Samsung Galaxy A series

Developer	Samsung Electronics
Type	Smartphones and tablets
Release date	31 October 2014; 9 years ago (2014-10-31)
System on a chip	Exynos (2014–present) Qualcomm Snapdragon (2014–2016, 2018–present) MediaTek (2019–present) UNISOC (2022)

The Samsung Galaxy A series is a line of mid-range smartphones and tablets manufactured by Samsung Electronics as part of their Galaxy line. The first model in the series was the first-generation Galaxy Alpha, released on 31 October 2014.

Following the announcement of the 2017 series, Samsung announced that they hoped to sell up to 20 million Galaxy A series smartphones, targeting consumers in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.^[1]

As of 2020, most of the Galaxy A series models are available in most countries. Galaxy Tab A is also part of the A series and is available in most countries as well.^[2]

Phones

Galaxy Alpha and A (2015)

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha was introduced on 13 August 2014 and released in September 2014. A high-end device, the Galaxy Alpha is Samsung's first smartphone to incorporate a metallic frame and more premium materials, although the remainder of its physical appearance still resembles previous models such as the Galaxy S5. It also incorporates the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 or Samsung's new Exynos 5430 system-on-chip, which is the first mobile system-on-chip to use a 20 nanometer manufacturing process.

However, the Galaxy Alpha received mixed reviews: although praised for its higher quality build and design in comparison to earlier Galaxy models' utilitarian plastic construction, the device was criticized for its modest specifications in comparison to the flagship Galaxy S5, with the Alpha being criticized for lacking water resistance, lower resolution screen (720p versus 1080p) and no MicroSD slot for expandable storage. The Alpha also debuted at a price too high for what some considered to be a "mid-range" smartphone, as although it did share the same Snapdragon 801 as the Galaxy S5, most earlier phones with the Snapdragon 801 had already been on the market for months and saw price drops.

Following its launch, Samsung Electronics CEO JK Shin explained that the Alpha was "built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumer market." The company touted that the Galaxy Alpha would mark a "new design approach" for Samsung's products, and that elements from the Alpha could appear on future Samsung models.^[3] Its operating system is based on Android 4.4.4 "KitKat" with its own version of TouchWiz UI. Several updates were made throughout the world and in April 2015, Android 5.0.2 "Lollipop" was made available through an OTA update.^[4]

Galaxy A (2016)

New features were introduced in the Galaxy A 2016 Series which includes metal and glass body, NFC which supports Samsung Pay, Samsung's Adaptive Fast charging feature and increased battery life. The Galaxy A (2016) series are very similar to the Galaxy S6, and the Galaxy Note 5 flagships, which were released in April 2015, and August 2015, respectively.

Galaxy A (2017)

In January 2017, Samsung unveiled the 2017 edition of the Galaxy A series. Newly improved features include 16-megapixel front and back cameras, an Exynos 7 Octa 7880 SoC, a 3D glass display (similar to Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S7), barometer and gyroscope sensors and IP68 certification for water and dust resistance as well as support for Gear 360 (2017). The new design of the series are very similar to the Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge, released in March 2016.^[16][17] The series comprises three models. This was the last Galaxy A series to use the TouchWiz user interface, before being superseded by Samsung Experience and One UI in later models.