Introduction
The Galaxy A models for 2016 are Samsung's answer to the trend started by Chinese OEMs of making premium feeling midrange devices.
This makes the Galaxy A5 as much a OnePlus X/Xiaomi Mi 4c competitor as it is a Galaxy S6 alternative. Speaking of it, the S6 price hovers barely above that of the A5, so the young 'un has to prove it's just as good as the phone that started Samsung's mobile rebirth.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) features a Super AMOLED display, Samsung's specialty. It's a 5.2" 1080p screen rather than the 5.1" QHD unit on the Galaxy S6. Not that either number has a particularly huge impact on the experience.
One thing we noticed is a slight flicker - practically all AMOLED displays (and some LCDs) have that effect, it's just that the effect is stronger on the A5. You can't really notice it with the naked eye, but the effect doesn't have to be visible to have an impact (some people can get headaches from screen flicker). At higher brightness the effect is less visible, it becomes strongest below 40% of the max brightness.
The Galaxy A5 (2016) screen can scale its brightness from very dark 2.1nits (suitable for late night viewing) to very bright. At full blast on manual you get 420nits, a good reading slightly below the median maximum, but auto mode can push it as high as 600nits.
As far as color rendering is concerned, the Galaxy A5 is spectacularly accurate in the provided Basic mode with an average DeltaE of 1.3. Color accuracy on the default Adaptive mode however is only average (Avg. DeltaE of 8.1).
| Display test | |||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.00 | 398 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 421 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 601 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 473 | ∞ | |
| 0.36 | 536 | 1481 | |
| 0.59 | 583 | 986 | |
| - | 366 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 340 | ∞ | |
| 0.28 | 452 | 1609 | |
Even at manual mode's maximum of 420nits the display remains perfectly legible, but you can get even better performance if you toggle the Auto mode.
Connectivity
The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) has a SingleSIM and DualSIM models, though which one you get is region dependent. Whether the microSD card has a dedicated slot or it replaces SIM 2 also changes by region. Either way, the A5 has LTE Cat. 6 connectivity for fast mobile data.
Local connectivity is handled by Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, no 802.11ac but that's not a huge omission. You do get Bluetooth 4.1 and ANT+ for low-power connections to sports wearables.
There's also NFC and MST (Samsung's proprietary tech that emulates magnetic cards) for Samsung Pay. They are paired with a fingerprint reader and allow you to pay with your phone at checkout, at least in the several pilot markets for the service.
The microUSB 2.0 port lacks MHL, but it does support USB On-The-Go for accessories (storage or input peripherals). The port also supports fast charging (Quick Charge 2.0 equivalent), though there's no wireless charging.
Also, the Galaxy A5 (2016) has FM radio, isn't that neat? We know many have moved on to streaming, but sometimes plain, old FM is more reliable than Internet services (no need to pay for data either).
Battery life
The phone has a 2,900mAh battery, not bad for its size, especially considering the Galaxy S6 has 2,550mAh.
The Smart Manager monitors app usage and will optimize apps that you haven't used for a while (preventing them from suddenly draining the battery).
Also, here you'll find two modes - Power saving mode and Ultra power saving mode. For both, you get an estimate of how much battery life you can expect if you enable the mode.
With a bigger battery and a less demanding chipset, the Galaxy A5 (2016) aced the battery test. It posted an endurance rating of 91 hours with just one SIM. With both SIM slots occupied that dropped to 77 hours, but the standby battery draw remained very low.
The individual tests were very impressive too - you can talk for nearly 21 hours straight or browse the web for 10 hours. Or watch a 12-hour movie marathon.
Compared to the Galaxy S6 you get a noticeable boost in endurance, while the individual tests are largely the same. The S6 does last an hour longer when browsing the web though.
Note that these results are for the Galaxy A5 (2016) with Snapdragon 615, there's also a version with the Exynos 7580 chipset.
In 2016 we're transitioning to using a fixed 200nit screen brightness for our battery tests instead of merely positioning the brightness slider at 50% which worked out to a relatively random brightness level.
The level of 200nits, which we've chosen for our tests, has become somewhat of an industry standard. But more importantly, it's both the median and average value of the brightness levels at which we've tested all reviewed devices so far. This means our older battery life results will remain relevant and comparable.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) is powered by an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor. Samsung is cagey about chipset details, but our unit is built around a Snapdragon 615. The 2GB of RAM are below par for this price range. Also, the Adreno 405 GPU does not provide the smoothest of framerates for graphics intensive gaming.
The Galaxy A5 (2016) is available with an Exynos 7580 too, a very similar chipset with eight A53 cores and Mali T720MP GPU. This is not the version we're reviewing though, we have the S615 model and this page is based on it.
AnTuTu 5 shows a big improvement over the old Galaxy A5 (which ran on Snapdragon 410), but the new model has competition from some quite affordable devices such as the Xiaomi Mi 4c or the OnePlus X. The latter even uses a Snapdragon 800 chipset!
Then again the HTC One A9 (which is the expensive of the lot) has a Snapdragon 617 chipset, which got winded pretty quickly.
Running Basemark OS II 2.0 on the Galaxy A5 shows similar findings - it's better than last year's model, but not as good as some cheaper handsets.
AnTuTu 5
Higher is better
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
Digging into the details, the CPU performance seems pretty great. Not Galaxy S6 great, but it gives the Snapdragon 808-based Xiaomi Mi 4c a run for its money (in multi-core performance, single-core is obviously a different story thanks to the two powerful Cortex-A57 cores that the Snapdragon 808 wields).
GeekBench 3
Higher is better
Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)
Higher is better
Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)
Higher is better
The GPU offers a 50% to 100% boost in performance compared to the older A5, but you still don't quite get awesome framerates. Even the old Adreno 330 in the OnePlus X is almost twice as fast as the Adreno 405.
