Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) review

Experience Oreo the Samsung way

The Galaxy A7 (2018) runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0 on top, just like the rest of the recent A-series phones. The Note9 may be getting an extra 0.1 of Android and 0.5 of Experience, but it's hard to tell the difference - of course, accounting for the missing features.

AOD has been getting more and more ubiquitous on Samsung phones and is present on the A7 (2018) as well. You're treated to a host of different layouts and clock options, plus the choice to keep it on all the time or only according to a schedule.

Always on display

The way the all-new fingerprint sensor is set up is much the same as on other Samsungs (read a lot of taps), only this one is somewhat trickier due to the size and shape. Additionally, you can only register 3 prints, as opposed to the usual 5. Even so, the sensor is still always on, so you don't need to press on the button and a tap will work just fine for unlocking. It's not blazing fast, but it does work pretty much all the time.

Fingerprint sensor settings

It can also be set up to bring down the notification shade and quick toggles, and it works great when you're showcasing the feature to a friend. In actual use, however, we found ourselves accidentally swiping on it and pulling the notifications all the time. Whew, good thing you can have that off. A much more reliable solution is the 'swipe on an empty homescreen area to pull the notifications shade' feature - wait, it's called 'quick-open notification panel'.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer

Nothing has really changed on the lockscreen, homescreen, or the notification shade. The task switcher (now with optional list view) is the place where you can initiate multi-window or pop-up apps - Samsung's really unmatched in the versatility of its multi-tasking implementation.

Notifications • Quick toggles • Task switcher • List view • Multi-window

Just like other Galaxies, the A7 (2018) supports themes, and there's a ton available in the store. Secure folder is also present on the A7, and it's where you can keep files, memos and apps away from prying eyes. Then there's Game launcher to keep your games in one place and in-play Game tools to disable notifications and the nav bar as well take screenshots or record gameplay.

Theme store • Secure folder • Game launcher

Samsung is using its own Gallery app where the Pictures pane is a timeline of photos and screenshots, while Albums has them sorted by origin instead. Stories is Samsung's take on shareable collaborative albums, which we'd be surprised if anyone uses. There's a powerful editor on board for when you're away from a PC.

Google Play Music is the default player for your tunes, not Samsung's own Music. The sound settings are proprietary though, with either a simple two dial adjustment or a proper 9-band equalizer at your disposal. Especially useful is the Adapt Sound feature which tunes the EQ to your hearing and your particular pair of ears and headphones by playing multiple frequencies and asking how well you hear them. An FM radio receiver is also available.

Gallery • Photo Editor Pro • Google Play Music • Sound settings • FM radio

Synthetic benchmarks

It's the Exynos 7885 that ticks inside the Galaxy A7 (2018), the latest and most powerful in Samsung's in-house line of mid-tier chipsets. It's also efficient thanks to the 14nm fabrication process, which we proved in the battery section.

The octa-core CPU is in a 2+6 configuration with 2x2.2GHz Cortex A73 and 6x1.6GHz Cortex A53 cores (side note - the Snapdragon 710 uses a similar arrangement, only it's got newer Cortexes - 2xA75+6xA55). The GPU on the A7 is Mali-G71. As for RAM, 4GB and 6GB options exist, though not all markets will necessarily get both and the 6GB version could be had with 64GB or 128GB of storage. Our review unit is in the basic 4GB/64GB trim.

You know the drill - some GeekBenching comes first which puts a numerical value on CPU performance. Here, the Galaxy A7 (2018) posts virtually the same scores as its A8 brother in both single and multi-core tests. The single-core figures are better than Oppo F9's (Helio P60) and the Nokia 7.1's (S636) or vivo V11's (S660). Other S660-powered phones like the Mi A2 and Samsung's own A9 (2018), however, score higher in the single-core test, and the Mi 8 SE with the S710 is clearly in a different league.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  1890
• Honor 8X
  1618
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  1617
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  1595
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  1595
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  1532
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  1524
• Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
  1497
• Realme 2 Pro
  1462
• vivo V11
  1457
• Nokia 7.1
  1344
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  1342
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  755
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  733

In the multi-core test the A7 (2018) loses to all the S660 phones - even the underperforming Mi A2 is an inch ahead, while the vivo V11 and the Oppo F9 are high up the chart. The Nokia 7.1 is roughly in the middle.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  5908
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  5856
• Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
  5673
• Honor 8X
  5651
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  5574
• vivo V11
  5535
• Realme 2 Pro
  5531
• Nokia 7.1
  4975
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  4933
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  4625
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  4446
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  4418
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  3905
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  3718

In the graphics department, the Galaxy A7 (2018) scores okay-ish, though it is bested by pretty much the entire batch of competitors, with even the Snapdragon 636 handsets edging it in the onscreen test. The Snapdragon 660's GPU is clearly more powerful as the results of a handful of phones here will attest. Meanwhile, for the most performance short of a truly flagship GPU, the S710 is the way to go, represented here by the Mi 8 SE.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  23
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  15
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  15
• vivo V11
  14
• Honor 8X
  14
• Realme 2 Pro
  14
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  14
• Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  10
• Nokia 7.1
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  9.9
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  9.1
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  6
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  3.2

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  22
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  14
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  14
• Honor 8X
  13
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  13
• vivo V11
  12
• Realme 2 Pro
  12
• Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
  11
• Nokia 7.1
  9.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  9.7
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  9.4
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  9
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  8.7
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  6.7
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  5.6

Take CPU and graphics tests and mash them up with some storage and RAM torture and a few minutes later you'd have an Antutu result. The Galaxy A7 (2018) reclaims its victory over the S636 Nokia 7.1 and Redmi Note6 Pro, but the S660 rivals remain out of reach.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  170218
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  141011
• Honor 8X
  137276
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  136583
• Realme 2 Pro
  132958
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  130927
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  123883
• Nokia 7.1
  117175
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  115605
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  69899
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  63632

All in all, the Galaxy A7 (2018)'s internals are clearly geared towards efficiency with performance being lower on the list of priorities. Even so, its CPU does really well in single-core tasks, and adequately under multi-core loads, while the GPU isn't as potent as those found on the competitors.