16 GB |
| Connectors | Micro-USB (with OTG support), 3.5mm headphone jack | USB Type C (with OTG support), 3.5mm headphone jack | Micro-USB, 3.5 mm headphone jack | |
| Memory card support | microSD | microSD | No | microSD |
| RAM | 2 GB | 2 GB | 2 GB | 2/3 GB |
| Cameras | rear (13 MP; video 1080p), front (5 MP) | rear (12.3 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP) | rear (13 MP; video 1080p), front (5 MP) | |
| LTE support | There is | There is | There is | There is |
| Battery capacity (mAh) | 2900 | 2300 | 2700 | 3000 |
| operating system | Google Android 5.1 | Google Android 4.4 (updated to 5.0) | Google Android 6.0 | Google Android 5.1 |
| Dimensions (mm)* | 145×71×7.3 | 139×70×6.7 mm | 147×73×7.9 mm | 151×76×8.1 |
| Weight (g) | 155 | 123 | 136 | 158 |
| average price | T-13188751 | T-12323116 | T-12911710 | T-13054761 |
| Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 retail offers | L-13188751-10 | |||
*according to official data from manufacturers
The progress of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 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 latest version Android. Or - much more cheap Huawei Honor 5X, the characteristics of which are generally of the same level, but the price is significantly lower (about 17 thousand rubles at the time of writing).
However, the main trump card of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 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!
Important advantage Galaxy design A5 2016 - 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 2016, 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 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 diagonal Galaxy screen A5 grew 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 higher resolution with such a diagonal are ambiguous, but the disadvantages (reduced duration battery life, necessity increased productivity...) are undeniable. However, resolution and screen diagonal are not all parameters that deserve attention. Detailed testing of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 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 the lighting of a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) - increases to 520 cd / m² regardless of position 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 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, though White color when deviated even at small angles, it alternately acquires a slight blue-green and pinkish tint, but the black color is just 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 (profile Basic):
According to visual assessment, the tested screen has good color rendition, the colors are moderately saturated, the color balance of the screens varies slightly. Recall that photography can not 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 a profile Basic 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 (profile Basic). 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 samsung screen The Galaxy A5 looks much brighter visually (compared to LCD screens), as 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 profiles Photo AMOLED And Basic constructed using 32 points with an equal interval in the numerical value of the shade of gray, the gamma curve did not reveal any blockage in either highlights or shadows, and the index of the approximating power function is 2.11-2.13, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2, in this case, 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 Movie 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 the case of a profile Movie AMOLED very wide, it almost covers the Adobe RGB gamut:
When selecting a profile Photo AMOLED coverage is adjusted to Adobe RGB boundaries:
When selecting a profile Basic the coverage is already compressed to the sRGB boundaries:
Without correction, the spectra of the components are very well separated:
In case of profile Basic 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 a profile Basic, and only if the photo was taken on Adobe installation RGB, it makes sense to switch the profile to Photo AMOLED. Profile Movie AMOLED, despite the name, is the least suitable for watching movies or anything else.
The grayscale balance is good. Color temperature in profile Movie 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 operating system is installed on the smartphone Google system Android 5.1.1. It is reported that the Galaxy A5 2016 will receive an update to Android 6.0, but it is not yet available.
The appearance of the OS interface is typical for mobile devices Samsung.
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. None really popular model this SoC is not found. However, along with the Galaxy A5 2016, it is also installed in the Galaxy A7 2016. 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 2016 and A7 2016 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. On all devices we used Chrome browser. 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.
| Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 (Samsung Exynos 7580 Octa) |
Samsung Galaxy A5 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 410) |
Google Nexus 5X (Qualcomm Snapdragon 808) |
Huawei Honor 5X (Qualcomm Snapdragon 615) |
|
| GFXBenchmark Manhattan (Onscreen) | 4.8 fps | 3.9 fps | — | 5.9 fps |
| GFXBenchmark Manhattan (1080p Offscreen) | 4.8 fps | 1.8 fps | — | 5.6 fps |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen) | 14 fps | 9.6 fps | — | 15 fps |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen) | 14 fps | 5.4 fps | — | 14 fps |
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 fact that in Bonsai Benchmark new smartphone Samsung showed more than 30 fps - 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 2016. Firstly, compared to last year’s Galaxy A5, there is progress, and very significant. Secondly, by today's standards this is still 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 volume is more important here random access memory. 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
MHL interface (yes, branded and expensive Samsung adapters can now be safely thrown away), as well as Mobility DisplayPort, we are in this smartphone We didn’t find it, 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 in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the 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.
| Battery capacity | Reading mode | Video mode | 3D Game Mode | |
| Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 | 2900 mAh | 12:50 pm | 10:30 a.m. | 3 hours 40 minutes |
| LG Nexus 5X | 2700 mAh | 14:30 | 6:00 am | 4:00 am |
| Zuk Z1 | 4100 mAh | 21:00 | 16:40 | 6 hours 50 minutes |
| Honor 7 | 3000 mAh | 13:00 | 10:40 a.m. | 3 hours 50 minutes |
| OnePlus 2 | 3300 mAh | 14:00 | 11:20 am | 4 hours 30 minutes |
| LeTV One | 3000 mAh | 10:30 a.m. | 8 a.m. 20 p.m. | 3 hours 50 minutes |
| HTC One M9 | 2840 mAh | 11:00 am | 8 a.m. 20 p.m. | 3 hours 50 minutes |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 | 2550 mAh | 20:00 | 12:00 pm | 4:00 am |
| Google Nexus 6 | 3220 mAh | 18:00 | 10:30 a.m. | 3 hours 40 minutes |
| Meizu MX5 | 3150 mAh | 15:00 | 11:00 am | 4 hours 10 minutes |
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. To the quality of voice transmission cellular communication no complaints. The only parameter in which the smartphone does not reach the top level is the lack of support Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac. But in real life it 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). I analyzed the quality of photographs taken with the rear camera Anton Soloviev Good sharpness across the frame, it falls slightly towards the right edge. The camera copes with insufficient lighting, but the result is far from the desired one.
