User:Alalch E./sandbox/2016 edition of the Samsung Galaxy A series

On 2 December 2015, Samsung unveiled the 2016 edition of the Galaxy A series. It was the second generation of the mid-range series, initially comprising four models (Galaxy A3, A5, A7, and A9), which was expanded to six models with the mid-year releases of Galaxy A9 Pro and Galaxy A8.

General features
New features included metal and glass body, NFC which supports Samsung Pay, Samsung's Adaptive Fast charging feature and increased battery life. The series was similar to the Galaxy S6, and the Galaxy Note 5 flagships, which had been released in April 2015, and August 2015, respectively.

Galaxy A3
The second-generation Galaxy A3 was equipped with Samsung's Exynos 7578 system-on-chip (SoC), with two clusters of four cores, only one of which was functional (differentiating it from the Exynos 7580 that had both clusters functional, and was otherwise identical). Alternatively, it came with Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 in certain markets. Both SoCs featured a four-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU accompanied by a Mali-T720MP2 GPU. The smartphone had 1.5 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, with support for removable microSD cards of up to 128 GB. The microSD card slot was designed to allow insertion of a SIM card, and thus the A3 could also be used in Dual SIM mode.

Unlike the previous generation, the device had an aluminium and glass body. It had a larger 4.7 in display compared to the 4.5 in display of the first-generation A3. The display was protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, also used for the smartphone's backside.

It was released in China on 15 December 2015, followed by other countries in the first quarter of 2016. In April 2016, it was available in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Galaxy A5
The 2016-edition Galaxy A5 was equipped with the eight-core Exynos 7580 (Exynos 7 Octa) SoC with a 1.6GHz octa-core 64-bit CPU and Mali T720-MP2 graphics processor. The smartphone had 1.5 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, with support for removable MicroSD cards of up to 128 GB. The microSD card slot was designed to allow insertion of a SIM card, and thus the A5 could also be used in Dual SIM mode.

Unlike the previous generation, the device had an aluminium and glass body. It had a larger 5.2 in display compared to the 5 in display of the first-generation A5. The display was protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, also used for the smartphone's backside.

The smartphone launched with the Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop) operating system. Samsung released the Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) update and then the Android 7.0 (Nougat) update.

It was released in China on 15 December 2015, followed by other countries in the first quarter of 2016. In April 2016, it was available in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Galaxy A7
The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) or Samsung Galaxy A7 2016 Edition is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics. It was introduced on December 2, 2015, along with Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016), and Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)

The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop right out-of-the-box and is upgradeable to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and Android 7.0 Nougat. The smartphone features Exynos 7580 SoC consisting of octa-core 1.6 Ghz ARM Cortex-A53 processor and Mali T720-MP2 GPU and sports 3 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage which expandable up to 128 GB via a MicroSD slot which can also be used for a second Nano-SIM. In China, it was released with Snapdragon 615. The device retains a non-removable battery like its predecessor, rated at 3300 mAh.

The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) was released in China on December 15, 2015, followed by other countries in the Q1 2016. As of April 2016, the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) is now available in Eastern Europe (only Russia, Ukraine and Turkey), Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Asia. It is not available in North America and rest of Europe.

While its predecessor Samsung Galaxy A7 (2015) had broader availability in Europe, this model was never sold in Europe because it was deemed too expensive and also near-direct competitor against Samsung Galaxy S6.

Galaxy A9
Samsung Galaxy A9 or Samsung Galaxy A9 2016 Edition is an Android phablet produced by Samsung Electronics. It was introduced on January 15, 2016, along with the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016), and Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)

Galaxy A8
The Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) (stylized as SAMSUNG Galaxy A86) is an Android phablet produced by Samsung Electronics. It was introduced on September 30, 2016 by South Korean telecom provider SK Telecom. Unlike most Galaxy A series smartphones, the Galaxy A8 (2016) has a better processor similar to Samsung's 2015 flagships, the Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

Following its release, the Galaxy A8 (2016) is only available in the South Korean market with a price of 649,000 South Korean won (estimated around 580 USD), as of October 1, 2016. Other countries are expected to release the device soon.

The smartphone features an Exynos 7420 SoC consisting of 4 ARM Cortex-A57 and 4 Cortex-A53 backed by the Mali-T760MP8 GPU and sports 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB internal storage, expandable to 256 GB via a MicroSD slot which can also be used for a second Nano-SIM (in international versions). The device retains a non-removable battery like its predecessor, rated at 3500 mAh with Adaptive Fast Charging technology. The Galaxy A8 (2016) also has a fingerprint scanner and support for Samsung Pay with NFC and MST communication technologies.

The Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) has a full metal body, similar to the previous Samsung Galaxy A8. The Galaxy A8 (2016) has a larger 5.7-inch display compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, but it uses a Full HD Super AMOLED. The Galaxy A8 (2016)’s front display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

The Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Grace UX interface introduced in the Galaxy Note 7. A new "Always On display" functionality displays a clock, calendar, and notifications on-screen when the device is in standby, similar to Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge.

Galaxy A9 Pro


The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) (stylized as SAMSUNG Galaxy A9 Pro6) is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics. It was introduced in March 2016.

The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) runs Android 6.0 "Marshmallow". The difference between the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) and the Pro version is that the A9 (2016) has 3GB of RAM and a 4000mAh battery while A9 Pro (2016) has 4 GB of RAM and a 5000mAh battery. Also, A9 Pro is equipped with a 16 MP rear camera while the A9 (2016) has a 13 MP rear camera.

Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) has glass rear panel and aluminium frame. Both of the front glass and rear panel are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It measures 161.7 x 80.9 x 7.9 mm (Height x Width x Thickness) and weighs 210 grams. It was available with black, white and gold color options.

The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 with a octa-core processor with 28 nm fabrication process and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A72 + 4x 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 cores and Adreno 510 GPU. The device has 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage that can be expanded by microSDXC card slot, 16 MP rear camera with f/1.9 aperture, 8 MP selfie camera with f/1.9 aperture, 6.0 inch Super AMOLED Full HD (1080x1920 pixels) display and 5000 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery. The device has a 16 MP rear camera with f/1.9 aperture, 1/2.8" sensor size, autofocus (AF) and optical image stabilization (OIS). It has an 8 MP selfie camera with f/1.9 aperture. Both of the cameras support 1080p video recording at 30 fps.

The device comes Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow preinstalled. It received Android 7.0 Nougat update in 2017. It is upgradable to Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0 user interface.