Note that the Galaxy A5 (2016) doesn't support OpenGL ES 3.1 at this point even though the chipset should theoretically support it.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
Basemark X
Higher is better
The Galaxy A5 (2016) is a sizeable upgrade over its predecessor in terms of overall performance. You won't get to enjoy graphic-intensive games at fluid framerates, but the bigger issue is that you can get better performance for less money.
At its current price point, we would have liked a Snapdragon 808 to be at the heart of the A5. The HTC One A9 is in a similar boat - too pricey for its S617 chipset - but that's no excuse as LG, Xiaomi and OnePlus found a way to offer you more bang for your buck.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) camera department is built much like that of the excellent Galaxy S6.
It starts off with a downgrade - the sensor has 13MP resolution (and it's 4:3 instead of 16:9). Other than that, the camera boasts the same bright f/1.9 aperture and optical image stabilization. And like on the S6 you can just double tap the Home key to quickly launch the camera.
The A5 offers Pro mode, but it's nothing like the one on the S6. It only gives you White balance, ISO and Exposure compensation. Essentially, the settings most phones have, but in a more accessible arrangement.
Camera interface
HDR is split off into a separate mode instead of a toggle on the viewfinder like on the S6 (this means no HDR Auto mode).
A rare Anti-fog option corrects the reduced contrast you get in misty weather.
The 28mm field-of-view of the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) camera isn't as wide as the Galaxy S6 camera, but it does give some extra vertical room.
The dynamic range is surprisingly good but processing differs from the S6 and detail in the shadows and in the highlights is harder to see. There's a bit more noise, but photos are rich in detail. At 100% magnification, you can see more detail in S6 photos than in the Galaxy A5 photos.
Shot-to-shot time is okay, but when taking multiple photos in quick succession the A5 feels a bit sluggish.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) samples
Samsung Galaxy S6 samples
We tried the HDR mode in this particularly tricky scene where the angle of the sun completely blew out the sky. HDR helped a bit but not enough to produce a usable shot.
Galaxy A5: HDR off • HDR on
A 5MP camera with f/1.9 aperture rivals the S6 for selfies. The Galaxy A5 (2016) selfies have some noise, which reduced the resolved detail, but the quality is better (marginally) than what the S6 produced. Part of that is that the focus point is more appropriate for selfies - photos from the S6 camera were slightly soft at an arm-length distance for some unknown reason.
Selfies: Galaxy A5 • Galaxy S6
A wide selfie mode is available when your friends are with you. It's essentially a panorama for selfies.
There's a Panorama mode too, though it proved disappointing. The images came out with a vertical resolution of around 1,200px, while the Galaxy S6 goes up to 3,000px. The stitching looks good, but the Galaxy A5 (2016) panorama shots just don't have enough resolution.
Panorama: Galaxy A5 (2016) • Galaxy S6
While both phones have bright f/1.9 apertures, the bigger sensor handles the dark noticeably better. It's not a matter of resolution, really, and even the noise levels are quite similar. Still, by the time the noise reduction has done its job, the Galaxy A5 (2016) have lost much of their detail and sharpness, especially compared to the Galaxy S6.
Low-light samples: Galaxy A5 (2016) • Galaxy S6
This A5 vs. S6 fight continues over at our Photo quality comparison tool. You can also compare their low-light performance there.
Video camera
We're willing to swallow the resolution drop when going from the S6 to the Galaxy A5 (2016), even the S7 is rumored to go back to 12MP. It's the lack of 4K video that bugs us - even if you tend to use 1080p most of the time, the A5 is too pricey not to offer the best features. You don't even get 1080p @ 60fps.
In terms of resolved detail and sharpness, the Galaxy A5 (2016) is slightly behind the S6. The advantage in resolved detail only grows bigger when you flip to 4K mode.
Gallery
The TouchWiz gallery orders photos by time, but you can switch to folder-based Album view. Sharing options include wireless printing, Android Beam and Wi-Fi Direct, but no DLNA (or other way to send an image to your TV).
Timeline view • Album view
Several image editing tools are available - from basic cropping, to collage making, to a more capable editor (which supports image correction, effects and drawing).
Editing an image
An additional option lets you pick several photos and stitch them into an animated GIF.
Timeline view • Album view
Editing an image
Video player
The video player is the only app that works in pop-up window, a feature dating back to the Galaxy S III.
You also get full subtitle support with advanced features to modify their appearance.
The app lets you play only the audio (if you just want to listen to a music video) and to play the audio via Bluetooth (if you have a BT-enabled speaker handy).
Browsing videos • Watching a video • Adjusting the subtitles
There's an "Editor" option too though that may be overstating it - it just lets you trim the video.
Again, there's no DLNA or another wireless method of sending the video to a bigger screen. No wired ways to do it either.
Browsing videos • Watching a video • Adjusting the subtitles
Music player with advanced EQ features, FM radio
The Galaxy A5 (2016) gets the full-blown Samsung music player. This includes the SoundAlive tool, which has an intuitive interface to tuning the equalizer (a manual 7-band equalizer is available for more knowledgeable users).
The Samsung music player with advanced functionality
Adapt Sound is even simpler. It tunes the EQ to your hearing and your particular pair of headphones by playing multiple frequencies and asking how well you hear them. Smart Volume automatically adjusts the volume of tracks from multiple sources.
The player itself has a straightforward UI with most functions available as shortcuts on the Now Playing screen. You can browse files by folders, which is great if your library doesn't have well-organized ID3 tags.
The Galaxy A5 also has an FM radio built in (something many Galaxy flagships do not). It can record radio broadcasts (though this may be disabled in some regions). There's no RDS though, so the app won't show the name of the station.
The Samsung music player with advanced functionality
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