Samsung Galaxy A7 Review: Three cameras but the wide angle lens is all that matters

Samsung is stepping up its efforts in the mid-market segment by launching a series of Galaxy A phones one after the other. It is quite obvious that the company wants to recapture consumers distracted understandably by brands such as OnePlus and Pocophone. In order to attract attention, Samsung recently launched two Galaxy A phones equipped with interesting cameras. The first, the Galaxy A7, is equipped with three rear cameras, while the Galaxy A9 offers the world's first quad-camera configuration.

We are looking at the Galaxy A7 today because it was launched in India from 23,990 Rs, while the Galaxy A9 has not yet been installed in the country. The Galaxy A7 is a major phone from Samsung because it is the company's first phone with a triple camera system, which one could have expected from a Galaxy S's flagship phone. The Galaxy A7 is all the more important as it has to justify the fact that its trio of cameras on the back is more than a gadget to grab your attention. Does the Galaxy A7 really offer something unique for its price? Keep reading to find out.

Design

The first Galaxy A7 was launched in India in 2015 with a standard 5.5-inch screen and a metal monocoque design. The successive Galaxy A7 phones arrived with larger screens but with a largely similar design language. However, the Galaxy A7 2018 is now a new look. It has a lot more display, fewer physical buttons and more glass than before. It is also thinner at 7.5mm compared to the A7 last year. At 168 grams, the phone looks pretty light and easy to hold.

In particular, the trio of cameras at the back is perfectly aligned with the panel. They are placed vertically on the corner because Samsung's design team thought it was the best way to choose a minimalist look. The fingerprint sensor is integrated with the power button located on the side. Despite the use of the device for more than a week, I could not get used to the sensor. First, the button is flush with the frame and, without any distinctive print, it becomes difficult to know its exact location without looking. I often pressed the volume button by habit. That said, the fingerprint sensor is easy to unlock and quite accurate.

The other big improvement we see is the addition of a 2.5D glass on the back, which is brighter and more elegant. Of course, this also means that the Galaxy A7 is now more delicate than the model of last year. Samsung has stated that it has used Gorilla 3 glass in the front and back, giving a feeling of strength and superposition. The back of the glass is a real fingerprint magnet and easily records stains after a few moments when holding the camera. The device will be offered in blue, black and gold color options. My examination unit was black, but depending on the brightness of the light, you will see it mostly in shades of gray. Anyway, it looks really good.

Display

The Galaxy A7 is equipped with a 6.0-inch FHD + Super AMOLED screen, a little higher than the model from last year. Notably, Samsung has also brought its exclusive Infinity display to the Galaxy A7, which means you're getting a more stylish full-screen display with thinner frames for a more immersive viewing experience.

Samsung has some of the best display screens on a phone and the Galaxy A7 does not disappoint in this respect. The display is vibrant and colorful with a touch of overdraft, especially the reds and blues. The screen can also be bright enough and I have not had a problem watching it outside under bright light. The panel is also very clear, so watching videos is a real treat. It is also useful for the phone to support the Widevine L1 standard, which will allow you to stream content to Netflix and other platforms at true 1080p resolution.

Performance and software

As a mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A7 receives an Exynos 7885 octa-core midrange SoC clocked at 2.2 GHz. This is coupled with up to 6 GB of RAM. The device comes with Android 8.0 Oreo and the Experience 9.0 user interface of the company. This is a familiar interface if you have ever used a Samsung phone. It's a rather eye-catching phone as applications open quickly. Sliding through the user interface was also largely without lag, but heavy applications often crashed on my unit.

The Galaxy A7 is lagging behind when playing games like PUBG with average default graphics. Offsets are infrequent and a 30 minute session will be playable without hassle. The battery tends to drop a little while playing, and the camera becomes a bit warm, but not too hot. I've also noticed a bit of delay when managing multitasking and switching between applications. Some apps in the background would often restart, which was disappointing. Other times, applications would freeze and not react at all to the touch. Samsung can resolve these issues through software updates, which could also be a unit-specific problem.

The single speaker at the bottom has average volume levels and only gets loud when it's set to max. There is a good amount of clarity and it is not easy to cover even in landscape mode as it is placed at the bottom right. The Galaxy A7 also supports Dolby Atmos via headphones and Bluetooth speakers. Unlocking faces is also fast and accurate in good to medium light conditions.