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 Samsung devices middle segment. Although these shortcomings do not spoil the overall picture much. In general, the camera can handle documentary and sometimes art photography quite well.
conclusions
Of course, the main drawback of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 (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 2016 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 Samsung smartphone Galaxy A5 2016:
Make and model
Information about the make, model, and alternative names of the specific device, if available.
Dimensions: 69.7 x 139.3 x 6.7 mm | Dimensions: 70.6 x 136.6 x 8.6 mm |
|
| Alternative names | SM-A500F A500F | Galaxy S III GT-I9300 I9300 |
Design
Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Materials used, colors offered, certificates.
SIM card
The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.
Mobile networks
A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.
Operating system
An operating system is a system software that manages and coordinates the operation of hardware components in a device.
SoC (System on Chip)
A system on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device on one chip.
| SoC (System on Chip) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916 | Samsung Exynos 4 Quad 4412 |
| Technological process | 28 nm | 32 nm |
| Processor (CPU) | ARM Cortex-A53 | ARM Cortex-A9 |
| Processor size | 64 bit | 32 bit |
| Instruction Set Architecture | ARMv8 | ARMv7 |
| Level 0 cache (L0) | 4 kB + 4 kB | - |
| Level 1 cache (L1) | 16 kB + 16 kB | 32 kB + 32 kB |
| Level 2 cache (L2) | 2048 kB 2 MB | 1024 kB 1 MB |
| Number of processor cores | 4 | 4 |
| CPU clock speed | 1200 MHz | 1400 MHz |
| Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) | Qualcomm Adreno 306 | ARM Mali-400 MP4 |
| Number of GPU cores | - | 4 |
| GPU clock speed | 400 MHz | 440 MHz |
| Amount of random access memory (RAM) | 2 GB | 1 GB |
| Type of random access memory (RAM) | LPDDR3 | LPDDR2 |
| Number of RAM channels | Single channel | Dual channel |
| RAM frequency | 533 MHz | 400 MHz |
Built-in memory
Each mobile device has built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed capacity.
Screen
The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.
| Type/technology | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Diagonal | 5 in 127 mm 12.7 cm | 4.8in 121.92 mm 12.19 cm |
| Width | 2.45in 62.26 mm 6.23 cm | 2.35in 59.77 mm 5.98 cm |
| Height | 4.36in 110.69 mm 11.07 cm | 4.18in 106.26 mm 10.63 cm |
| Aspect Ratio | 1.778:1 16:9 | 1.778:1 16:9 |
| Permission | 720 x 1280 pixels | 720 x 1280 pixels |
| Pixel Density | 294 ppi 115 ppcm | 306 ppi 120ppcm |
| Color depth | 24 bit 16777216 flowers | 24 bit 16777216 flowers |
| Screen area | 71.21 % | 66.07 % |
| Other characteristics | Capacitive Multi-touch | Capacitive Multi-touch Scratch resistance |
| - | Corning Gorilla Glass 2 |
Sensors
Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that a mobile device can recognize.
Main camera
The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on the back of the body and is used for taking photos and videos.
| Sensor model | Sony IMX135 Exmor RS | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS BSI |
| Sensor size | 4.69 x 3.52 mm 0.23in | 4.6 x 3.45 mm 0.23in |
| Pixel size | 1.136 µm 0.001136 mm | 1.409 µm 0.001409 mm |
| Crop factor | 7.38 | 7.52 |
| ISO (light sensitivity) | 100 - 800 | - |
| Diaphragm | f/2.0 | f/2.6 |
| Flash type | LED | LED |
| Image Resolution | 4128 x 3096 pixels 12.78 MP | 3264 x 2448 pixels 7.99 MP |
| Video resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels 2.07 MP | 1920 x 1080 pixels 2.07 MP |
| Video - frame rate/frames per second. | 30fps | 30fps |
| Characteristics | Autofocus Digital zoom Geographical tags Panoramic photography HDR shooting Touch Focus Face recognition White Balance Adjustment ISO Setting Exposure compensation Scene Selection Mode | Autofocus Continuous shooting Digital zoom Geographical tags Panoramic photography HDR shooting Touch Focus Face recognition White Balance Adjustment ISO Setting Exposure compensation Self-timer Scene Selection Mode |
Additional camera
Additional cameras are usually mounted above the device screen and are used mainly for video conversations, gesture recognition, etc.
Audio
Information about the type of speakers and audio technologies supported by the device.
Radio
The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.
WiFi
Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for transmitting data over close distances between various devices.
USB
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to exchange data.
HDMI
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a digital audio/video interface that replaces older analog audio/video standards.
Connecting devices
Information about other important connection technologies supported by your device.
Browser
A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.
Video file formats/codecs
Mobile devices support different video file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital video data.
Battery
Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge necessary for their functioning.
| Capacity | 2300 mAh | 2100 mAh |
| Type | Li-Ion (Lithium-ion) | Li-Ion (Lithium-ion) |
| 2G talk time | 15 h 900 min 0.6 days | 18 h 1080 min 0.8 days |
| 2G latency | - | 330 h 19800 min 13.8 days |
| 3G talk time | 15 h 900 min 0.6 days | 14 h 840 min 0.6 days |
| 3G latency | - | 330 h 19800 min 13.8 days |
| Adapter output power | 5 V / 1.5 A | - |
| Characteristics | Fixed | Wireless charger Removable |
| - | Wireless charging - optional |