Samsung Galaxy A7, arguably the most reasonably priced high-end smartphone from the Korean company, is available in India at a price of Rs 30,500, beating HTC Desire 826 to the market.
The Samsung Galaxy A7 is special for three key reasons – price, looks and specifications.
First, the price and specifications. The Galaxy A7 is without doubt the best value-for-money high-end smartphone from Samsung. In comparison, the very similarly specified Galaxy S5 LTE is priced in the Rs 44,000 range.
In fact, we’d expected the price to be around 33,000, but it’s actually being sold at a best buy price of just Rs 30,499 on Samsung eStore. We believe the extremely aggressive pricing by Samsung will force HTC to price the Desire 826 below Rs 30,000.
In ordinary course of things, Samsung would have priced the A7 at at least 40,000, but the relatively low price of Rs 30,500 implies that the Korean company is aware of the need to compete with other brands such as Lenovo, HTC and Huawei. Sony is the only brand that has refused to offer value-for-money deals in the high-end now.
The Samsung Galaxy A7 has nearly everything a high-end phone should have, except for a quad-HD (or 2K) display. It will compete with the Moto X2, which also has very very similar specifications, but is priced at Rs 30,000.
Even at current prices, the A7 is a better proposition compared to the Galaxy A5 despite the price difference of around Rs 5,500 as the A7 is a high-end phone that can compete with flagships, while A5 will compete with 10,000-rupee phones from rivals.
The phone, which looks better than the typical ‘plasticky’ models that users have come to expect from the Korean giant, is already available on eBay at 35,500. It is on track to be available on major platforms like Snapdeal and Flipkart next week.
Besides a full HD, AMOLED display, the phone also comes with 16 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM, 13 MP camera plus a 5 MP shooter at the front, and disappointingly, Android 4.4.
The A7, however, also comes with a 64-bit processor – the Snapdragon 615. Battery is non-removable and has a capacity of 2,600 mAh, which is on the low side considering that the phone has a full HD, 5.5-inch display. However, AMOLED technology may cut down some of the power consumption compared to regular LCD.
Samsung had better hurry the phone into the Indian market as HTC India has put up a page saying the HTC Desire 826 is ‘coming soon’ to the country. The HTC 826 is almost exactly the same as the A7, except for the fact that HTC uses regular LCD technology while Samsung uses Super AMOLED technology on its display.
However, making the HTC Desire 826 an attractive choice is the fact that the phone will come with Android 5.0 Lolipop and it will be priced at around Rs 30,000.
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| Battery | Standard | Capacity | 2,600 mAh |
| Camera | Camera Resolution(Front) | 5.0MP | |
| Camera Resolution(Rear) | 13MP | ||
| Feature | Wide Selfie, Rear-cam Selfie, Beauty Face Features | ||
| Flash | LED Flash | ||
| Chipset | Chipset | Type | MSM8x39 (Quad A53 1.5GHz + Quad A53 1.0GHz) |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth | BT 4.0 | |
| GPS | A- GPS, Glonass | ||
| NFC | Yes | ||
| USB | USB 2.0 | ||
| WIFI | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n | ||
| Display | Internal | Resolution | FHD |
| Size | 13.97 cm (5.5″) | ||
| Technology | sAMOLED | ||
| Extra Features | Extra Features | Ultra Power Saving Mode,Changeable Theme (Natural,Classic,Casual,Romantic),Private Mode,Multi Screen, Quick Connect | |
| Memory | External User Memory | Micro SD (Up to 64GB) | |
| Internal User Memory | 16GB (Disclaimer – The operating system and default applications occupy part of the internal memory) | ||
| SDRAM Memory | 2.0GB | ||
| Music & Sound | Audio Format supported | MP3,M4A,3GA,AAC,OGG,OGA,WAV,WMA,AMR,AWB,FLAC,MID,MIDI,XMF,MXMF,IMY,RTTTL,RTX,OTA | |
| Operating System | Operating System | Android 4.4 (KitKat) | |
| Platform | Network & Data | LTE | Cat4 150/50Mbps |
| GPRS | HSPA+ 42/5.76Mbps | ||
| Processor | Speed | A53 1.5GHz Quad + A53 1.0GHz Quad | |
| Type | Snapdragon Octa Core | ||
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB, Hall, Light | ||
| Size | Dimension (HxWxD) | 151 x 76.2 x 6.3 mm | |
| Weight | 141g | ||
| Video | Playing Resolution | FHD(1920 x 1080) | |
| Previewing Framerates(fps) | 30fps | ||
| Video Playback Formats | MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM |