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The Samsung Galaxy A5 and A3 are on sale in the UK from today, giving gadget fans who lust after metal mobiles two more options to consider.
Both the A5 and A3 have metal casings, which is a departure from Samsung’s usual reliance on plastic chassis. Both feature 4G LTE and 5-megapixel front-facing cameras — which should make for pixel-packed selfies — but differ in a few important respects.
The Galaxy A5 is the larger, slightly more powerful of the pair, with a 5-inch display and a 13-megapixel rear camera. Powered by Android 4.4 KitKat, it’s rocking 2GB of RAM and a 1.2GHz quad-core processor. Snooping around Carphone Warehouse’s tariffs page, you can expect to pay around £26-33 per month if you want the A5 with no upfront cost, or you can snap it up for £349 direct from Samsung.
All-metal Galaxy A5, A3 break new Samsung ground (pictures)
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The A3, meanwhile, is marginally more modest, with a 4.5-inch screen, an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.5GB of RAM. It also has a lower-resolution screen — 960×540 pixels compared with 1,280×720 pixels on the A5. With slightly less impressive hardware, however, you will be paying less. Monthly sums on Carphone Warehouse’s tariffs page come in at roughly £22-33 per month, or you can get the A3 for £249 SIM-free from Samsung.
Staying true to their promised release date, the Galaxy A5 and A3 can be snapped up today on Vodafone, EE and O2 — though for now only O2 customers will have the option of buying the two new mobiles in silver.
Those on the fence about buying a new phone would be wise to hold fire for a few weeks, as the start of March will see the beginning of Mobile World Congress, a massive trade show in Barcelona where loads of major mobile makers — including Samsung — will be showing off their newest products. Who knows, you might see something worth waiting for.
CNET will be on the ground in force at MWC, primed and ready to bring you photos, news and videos of all the latest gadgets, so stay tuned.
