Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) review: Bite-sized

16 January 2017
Samsung was a prime culprit in the growth of smartphone screen sizes, but back in 2014 it tried something different with the Galaxy Alpha - a high-end phone in a small scale body. The Galaxy A3 is a spiritual successor and we’re here to look at the third iteration.

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  • A
  • Aqib
  • 2Tw
  • 02 Sep 2021

How to update A3 2017 ? Play store no functional in my phone pls guide

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • byX
    • 08 Apr 2021

    consumersmartphone, 17 Jan 2017For low level phone, waterproof is advantage but AOD is use... moreAccording to reviews, the A3 has enough battery life. BTW, the thing has its own chip for it so it won't suck like if you just use an app for it. Also, the A3 has superior build quality, a decent OLED display, and Samsung Pay as I am aware of.

      • e
      • ecologist
      • sps
      • 14 Nov 2020

      Economist, 19 Apr 2020That phone is the best midranger, compared to the 2020 A-se... moreYou're right. I am not find a phone to be good for me in 2020, to big, to expensive or cheap things. I have also a Nokia 7+, and a Samsung a50, still use the old a3. I don't need a brick in my pocket, and a 1000 megapixels.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • gxm
        • 03 Oct 2020

        Economist, 19 Apr 2020That phone is the best midranger, compared to the 2020 A-se... moreThat's totally true today you won't become an Ip68 Waterproof or any metal on your phone just plastic I used the A5 2016 and A3 2016 they're so good

          • E
          • Economist
          • MNx
          • 19 Apr 2020

          That phone is the best midranger, compared to the 2020 A-series. New A-series are useless crap made to work not more than a year. A3 2017 was one of the last reliable samsung phones. I hope one day samsung will start producing useful and practical phones again.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • dMT
            • 12 Jul 2019

            Optimal, 20 Dec 2018Everything was ok, but after 8 months my batery is dead aft... moreReplace the battery?

              • C
              • Clemens
              • 33q
              • 15 Mar 2019

              GPS doens`t work mostly. Many others have same problem.

                • O
                • Optimal
                • gIP
                • 20 Dec 2018

                Everything was ok, but after 8 months my batery is dead after 8 hours. Before it would last for almost 2 days. Even after I hard reset it, without any apps.

                  Anonymous, 26 Jul 2018One of the best phone ever I saw a32017Agreed.
                  I am amzazed how good this device is.
                  Used to have a Sony ST26i stars Earth difference...No Suprise.
                  For the price it is better than any iPhone or Sony compact or anything for that matter.
                  I looked at about 10 phones seriously and this won everytime.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • 6ku
                    • 26 Jul 2018

                    One of the best phone ever I saw a32017

                      AnonD-672407, 12 Jul 2017Stop raving about always-on. It's been around on Symbian si... moreHm... Can you show me such a phone?

                        Ahong Surahong, 20 Jul 2017Hopefully the next year generation of A3 will improve on se... moreprice tag :400-500$

                          • a
                          • akw
                          • gE%
                          • 21 Sep 2017

                          Donny, 17 Jan 2017The 240 Hz flickering on Samsung's (and others) AMOLED scre... morehuawei i think better, y7 prime
                          had lg seems not good enough
                          for blue light. dont know about sony or apple's

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • r3H
                            • 24 Aug 2017

                            Ahong Surahong, 20 Jul 2017Hopefully the next year generation of A3 will improve on se... moreWell said

                              • D
                              • AnonD-688301
                              • 043
                              • 30 Jul 2017

                              Donny, 17 Jan 2017The 240 Hz flickering on Samsung's (and others) AMOLED scre... morereally, they are doing it with their TVs and PC Monitors too. I wonder why. IMO they should be flicker-free nowadays. I guess they thought is still a phone something we all use to call and check the weather

                                geewaiho, 30 Apr 2017This a3 2017 as a Mali t830 vs the alphas Mali t628. Also t... moreIn antutu benchmark 3d is 10k on alpha and 5k on a3 2017. Alpha is at least twice better. S series will be always a better buy even after 2 years. S6 is far better than a5 2017. S7 will be better than a5 2018. And also staying on older versions of android is better.

                                  • A
                                  • Ahong Surahong
                                  • ITt
                                  • 20 Jul 2017

                                  Hopefully the next year generation of A3 will improve on several key points:
                                  - bigger battery (2500-2800 mAh), I don't care if it's a bit thicker and heavier as long as its other dimension stay the same or even smaller
                                  - better software optimization (at least on top of the latest Nougat version)
                                  - less bloatware (let us choose which Samsung proprietary softwares from Galaxy Apps that fits our needs)
                                  - better camera hardware (OIS, wider aperture, dual tone LED flash, don't really care for 4K video recording and save dual cameras for 2019)
                                  - faster and always on fingerprint scanner
                                  - bigger memory configuration (at least 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of ROM, UFS 2.0 will be really sweet)
                                  - faster chipset (at least Exynos 7880 or Snapdragon 626)
                                  - wireless charging capability (it currently has glass back, so why not?)
                                  - free unique jelly case like they did on J Pro 2017 series

                                  If Samsung read this and can approve most of those points, they will have better compact phones than what they're offering in 2017 now.
                                  Man, I even won't mind if they charge $100 more if they can tick all those boxes.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-672407
                                    • YMp
                                    • 12 Jul 2017

                                    Stop raving about always-on. It's been around on Symbian since 2009.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 8ns
                                      • 01 Jul 2017

                                      Apolodor, 03 Mar 2017I always dream that one day samsung will make the all-new g... moreWell,I was the unlucky one to buy an Alpha based on gsmarena review.The phone remember was godly awful,and quickly forgeted for updates.
                                      Never again,iOS user since than

                                        Apolodor, 23 Apr 2017But gpu is more powerful on alpha, is'nt it ?This a3 2017 as a Mali t830 vs the alphas Mali t628. Also the alpha has an 8 core processor clocked at 4x 1.8 and 4x 1.3. The alphas clock speed is 8x1.6 plus is 64 bit architecture and 1n m processor. I'm inclined to believe the a3 2017 is better.