Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. formally announced its Galaxy A7 smartphone back in January, and since that time it has gone on sale in various global markets.

Billed as Samsung’s thinnest phone yet at a thickness of only 6.3 mm, the phone packs a serious punch without the serious price likely to be asked for by the soon-to-be-released Galaxy S6.

The technical specs: 5.5-inch 1080p sAMOLED display, 2GB of RAM with 1.8GHz quad-core and 1.3GHz quad-core processors, 2600 mAh battery, 4G LTE support, 16GB of storage space and a microSD slot for cards up to 64GB, which all sounds well, but how is it to use?

First impressions

The first thing you’ll notice about the phone is just how thin it is; there’s a difference between reading a statistic and experiencing it. Combine that with a weight of only 141 grams and you find yourself surprised to be holding a phone with a 5.5-inch screen. By contrast, the iPhone 6 Plus weighs 30 grams more and is almost 1 mm thicker. Despite having the same size screen as the iPhone 6 Plus, the Galaxy A7 is a smaller phone complete with smaller bezel.

The form factor also sees it take some of its looks from what we expect from the Galaxy S6: Gone is the traditional plastic Samsung feel; now there is a metal edge that gives the phone a solid feel and a brushed metal rear.

Fifty percent charged out of the box, the phone is quick to boot from startup and walks you through the standard Android setup screens.

Once the phone is set up, the one thing you notice if you’ve ever owned a Samsung phone before is just how much the company has toned down the Samsung extras and its TouchWiz UI; sure, it’s still not vanilla Android, but it’s a much cleaner interface, and you don’t have all the Samsung apps installed on the phone from the start versus them being optional to install.

The sAMOLED screen is as-always amazing, although not everyone is a fan of the depth of color these screens provide; admittedly, this is the same screen you’ll find in the Galaxy S5 not the S6, but offers the same HD quality as the iPhone 6 Plus (be it two different technologies).

Everyday use

The model being tested is the “Western” model, which is shipped with 64bit Snapdragon 615 octal core processor from Qualcomm, where a dual sim model for developing countries ships with an older 32-bit chip.

Off the bat it’s snappy: Apps are quick to load amd multi-tasking isn’t a problem and doesn’t appear to slow the phone at all, like it did with some of Samsung’s older models (the 8 processors shine through here).

That said, it’s not a top-of-the-range phone, and it shows in its benchmark testing; it will be fine to play games on, but you’re not going to get the same quality play on graphically intense games.

There are zero complaints about its ability to take a decent picture. The back camera comes in at 13Mp and those extra pixels show in the quality of the pictures it takes. The front camera comes in at 5Mp and is pitched at selfies and includes editing tools for improving your selfies as well.

The battery, from the outset, seems to be well suited for the phone; it charges quickly, and after a day of light use it was still showing 78% in the evening; a heavier day of use had it at 55%. Battery life is always relative to how much you use your phone, but it would appear that you will quite easily get a full and purposeful day out of it.

Overall

You can’t help but love the phone, particularly when you consider that it’s really Samsung’s leading middle-of-the-range phone. Sure, it’s not the Galaxy S6, and Samsung fans who can afford it will still likely head to the S6, despite its rumored price tag of around $1,000.

But that’s the thing: This phone, off the shelf, was acquired for $460 (the price off contract is rumored to be $420 in the U.S.) and that’s a significant price difference.

For someone looking for a phone with all the features, except the price tag, it’s highly recommended.

Pros:
Price
Form factor
SD card support
Great camera

Cons:
Battery is not removable
Isn’t as fast for heavy gaming (you won’t notice it in everyday use)
Runs Android 4.4 Kitkat (Lollipop upgrade is said to be coming)