Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) Smartphone Test

The Samsung Galaxy A3 has been popular in many countries for some time now, it is one of the very few small and handy Android smartphones with current equipment. What used to be the “mini-versions” of the big Galaxy S models today is the Galaxy A3 series, because a Galaxy S7 mini or a Galaxy S8 mini does not exist. With its 4.7-inch display and quite compact dimensions, the Galaxy A3 is well-suited for single-handed operation. In February, Samsung has already launched the third generation of the A series on the market, the Galaxy A3 (2017). In the test, the device will show whether it is as recommendable as its predecessors.

 

 

Appearance

 

The 2017 version of the Samsung Galaxy A3 comes considerably more rounded than the 2016 version. The Galaxy A3 (2016) is almost more modern compared to the Galaxy A3 (2017), although it is a generation older. Samsung provides a very high level of materials and processing, in the A3 (2017) front and rear made of glass and a matt metal frame. Speaking of color: Samsung sells the Galaxy A3 (2017) in the colors sky- black, sand-gold, blue-mist and cloud-peach, or simply black, gold, blue and pink.

 

 

The dimensions are 135.4 x 66.2 x 7.9 millimeters and the A3 is 138 grams heavier. The back is rounded to the sides, so that the device is comfortable in the hand. The display glass is also slightly rounded (2.5D glass). On the right is the power button, on the left are the two volume buttons. All buttons provide a very good pressure point. At the bottom of the device is a USB Type C connector, as well as the 3.5mm audio connector and a microphone. The second microphone for noise suppression is placed on the top, where you can also find the slot for the Nano SIM card and the optional MicroSD memory card. On the front you can find the home button, which also has a fingerprint sensor integrated.

 

 

In addition to the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017), there is also a white plug-in power supply (without quick-charging function), a white USB to USB type C cable for charging and data transmission, and a simple headset, also in white. In addition to the usual paperwork, there is also a small tool for opening the SIM card slot.

 

 

Hardware and software

 

The display of the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) is 4.7 inches in the diagonal (16: 9 aspect ratio). The resolution is no longer quite modern with 1280 x 720 pixels (HD), but in the daily use does not disturb and there are still advantages such as the good maximum brightness and the accurate color representation. Only in direct comparison with a full-HD smartphone, the low pixel density is negative. The comparatively low resolution benefits the battery runtime: the Galaxy A3 (2017) with its 2.350 mAh strong battery runs for 2 days with normal use in any case, with little use probably even longer. And the battery cannot be changed.

 

 

Samsung has provided a 1.6 GHz Octa core processor for the Galaxy A3 (2017), which has 2 GB of RAM (RAM) available. The internal user memory is very narrow with 16 GB, especially since only about 10 gigabytes are available for free. Luckily, you can use MicroSD memory card for memory upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) supports WLAN according to the standards 802.11a/b/g/n/ac to 2.4 GHz and even to 5GHz, which is great for a smartphone for entry class. Also NFC and Bluetooth 4.2 are on board, as well as the support for various satellite navigation systems. LTE is supported on all frequency bands that are important for Europe (800, 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2300 and 2600 MHz). The device is also well suited for occasional travel to other continents.

 

 

As an operating system, Android is used in version 6.0.1, an update to Android 7.0 seems to be currently under development and is likely to reach the Galaxy A3 (2017) in any case. The user interface is appealing and offers a lot of settings. In addition, the test proved positive that the system reacts very quickly and opens apps quickly. For the first set-up, it is best to schedule a few minutes more to configure the phone as your preference, as some menus are deeply hidden in the settings.

 

 

The Always On Display was particularly good in the test. This was introduced in 2016 with the Galaxy S7 and is now also available in Galaxy A series. If the display is switched off, the time and some additional information such as received WhatsApp messages are displayed. Thanks to AMOLED display technology, the energy consumption is very limited, in the test it was about 10% per 24 hours.

