Samsung’s 2 New Phones Are All Metal, All Selfie, All Too Familiar
Oh, hey, is that your iPhone … wait a minute. That’s not an iPhone. That’s a … Samsung?
That’s right; Samsung has just announced two new smartphones that are dead ringers for Apple’s iPhone 5 and 5s. Say hello to the Galaxy A5 and the Galaxy A3, two handsets that Samsung hopes will get younger smartphone shoppers interested in the Korean company’s wares.
Samsung is pushing the handsets’ “social networking” capabilities, which is to say they’ve got sharp front cameras for taking clear selfies. Does anyone else find it upsetting that phones are now being marketed based on their selfie abilities?
Actual marketing image. (Samsung)
Duck-faced bathroom mirror photos aside, another thing that makes the Galaxy A5 and A3 so interesting is the fact that they use an all-metal design. That means that the phones are built just like Apple’s iPhone and HTC’s One M8, two of the most attractive phones on the market.
Samsung has taken a lot of heat for using too much plastic on its smartphones, while other companies use more premium metal materials. With its recent Galaxy Alpha and Note 4, Samsung has tried to change course, using aluminum frames but sticking with plastic back panels.
The phones’ unibody designs also help make them the thinnest Samsung smartphones around, with the A5 and A3 measuring just 0.26 inches and 0.27 inches thick, respectively.
Both phones get Samsung’s excellent Super AMOLED display technology, though the A5 gets a 5-inch HD screen and the A3 gets a 4.5-inch qHD screen. That means the A5’s display will be sharper and clearer than the A3’s.
Inside, the Galaxy A5 and A3 get quad-core processors, though the A5 gets 2 GB of RAM, while the A3 gets just 1 GB, so the A5 will likely be a bit faster than its sibling.
The Galaxy A5 also gets a 13-megapixel rear camera versus the A3’s 8 MP rear camera. Both phones, however, get the same 5-megapixel front cameras. Most smartphones don’t offer front-facing cameras with such high megapixel counts, but Samsung wants to make sure your selfies look as good as possible.
There’s just one downside to the Galaxy A5’s and Galaxy A3’s new unibody design, and that’s the fact that the phones’ back panels aren’t removable, so you won’t be able to replace their batteries if they start to go south on you. Still, the handsets will include microUSB card slots for expanding storage space.
The Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 are the latest in a string of smartphones Samsung has released in 2014. In fact, in 2014 alone, the company has debuted no fewer than 10 new handsets.
The largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, Samsung has hit a rough patch as of late, with the company recently announcing that it saw a 60 percent drop in profit. Sales of Samsung smartphones also saw a decrease of 20 percent versus last year.
One of the biggest issues facing Samsung has been its performance in China, the largest smartphone market in the world. Chinese consumers have begun moving away from Samsung’s devices in favor of local brands, which are generally high quality and low cost.
The Galaxy A5 and A3, which will launch first in China as midrange handsets, are a clear indication that Samsung is serious about winning back Chinese consumers.
So far, Samsung hasn’t announced any plans to bring the Galaxy A5 and A3 to the United States. But we’re still holding out hope. At the very least, we’d like to see more Samsung phones use the new handsets’ design.
Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley or on Google+ here.
