Introduction
This is the Galaxy A7 (2018), the latest mid-range device by Samsung. Comparing to the 2017 edition, the 2018 edition has a lot of changes. Are those changes good or bad? This is the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) review!
Boxy Glass Sandwich Design
Similar to the Galaxy A8 (2018), the Galaxy A7 (2018) has the same glass sandwich design. The phone now has a boxier design compared to last year’s model. The front now has a 6-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Display, we no longer get to see Samsung’s iconic home button.
The back of the phone looks beautiful with a premium 2.5D rear glass. Our review unit is the blue variant, which will change to different shades of blue depending on which angle you are looking at. The top left corner has the triple-camera setup with a slight bump.
Well, you might notice there’s no fingerprint sensor on the back, this is because its fingerprint sensor now has been moved to the side, doubled up as the power button. Its fingerprint sensor is pretty accurate and quick, I’ve always preferred the fingerprint located on the side, something I really miss on Sony smartphones. As for the volume buttons, there are located at a higher position, something you need to get used of.
The bottom of the device houses the 3.5mm audio jack, MicroUSB port, and speaker. For some reason, Samsung decided to switch back from USB-C, not something you would expect on a newer iteration. I guess this is where Samsung cut down the cost.
AMOLED Display
The phone sports a 6-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display, which also features Always on Display. The display looks great deep blacks and eye-pleasing colors. Overall, it still remains my all-time favorite display.
Exynos 7885 SoC
Similar to the Galaxy A8 (2018), the Galaxy A7 (2018) is powered by the 14nm Exynos 7885 octa-core processor with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone should be able to get the job done easily with some minor stutters or hiccups here and there. However, I didn’t really experience any hiccups throughout my review period.
Same Samsung UX
The Galaxy A7 (2018) runs on Samsung UX 9.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo. The software experience is pretty much similar to the rest of 2018 Samsung smartphones and Bixby Home remains on the left page of the home screen. Fortunately, you can still turn it off.
You can still swap the on-screen Back and Recents buttons and even customize the background color of the navigation bar. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t have haptic feedback, which feels a bit weird and a little less premium.
Overall, the experience is still pretty much the same. You still get features like Always On Display, Split Screen View, and Game Tools. Not sure why you can’t use Samsung Pay, though. Maybe it’ll be available in the future.
Triple Rear Cameras
On the back, the phone packs a triple-camera setup — 24MP F1.7 wide camera + 5MP F2.2 depth sensor + 8MP F2.4 ultra wide camera. Selfie wise, there’s a 24MP F2.0 front-facing shooter.
Image quality generally is pretty good, though you’ll notice some details being washed out due to the noise reduction. I kinda like the color tuning of the ultra-wide camera shots, and that lens flare looks so nice. Additionally, with the secondary depth sensor, the Live Focus shots are quite good with nice edge detection. You can even edit the shape of the lens blur effect, as well as the blurriness.
3,300mAh Battery
The Galaxy A7 (2018) packs a 3,300mAh battery, which is slightly smaller than its predecessor. The phone also doesn’t support fast charging, it has a 5V/1.55A charger instead, which took more than 2 hours to fully charge the phone from 15%.
In terms of battery life, the phone can last through a day easily with between 4 to 5 hours of screen-on-time. Not really a bad result, thanks to its power-efficient chipset and AMOLED display.
Final Words
Retailing at RM1,299, this is the most affordable Galaxy A7 ever in years. However, in the Galaxy A8 (2018) review, we did mention that the Galaxy A8 (2018) is more like the successor to the Galaxy A5 (2017), while the Galaxy A8+ is more like the successor to the Galaxy A7 (2017). Hence, the Galaxy A7 (2018) isn’t really the successor of the last year edition. It’s really a good device, but certain features like USB-C port and IP68 water & dust resistance are now gone, which makes sense since it is a lot more affordable. Sadly, some other brands actually offer flagship specs for the same price point, something you will need to think about what you need. The Galaxy A7 (2018) no doubt has an impressive display and great cameras. If performance isn’t really your thing, this is actually a good choice.
Yay
- Nice design
- Impressive display
- Nice cameras
Nay
- Only MicroUSB port
- No haptic feedback
- Slow charging speed