 

 

Camera

 

In the camera, Samsung uses a 13 megapixel sensor, which operates at full resolution in the 4: 3 aspect ratio. If you prefer the 16: 9 format, a maximum of 9.6 megapixels are available. The aperture is up to f1.9 and an autofocus as well as an LED flash is also available. Videos are available in full HD 1080p. The front camera offers 8 megapixels and also f1.9 aperture. The image quality of the back camera is good, but not outstanding. In good light, the recordings are very nice, especially macro pictures can be seen. In dark environments, the image quality of the camera is not quite as good, but still adequate and the price is definitely appropriate.

 

 

Conclusion: Recommended!

 

Samsung has consistently developed the Galaxy A3 in the 2017 version. The high-quality materials and the good workmanship are particularly impressive. Also the performance of the smartphone was very good in the test, the operation worked just as smoothly as with much more expensive upper-class smartphones. Good, but not outstanding are the camera and the display quality to evaluate. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) is highly recommended. 

 

The price-performance ratio is great; you can get a handy and compact Android smartphone at a fair price! Of course, Samsung also provide many higher lever smartphones such as Galaxy C5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy C9. If you want to check more Samsung Smartphones, welcome to check http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-lte-smartphone/samsung-4g-smartphone.html  

Huawei Honor 8 Pro (V9) Available

Honor today introduced a new smartphone: Honor 8 Pro. The big brother of the Honor 8 is at high price with high expectations of the technology and the design. In principle, the Honor 8 Pro is not an unknown device, the device has been available in China for some weeks under the name Honor V9; in some areas such as Europe, no change was made except the device name.

 

Equipment and technology

 

One of the highlights at the Honor 8 Pro is certainly the 5.7 inch display. It resolves with 2560 x 1440 pixels (2K) and thus offers a very sharp display with a high pixel density of 515 ppi. For comparison: the normal Honor 8 has only a 5.2-inch display with 1080p Full-HD resolution. The internal memory of the Honor 8 Pro is 64 GB and expandable via MicroSD memory card, if no second SIM card is used. The memory is 6 GB.   The second highlight is the dual camera on the back of the Honor 8 Pro. It resolves with 12 megapixels and should allow particularly good photos. It should be the same camera as in the Honor 8 or the Huawei P9, also 4K video recordings with 30fps are possible. The front camera offers a maximum of 8 megapixels and can record videos in 1080p Full-HD.

 

 

As an operating system Android version 7.0 with the EMUI 5 interface is used. For a good speed, a Kirin 960 chipset is inserted, which has so far only been used in the Huawei Mate 9 and Huawei P10 devices. For wireless network connections, the device provides all important standards, including Dualband WLAN ac, Bluetooth 4.2 and LTE Cat6 at up to 300 Mbps. In addition, the Honor 8 Pro Dual SIM is capable, so you can use two Nano-SIM cards simultaneously.   The battery of the Honor 8 Pro is quite large with 4,000 mAh, the battery should with normal use two full days without recharging. By the way, a quick-charging function is available via the USB Type C connection on the underside of the Honor 8, but wireless charging is not possible.

 

 

Design and materials

 

The Honor 8 Pro will be available in black, blue and gold. The design is quite strongly to that of the Honor 8, the back of this time is made of metal and not like the Honor 8 from glass. Because of the bigger display, the dimensions are also slightly changed compared to the small sister model, the Honor 8 Pro is 157 x 77.5 x 6.97 millimeters tall and weighs a whopping 184 grams. The display glass is slightly rounded to the sides (2.5D optics), which is not only visually more beautiful, but also leaves the device better in the hand. The fingerprint sensor is located on the back as with almost all Honor and Huawei smartphones.

 

 

Mixture of Honor 8 and Huawei Mate 9

 

The Honor 8 Pro makes a good impression in the first impression. The technology is with 2K display, dual camera and 4,000 mAh rechargeable battery, 6 GB RAM and the Kirin 960 chipset make the device future-proof. Basically, the Honor 8 Pro is a mixture of the Honor 8 and the Huawei Mate 9. 

