Samsung Galaxy A3 and A3 Duos review: A-ddictive

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

The Samsung Galaxy A3 features a 4.5" Super AMOLED panel of qHD resolution, which works out to 245ppi. We do understand that this is a mid-range offering, but qHD feels dated even for this segment. An HD resolution display would've been more fitting for this little jewel.

The Galaxy A3's 4.5" Super AMOLED display

Additionally, Samsung has opted for Gorilla Glass 4 layer of protection for the Galaxy A3's display. Viewing angles are good, though not ideal as there's some color shift and loss in contrast.

The SuperAMOLED screen on the Galaxy A3 makes use of an RGB pixel arrangement, which features a green and red subpixel plus a taller, but thinner blue subpixel. it's the same pixel arrangement that we saw on the Galaxy Note II N7100 back in 2012. The reason for the different Blue pixel size is that the blue subpixels on AMOLEDs typically have a shorter life and making them bigger balances things out. Being bigger, the blue pixel doesn't need to emit as much light to match the other two, which helps it last longer without affecting color balance.

Samsung Galaxy A3 display

Since this is a Super AMOLED display and the black pixels aren't lid, the contrast is stellar. Brightness is also good for such a panel, but still can't beat an IPS display.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy A3	0	243	∞	0	470	∞
HTC Desire 510	0.17	204	1226	0.31	354	1159
HTC One mini 2	0.19	220	1141	0.42	501	1196
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact	-	-	-	0.34	626	1819
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua	0.26	247	960	0.44	531	1094
Motorola Moto G	0.35	315	906	0.57	550	967
Nokia Lumia 735	0	258	∞	0	363	∞

The Galaxy A3 surprised us in the sunlight legibility test, where it scored higher than the Galaxy Note 3 and placed itself second below the Nokia PureView 808.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
4.033
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
3.799
Oppo R5
3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Nokia Lumia 735
3.547
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
3.406
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
Nokia N9
3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
HTC Desire Eye
2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1
2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Meizu MX4 Pro
2.765
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Sony Xperia Z3
2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
BlackBerry Passport
2.595
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
2.416
LG G Flex
2.407
HTC Desire 820
2.372
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Meizu MX4
2.366
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
Samsung Galaxy Note II
2.307
HTC One (M8) for Windows
2.291
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Oppo N3
2.181
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
HTC One X
2.158
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Nokia 515
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual
2.12
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7
2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2
1.952
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Sony Xperia E3
1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
1.935
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
HTC Butterfly 2
1.905
Sony Xperia T
1.894
Nokia Lumia 830
1.887
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
1.735
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
Oppo Find 7
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
HTC Desire 510
1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

Battery life

The Galaxy A3 counts on a 1,900mAh Li-Ion battery and by the company's estimates it can carry the phone through 11 hours of video playback and 13 hours of talk time. The Super AMOLED screen will take its tow in the web browsing test, as it's based on predominantly light colors.

The Galaxy A3 scored 65 hours in single-SIM configuration, which is quite good considering the relatively small capacity of the battery.

With both SIM cards in, the standby battery life took a hit. Below you will see the battery test scorecard for this particular scenario.

Make note that our proprietary score includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

Connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy A3 comes loaded with wireless connectivity features. The LTE model starts with LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150Mpbs down, 50Mbps up), while regular 2G and 3G connectivity is, of course, supported, too. The Duos version doesn't come with LTE, though.

Local connectivity includes Wi-Fi b/g/n and Wi-Fi Hotspot capabilities. There is no dual-band support, unfortunately.

There is also support for Bluetooth 4.0 LE and ANT+, the latter allowing for easier connection to certain wireless sports accessories.

NFC rounds off the wireless connectivity section.

The Galaxy A3 relies on a standard microUSB 2.0 port for charging and wired data connectivity.

What we do miss here is a wired TV-out option either via MHL or SlimPort.

The Samsung Galaxy A3 also has a dual-SIM version, which comes with a number of limitations compared to the standard LTE version. For one, it only has 1GB RAM (as opposed to 1.5GB).

Then, you have to pick whether you want to use its secondary SIM slot as a microSD slot or as a SIM slot - you can't have both.

And finally, the Dual SIM version of the Galaxy A3 doesn't have LTE connectivity or NFC.

Next Page » 4. User interface

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Samsung Galaxy A3 and A3 Duos reviewPage 3