Design of Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
Samsung has done something new with its A series smartphones. When the A series was first unveiled, the handsets were equipped with metal unibody and IP certification. Glass panel has been used on the back panel of all three smartphones – Galaxy A7 (2018), Galaxy A9 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018). When you touch the frame, it feels plastic and the frame does not get cold in an air-conditioned room. Galaxy A7 (2018) has a 6-inch display which comes with 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Samsung has named it Infinity Display, but it does not have curved edges like Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9. The thickness of the bezel on the side of the phone is a bit more. Earpiece, selfie camera, flash and sensor have been placed above the screen. There is a micro-USB port, 3.5 mm headphone jack and loud speaker at the bottom of the phone.
According to the price of Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018), it was expected that the company would use USB Type-C port in this smartphone. There is no separate fingerprint sensor for security. You will see the power button on the side of the phone, the company has integrated the fingerprint sensor in it. Apart from the power button on the right side, there is a button to increase and decrease the volume. Similarly, the concept of fingerprint sensor was also seen in Samsung Galaxy J6+. If the phone is held in the right hand, the fingerprint sensor can be used easily. The weight of the phone is 168 grams. Vertical triple rear camera setup with LED flash will be available on the back panel. There is a matte rim on the side to protect the camera sensor. Fingerprints easily appear on the glass back panel.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) specifications and software
Galaxy A7 (2018) has a 6-inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ display. Viewing angles are quite good, and we did not face any problem in viewing the display in outdoor light. We had no complaints with the display while watching videos. Dolby Atmos support will be available when using headphones, not on loud speakers. For speed and multitasking, Galaxy A7 (2018) uses Exynos 7885 octa-core processor. The phone will be available in two storage variants, 4 GB RAM / 64 GB storage and the other 6 GB RAM / 128 GB storage variant.
Both variants come with 3,300mAh battery, Bluetooth version 5, dual-band WiFi 802.11ac, GPS, GLONASS support. Instead of NFC support, the company has provided Samsung Pay Mini feature in this Samsung brand smartphone. Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity and ambient light sensor are part of the phone. Both SIM slots support 4G and VoLTE.
Galaxy A7 (2018) runs on a custom Experience UI based on Android 8.0 Oreo. The smartphone we had for review is running on September 2018 security patch. You will find many apps pre-installed in the phone. The Settings app is slightly different from stock Android. We did not face any problem while searching for any feature in the settings, the search button works properly. The smartphone has Samsung’s virtual assistant Bixby. Unlike Galaxy A9 (2018), there is no separate button for this in the handset. You will be able to access Samsung Assistant by swiping right on the home screen.
Apps like Google, Microsoft Office Apps, Amazon, Prime Video, Dailyhunt, Samsung Mall, Samsung Max (data saving app), Samsung Pay Mini and My Galaxy will come pre-installed. Samsung’s popular features like S Bike Mode, S Power Planning and S Secure will not come pre-installed, but if you want, you can download these apps from Google Play Store. Samsung Smart Stay feature will not let the display turn off if you keep looking at the display. With the help of palm swipe gesture, you can easily take screenshots. Like dual apps in smartphones of other companies, this Samsung phone comes with the facility of dual messenger.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) performance, battery life and camera
The Exynos processor on the Galaxy A7 (2018) is by no means slow. The octa-core chipset doesn’t cause any lag or any issues while navigating through the phone’s user interface. As for multitasking, we tried opening multiple apps at the same time but the phone didn’t slow down at any stage. The fingerprint sensor and face unlock feature work fast. On AnTuTu benchmark, the Galaxy A7 (2018) scored 1,19,786 points. On Geekbench, the single-core and multi-core tests scored 1,525 and 4,368 respectively. On the Geekbench T-Rex test, the Galaxy A7 (2018) scored 29fps.
Let us tell you that this benchmark score is of Nokia 5.1 Plus (Review) and Motorola One Power ( with Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipsetReview) is in the benchmark range of Rs. 15,000. Both these smartphones are phones priced under Rs 15,000. We found that Xiaomi Mi A2 (Review) and Poco F1 smartphones scored higher in these tests. Both Xiaomi brand handsets are priced lower than the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018).
We tried playing PUBG game, we would recommend you to keep the phone on medium graphics. The phone did slow down a bit while playing the game but the phone starts heating up after half an hour. In the HD video loop test, Galaxy A7 (2018) gives a backup of 15 hours and 40 minutes. Once the phone was charged, we kept the WhatsApp account active for the whole day, made calls, navigated on Google Maps for an hour, did gaming etc. Even after that the battery lasted the whole day.
Now let’s talk about the camera. Galaxy A7 (2018) has a 24-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture, a 5-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.2 aperture and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens with f/2.4 aperture. The camera app includes features like Panorama, Pro, Beauty, Live Focus, Slow Motion, AR Emoji and Hyperlapse mode. The viewfinder has features like Bixby Vision and Quick Share, with the help of which the picture can be sent directly from the camera app to Facebook and Facebook Messenger. There are also control features for flash, filters and camera switcher. Here you will find a button that will help you switch between the primary camera and wide-angle.
The 24-megapixel primary camera takes good pictures in daylight. The 8-megapixel sensor will help you when shooting landscapes. When shooting in macro mode, the phone focuses quickly on small things, it maintains the difference between the background and the subject, which is why the photo looks good. The pictures taken in daylight were sharp, while there is not much sharpness in the photo taken indoors. We are hoping that if the company provides pixel binning feature in Galaxy A7 (2018), it will help in taking better pictures in low light. Selfies came out quite well, they can be shared on social media apps. Beautification mode is automatic, if you want natural output then you can set it to manual mode. Automatic HDR feature is also present in the phone for selfies.
Our verdict
Galaxy A7 (2018) is the first Galaxy smartphone to come with three rear cameras. These sensors will help you take better pictures in different situations. The phone is powered by a 3,300mAh battery. Battery life is quite good due to the powerful processor. The glass back panel gives a premium look. We are not very satisfied with the fingerprint sensor on the side of the phone. This is not because of the speed of the sensor but because if the phone is held in the left hand, then there can be some problem in reaching the sensor and using it. At Rs 23,990, Galaxy A7 (2018) is a good phone. If you want a powerful processor, then you can buy Poco F1 or Vivo V11 Pro available in the market in the same price segment.