Samsung has officially taken the wraps off a new duo of affordable metal phones, the Samsung Galaxy A5 and the Samsung Galaxy A3.
Following this week's disappointing quarterly results, Samsung promised to address the threat from China by refocussing on more affordable smartphones. Right on cue, it's done that very thing with the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy A5 and A3.
As per the leak at the beginning of October, both the A5 and the A3 are variants on the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. That is, they sport a premium-looking metal rim construction, yet contain decidedly non-cutting-edge specs.
The Samsung Galaxy A5 sports a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED display and a super-slim 6.7mm-thick body (the same as the Alpha). It runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Unlike the Alpha, there is a microSD slot for expansion purposes.
It does appear to have a similar 13-megapixel camera to the Alpha, though.
Over on the Samsung Galaxy A3, it's a similar affair, but with lower grade specs. The screen is smaller at 4.5-inches and runs a less sharp qHD resolution (not to be confused with the much sharper QHD). Its body is also slightly thicker at 6.9mm, and the A3's camera takes a step down to 8-megapixel. It has the same processor, internal storage, and microSD facility, but half the RAM of the A5.
Both phones have 4G connectivity and run on Android 4.4 out of the box.
Interestingly, both the Samsung Galaxy A5 and the Samsung Galaxy A3 boast a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, which mirrors recent mid-range efforts from Nokia and HTC. It's clear that these phones are being aimed at younger, more selfie-savvy users - particularly those in the massive Chinese market, where Samsung is receiving a bit of a battering from Xiaomi and Lenovo.
Both the Samsung Galaxy A5 and the Samsung Galaxy A3 will launch in China and "select markets" in November, so don't pin your hopes on a UK release just yet.
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