Camera

The fact that you get a triple camera configuration on a mid-range Samsung phone should tell you that you should not expect a spectacular set of cameras like you do on the Huawei P20 Pro. It will remain to be seen whether Samsung will offer a triple camera configuration on its flagship product, the Galaxy S, in the future, but for the moment, you'll have to deal with the Galaxy A7. The cameras on the A7 are ok, but nothing really spectacular. Of the three cameras on the back, the one that will interest you the most is the wide-angle lens, but we'll come back to that in a moment. Here's what you get on the back of the Galaxy A7.

The triple rear camera system includes an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens at 120 degrees with f / 2.4 aperture, a 24MP sensor with f / 1.7 aperture and a 5MP depth sensor with f / 2.2 aperture. Each of these lenses is associated with a specific use case, such as wide angle capture and bokeh effects. The inclusion of three sensors allows Samsung to offer consumers a variety of shooting modes from which to choose. This facilitates the switch between a depth sensor and a wide-angle lens without the need for additional equipment or third parties.

I took a bunch of panoramic photos in Goa under bright light conditions, at sunset and after dark. The images of an art installation in a museum and some greenery taken in bright light were quite neat and detailed. The manual ISO setting will allow you to capture just the right amount of light, which is useful because the main sensor lets in a lot of light by default. Although this is convenient in low light conditions, in brighter conditions, you will find overexposed photos if you do not adjust the brightness level. In low light, the images are bright but lack detail when you zoom in.

There is a Pro mode in the camera app that will also allow you to play with ISO, white balance and exposure. It's a nice feature, but it's also pretty limited in terms of controls. The white balance setting only offers four presets – Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Glowing – and none of these really helped me during my experience.

The most impressive part of the Galaxy A7's triple camera system is the wide-angle lens. I was delighted with the surface that the lens could capture. It really makes a big difference if you are trying to capture a large object or a group of people in one frame. It's great to be able to switch quickly from a conventional lens to a wide-angle lens. The only drawback is that you will not be able to manually adjust brightness controls when using a wide-angle lens and that it is also not supported in Pro mode. When turning on wide angle, expect the contours to be distorted so that the subject is centered as much as possible.

Live Focus uses the 5 MP depth sensor to capture bokeh shots. You can manually adjust the desired level of blur for the background. After taking a picture, you can also tap the background to make it clear while blurring the subject. In good lighting conditions, the camera is able to capture good bokeh with a good separation between the subject and the background. In low light, bokehs do not usually work very well.

The 24MP selfie camera softens the face a little, even when Beauty mode is off. It captures a good amount of detail, but captured selfies will look mostly at the airbrush. Inside and under medium lighting, the photos lack detail, but the front camera manages to get accurate colors. Overall, the cameras are decent for its price, but it's the wide-angle lens that really is the only winner of the lot.

Drums

The Galaxy A7 contains a battery of 3300 mAh, which is a fairly standard capacity that we are used to seeing in mid-range phones. It's good for a full day, but I would expect nothing more than that, especially when the Always On view is on. The Galaxy A7 manages to last until the night with average to above average usage that involves messaging, social networking and streaming video or music. The Galaxy A7 has delivered nearly 15 hours of video test loop, which is quite correct.

Without fast support, the Galaxy A7 will take just over two hours to charge from zero to full capacity. It's a bit disappointing to see a microUSB port here instead of a type C port. If Samsung is keen to push its A series, I think that a C-type port would be a step in the right way.

Do you have to buy the Samsung Galaxy A7?

It can not be denied that the majority of what makes the Galaxy A7 attractive is its three-camera configuration. Take this and you have a Galaxy J-series common phone pretending to be a Series A device. The design is very attractive and something you would appreciate for days after purchase. The hardware, especially the Exynos chipset, leaves you wanting more in a segment that sees quite crazy offers from brands like Pocophone, Vivo, Asus and HMD / Nokia.

But as I mentioned above, the Galaxy A7 only concerns its three cameras. In this respect, the phone responds one way or another and misses the target in others. I love the wide angle lens and I would suggest the phone only for that because you really tend to appreciate the camera when you are able to capture a lot more content. The other two cameras are standard and will not impress you. In the end, the Galaxy A7 is for those who like to shoot on their phone and wish to have a number of options and modes at the touch of a button. For this and that alone, the Galaxy A7 will deliver.