When it comes to Android smartphones, Samsung will be the first brand to come into the mind of many people. Why? Because South Korean has been long in the game and their track record has been really good in the mobile industry. Today, we’ll review one of their hottest smartphones today in the Philippines, the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018).

This smartphone is actually surprising for me as they’ve never competed for a smartphone like this in its price range. The Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 is going head to head against smartphones like the OPPO F9 and the Vivo V11 which are really popular mid-range smartphones in the country. So what does the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 can offer?

Design and hardware

I’ve reviewed and owned a lot of Samsung devices before and the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 is a little bit different from most Samsung’s smartphones. But don’t get me wrong because the smartphone is clean and really sturdy enough. To give you detail about the smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 features a plastic frame and it has a 2.5D rear glass back which is really durable as I dropped the smartphone accidentally a lot of times without the case. And no, the smartphone feels comfortable to the hand (I’m just clumsy with this smartphone)

At the back is where you can find the vertical triple lens camera that looks neat with the Samsung logo in the middle. The lack of fingerprint scanner is noticeable here but it does made the smartphone really cleaner to look at. The fingerprint scanner is placed at the side of the smartphone which also acts as the sleep/power button for the smartphone. At the top of the power button is the volume rocker and of course, we have the 3.5mm headphone jack and the Micro USB port below the smartphone. Like what I’ve told in my previous reviews, I wished that the smartphone uses a USB-C but its competition is still using the same port. But I do hope that they can do something about this 2019.

According to Samsung, the back of the smartphone is made of glass but it does feel light and the smartphone has the same feel of the OPPO F9. The smartphone also comes with 64GB of Internal storage and so far, I didn’t have any problems with it. But in case that’s not enough for you, there’s the triple card tray on the side which lets you place dual sim cards and also a MicroSD card simultaneously.

Again, there are two ways to fast unlock the smartphone. The first method is to use the face unlock which isn’t the fastest but it was not disappointing to me but in case you need more security, you can use the fingerprint scanner which I find convenient as I only need to place my finger on the side of the smartphone. I actually prefer the placement of the smartphone on the side than placing it at the back or below the display of the smartphone.

When it comes to battery life, the smartphone can have a full day of average use. It’s actually not disappointing as I was able to get a score of 8 hours and 17 minutes at PC Mark Battery test.

No notch, no problems

For those people who hate notch, rejoice! The Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 doesn’t have a notch but it does have the rounded corners with thin bezels. Is it a problem? No, at least for me. While I do appreciate the fact that having a notch on a smartphone maximizes the screen-to-body ratio of the smartphone, some people still appreciate that not having a notch means that there nothing that will block your Netflix experience or there’s no awkward large notch at the side of the smartphone.

When it comes to smartphone displays, it’s really hard to beat Samsung in this game. Why? Because they’re the ones who create Super AMOLED displays. And even for a midrange like the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018, the display of the smartphone is impressive. Just to give you a technical detail, the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 is equipped with a 6.0-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display that delivers impressive colors and contrasts compared to the competition. The display is so lively and so vivid but of course, don’t expect the same display of their flagship smartphones. But overall, the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018’s display is impressive for its category.

A decent performer

Samsung has equipped the Galaxy A7 (2018) with an Exynos 7885 processor. It might not be as powerful as other processors but it is decent enough to run games and apps that you need. In PUBG Mobile, the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) was able to run the game at HD settings with high framerate. Check out the benchmark of the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) below.

PUBG Mobile runs at a median FPS of 23 which is playable but it will have some disadvantage compared to other smartphones. So do consider toning down the settings of the smartphone when playing these games.

You can check out the GameBench Benchmarking app at (https://www.gamebench.net)

You can also download the app at the Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gamebench.metricscollector)

When it comes to benchmarking applications, the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) won’t be at the top of your list but for a Samsung smartphone at this price, it’s acceptable.

Software, Apps, & UI

The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) is still not using the latest One UI which is expected to be available on Android Pie devices of Samsung however, the UI of the smartphone is still smooth and I love the combination of colors of it popping out in its AMOLED display.

Of course, we still have the Samsung applications including their own Galaxy apps in where you can download some applications with freebies in-game and Microsoft Office applications which is really useful. But the best part about the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) is the Samsung members app which will give benefits and perks to Samsung mobile users including free vouchers for Grab and some discounts at restaurants and stores.

The triple-lens camera

The biggest feature of this smartphone is the triple lens camera at the back. This is the company’s first foray to the triple lens rear camera market and surprisingly, they did well on the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018). The smartphone features a 24-megapixel rear camera with an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera and I was surprised that both cameras fared really well in our review.

The 24-megapixel rear camera was really great when shooting at decent lighting conditions however, I cannot say the same when shooting at low-lighting but don’t worry, the low-light shots will not disappoint you. While the 8-megapixel wide-angle lens camera of the smartphone performed well, the wide-angle lens doesn’t have auto-focus but it wasn’t really a letdown for me as I was using the wide-angle lens most of the time when taking landscapes and not objects that are close to me.

There’s a scene optimizer mode on the camera which is basically the AI scene detection of the camera app however, I still prefer using the auto mode. You can also create your AR emoji but you can only produce stickers base on your AR emoji. Other modes include Live focus mode for depth effect, Panorama, Pro, and beauty mode. Overall, the camera of the smartphone is really good for its price range.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) is one of the best mid-range smartphones of the Korean company for a while. It might not be the best one in the A series but the smartphone can definitely compete against mid-rangers like the OPPO F9 and the Vivo V11. It also has a triple lens camera which is unique in its price range and it performs well. The design of the smartphone is very clean too as they placed the fingerprint scanner on the power button of the smartphone.

However, the Exynos processor inside it isn’t as powerful as other chipsets in its price range but don’t worry as it can run most apps and games without a problem too. If you love taking photos especially landscape photos and you need a wide-angle lens, then this Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) is something that you should take a look at.