 

Actually, the Huawei Mate 9 is still a good piece better equipped in some points and costs currently not much more on the price, the only poorly equipped Honor 8 price is cheaper, but for some users, it’s budget phone to recommend. If you want to check more Huawei mobile phones, welcome to check here: http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-lte-smartphone/huawei-4g-smartphone.html

Samsung Presented New Flagship Galaxy S8 and S8+

Samsung today introduced its two new flagship smartphones Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ for the year 2017. The Galaxy S7 Edge gets two successors, which differ mainly by the display size: the Galaxy S8 has a 5.8 inch display while the Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2 inch display. Both the display of the S8 and the S8+ is rounded on both sides, a version without edge display is no longer available. The highlight is certainly the almost frameless design of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the display occupies nearly the entire front, the frames above and below the display are significantly thinner compared to the Galaxy S7. It’s said the Galaxy S8 would be available in the market at the end of April 2017.

Design and display

Visually, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8+ differ only in size. The S8 dimensions are 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 millimeters and weight is 152 grams, the S8+ dimensions are 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 millimeters and weighs 173 grams. The display has an aspect ratio of 18.5: 9 on both devices, so the devices are very narrow compared to 16: 9 devices with the same display diagonal. For comparison: an iPhone 7 with 4.7 inch display (16: 9) is only 0.8mm narrower than a Galaxy S8 with 5.8 inch display.

The design is broadly similar to that of the Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge, the device consists largely of glass, only the frame is made of metal. However, due to the large display, the home button has given way to software buttons and the fingerprint sensor has been placed on the back side of the camera.

Technology and software 

 The Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of the first smartphones to support LTE Category 16. This allows extremely high speeds to be reached via the mobile network, depending on the extent of the network up to 1 Gbit/s in the downlink. As a processor, there is a octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895 with 64Bit, 4 x 1,7 GHz and 4 x 2,3 GHz. In other markets a Qualcomm chipset is installed, the performance should be comparable. The memory is 4 GB and the internal memory measures 64 GB (UFS 2.1 technology, via MicroSD expandable). The Galaxy S8 have versions with single sim and dual SIM functionality for different markets and carriers, the sim type is Nano-SIM.

 The back camera of the Samsung Galaxy S8 offers a resolution of 12 megapixels and has an f1.7 aperture. The sensor works in the 4: 3 format, who would rather take photos in the 16: 9 format, has to deal with a lower resolution. The camera on the front takes photos with up to 8 megapixel resolution and also offers a f1.7 aperture.

In the WLAN area, the Galaxy S8 offers a very modern equipment. The 802.11ac standard is supported with MU-MIMO antenna technology, in combination with a modern MU-MIMO router, you should get significant speed advantages. The Galaxy S8 also supports NFC and Bluetooth 5.0 as well as various satellite navigation systems.

As an operating system, Android is used in version 7.0, of course again with a Samsung-adapted surface. The always-on display has been adapted in such a way that a home button is also visible when the display is switched off, since the physical home button has been lost in comparison with its predecessor.

Battery 

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has – like the Galaxy S8+ – a permanently installed battery, which cannot be removed. The capacity is at the S8 3.000 mAh, while in the S8+, it is 3,500 mAh. The two devices support wireless fast charging as well as fast charging via the USB type C connector. By the way: in contrast to the Apple iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy S8 does not have the 3.5mm audio jack connection, so you can use normal headphones and is not dependent on adapter or Bluetooth.

Price and availability 

 The two versions of the Samsung Galaxy S8 can be pre-ordered from now on and until the 19th of April in the Samsung Online-Shop as well as www.4gltemall.com . From the 28th of April, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be available in the colors “Arctic Silver”, “Midnight Black” and “Orchid Gray”.