The Samsung Galaxy A3 and A3 Duos are two twin devices set to present themselves as the entry level metallic lineup from Samsung.

Being at the bottom of the A series, they have a lot less of an offering than the other A devices, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a smart budget choice for smartphone users. You can now Unlock Galaxy A3 now!

Build Design

Obviously, the most notable build feature of the Galaxy A3 is the metallic unibody design. The device has a thin, aluminum frame, as well as metal features around areas such as the camera lens and the loudspeaker.

Whilst there are plastic elements on this device, they feel very premium, and there is a lack of creaking and bending you’d expect from the Galaxy S lineup.

Interestingly, the A3 is one of the thinnest devices Samsung have released in recent years, making it nice and slender, just like the A5 and A7. Unfortunately, there is no removable back, and this may turn away any long time Samsung fans. Are you a Samsung fan? Learn here how to unlock your Samsung phone!
Display

The display on the A3 is a 4.5” super AMOLED qHD screen, which lends the device a fairly subpar 245ppi. For such a small screen size, you’d expect Samsung to go for at least HD, and 245ppi is pretty disappointing, even for a entry level device in 2015.

The viewing angles given on the A3 aren’t perfect, and you’ll notice a few shifts in color when viewing from different angles. One plus size of the super AMOLED choice is that the contrast is pretty spectacular, and brightness isn’t bad either.

Battery Life

With a small 1.900mAh battery, you can’t expect to get too much juice from the Galaxy A3. Fortunately, standby time seems to be pretty high at around 60 hours, although the A3 Duos standby time decreases a few hours when using a dual SIM setup.

UI

For the most part, the Galaxy Alpha UI is almost identical to the TouchWiz UX seen on all other Galaxy devices. Even though the exterior design of the A3 is new, the UI will be very familiar to older Galaxy users.

There are a few changes here and there in regards to basic themes, but that’s about it. The Galaxy A3 and A3 Duos do run Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box, as expected.

Stock Apps

When Samsung slim lined it’s TouchWIX UX design for the Galaxy S6, a lot of users were very happy to see most of the bloatware hidden away or removed completely. To get unlocked your Galaxy S6 just click here!

That minimal, streamlined experience is what makes the A3 series special, and if you found a love for the Note 4 or the Note Edge, you’ll definitely love the easy to use features and functionality of the A3 or the A3 Duos.

By default, you will be given the Samsung stock browser and Google Chrome out of the box. S Planner and S Memo are the two basic productivity apps available, and you’ll also find the My Files app which acts as the device’s primary file browser.

Other basic apps, such as alarm clocks, timers and more can be found within the TouchWiz UX, and more situational features are all hidden with the settings menu.

Overall, the A3 and A3 Duos are a pair of Samsung devices that look and feel nice, and are as simple as a Galaxy smartphone has ever been. Those who enjoy the simplistic nature of iOS will feel at home jumping ship to the A3, that’s for sure. The A3 only comes with a Snapdragon 410, which is basically par for entry level devices at this point.

The only down side is of course it’s display, and that’s where we’d like to see new iterations of the A3 get an upgrade.

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