NEW YORK: Samsung unveiled its first full-metal handsets on Tuesday, the Galaxy A line-up of ultra-thin mid-range smartphones.
Available in 4.5-inch, 5-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes, each phone boasts a unibody full aluminium frame, super Amoled display, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and 4G LTE capabilities.
The Galaxy A phones are the first full-metal smartphones that Samsung has released (the Galaxy Alpha had a metal frame, but a plastic rear cover). Its flagship handsets, such as the Galaxy S5, traditionally have plastic bodies.
The full-metal design is complemented by diamond-cut chamfered edges and skinny profiles, with the 4.5-inch A3 measuring 6.9mm, the 5-inch A5 measuring 6.7mm and the 5.5-inch A7 a mere 6.3mm.
The phones are aimed at younger users – each is armed with a front-facing camera primed for selfies, with features like wide selfie, palm selfie, animated GIF and “beauty face features”, which smooths out a subject’s face, enlarges the eyes and slims down chubby cheeks.
The A7’s screen boasts a full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution, while the A5 and A3 settle for 1,280 x 720 and 960 x 540 pixel resolutions respectively. However, all three devices boast great contrast and vivid colour reproduction, thanks to the super Amoled display.
The A3 and A5 are powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, while the A7 has an octa-core (quad-core 1.5GHz and quad-core 1GHz) processor. All three devices feature LTE category 4 support, with 16GB storage built in and a microSD slot that supports up to 128GB.
The A7 has a 2,600mAH battery, the A5 has a 2,300mAh battery and the A3 has a 1,900mAh battery.
The A series will be available in a range of colours, with the A3 ($448) and A5 ($598) launching in pearl white and midnight black today, and platinum silver, Champagne Gold and soft pink versions to follow.
