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Samsung Galaxy A3 2017 review

 Review: February 2017  
 

Last updated August 2017

Rating: 5 stars

In a nutshell: The Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017 edition) is a compact and slim smartphone with a stunning unibody design. With a decent processor, excellent screen and good camera, only the battery life is below average. The price has now fallen considerably, making it excellent value for money.



 

A version of the Galaxy A3 for 2017

Samsung really needs to rethink its naming strategy for its A series phones, as this is the third version of the Galaxy A3. This one is denoted by the year of release - 2017 - but we bet that it's going to cause confusion.

The 2017 version of the A3 is almost the same size as the 2016 version, with the same screen size, but a touch thicker. It's still ultra-slim though by our reckoning, at 7.9mm depth. It's a lightweight phone, but very solidly built, with an almost seamless unibody construction that's very sleek. Even the camera is flush with the rear of the phone. The front and rear glass panels also sit flush with the metal edges, making the phone tough and also dust-and water-resistant to the IP68 standard.

Really, in terms of looks and design, this is the ideal phone for anyone looking for a compact mid-range model.

The speaker grille has moved from the bottom edge to the right hand edge, but is still mono. The 3.5mm headphone jack is still found on the bottom edge, next to the upgraded USB Type-C connector. The volume keys are on the left.

The screen is the same as on the 2016 edition of the A3. With a modest size of 4.7 inches, and HD resolution, it's sharp, with a pixel density of 312ppi. Being of Super AMOLED type, it's super clear, with excellent brightness, contrast and colour saturation too.

So in terms off design, this is easily a 5-star phone, and one of the best you'll find in the middle area of the market in 2017. It's available in a choice of colours - Black, Gold, Peach and Blue.

Octacore processor

The 2017 edition of the A3 has a new processor with 8 cores running at up to 1.6 GHz, compared with 4 cores at 1.5GHz on the 2016 edition. In practice, the extra cores don't get used much in everyday operations, and the extra clock speed is marginal. Performance is typical for a mid-range phone, and the A3 handles most apps quickly.

The RAM has been increased from 1.5GB to 2GB, which helps the phone handle more demanding apps, and multitasking.

The built-in memory remains at a reasonable 16GB, of which 9.7GB is available to the user, and the phone can handle memory cards up to a huge 256GB.

The A3 comes with Android Marshmallow (6.0.1) installed.

13 megapixel camera

The 2017 version of the A3 sticks with the same 13 megapixel camera as last year, with autofocus, HDR mode, an LED flash, and a wide f/1.9 aperture. The camera performs very well in good lighting, and handles itself pretty well in the dark too, although low light shots are noticeably grainier. The camera can record video at full 1080p HD resolution.

The front camera has been upgraded from 5 to 8 megapixels. Results are excellent in good lighting, but less impressive in dark conditions.

Connectivity

For 2017, the USB connection has been upgraded to the new USB Type-C. The phone is 4G capable, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and ANT+ connectivity too. It also includes GPS and Glonass location services.

Mediocre battery life

The battery life of the A series phones has never been stellar. It's one of the downsides of an ultra-slim compact smartphone. For 2017, Samsung has squeezed a tiny bit more juice into the battery, but at 2350mAh it's still relatively small. In ideal conditions, the battery will give you 16 hours of continuous use, but in real life you should expect less. The typical user ought to be able to make it through a day before the battery dies.

Note also that because of the unibody design, the battery is not removable.

Conclusion - beautiful and compact

If you're looking for a compact Android smartphone, you'll struggle to find anything better than the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017). It's a beautifully-designed phone with a stunning screen, decent mid-range performance, and a good camera.

It's not perfect - the battery life isn't as good as we'd like, but in all other ways it's a great phone. It's not the most high-powered device on offer, but as compact models go, it's one of the very best.

Other options to consider are the Sony Xperia X Compact and iPhone SE.


Samsung Galaxy A3 2017 features include:

User questions

Sorry - questions and comments on this page are now closed.

Problem with A3 it keeps coming up with No sim Card , what is the reason for this?

Asked by Sue from UK on 8th Feb 2018

When was the Samsung Galaxy A3 release in 2017?

Asked by L LLOYD from England on 10th Sep 2017

Reply by James from England on 23rd Sep 2017
It was announced on January 2nd, and released early February, around the time that the S21 review was written.



Samsung Galaxy A3 2017 user reviews

Sorry - reviews and comments on this page are now closed.


Average rating from 3 reviews:

Reviewed by Simon from England on 19th Mar 2018
Had this phone 7 months and been throw 3 chargers already on my 4 charger now had it just over a week and my phone charge port is playing up again ... Had Samsung phones for the last 6 years and this new charge port is RUBBISH I'll not be going back to Samsung s after this phone till they sort this out.
Rating:

Reviewed by James from United Kingdom on 7th Nov 2017
I've had this phone for about six or seven weeks now and I'm pretty impressed. Not just by the way it looks (and let's say it looks pretty handsome in Blue Mist), but in the way it functions, too. Everything said by S21 about the screen is true. Super AMOLED screens are definite winners - they are bright and clear. The display is also the perfect size for me. The camera seems good too and the processor copes fine. Battery life doesn't seem too bad either but maybe that's just because my previous phone had a dreadful battery.

Grumbles? There are a few minor ones: the fingerprint recognition is a nice inclusion on a phone at this price but requires your finger to be in a precise position in order to work, which makes it not as convenient as I'd like. The phone picks up fingerprints easily too and is slightly overpriced considering the new J-series phones have similar specifications and also have the excellent screen quality.

All in all though, the A3 proves that you don't need to spend silly money to get something that'll do all your everyday tasks with ease. It may not be as exciting or modern as the really expensive bezel-less models, but it's still almost as capable. Recommended!
Rating:

Reply by Tom from UK on 15th Nov 2017
Have you tried adding the same fingerprint twice? I have found that this gives a much more reliable and faster response from the sensor.

Reviewed by Hild from United Kingdom on 12th Oct 2017
I love this phone but the only thing I don't like is the predictive texting...it just cannot understand in English what your texting ...even if you type in something wrong it won't correct it ..im sure this is a foreign phone lol ...the weird thing is.. the predictive texting on this is brilliant correcting it.
Rating:


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