While LG has officially exited the smartphone market completely, it appears that it still has operations related to smartphones in general. Apparently, the company’s batteries will be shipped in Samsung Galaxy A and Galaxy M series of smartphones.

According to TheElec, the South Korean tech giant’s Galaxy A series of budget and Galaxy M series of mid range handsets will be powered by LG battery packs. Notably, this isn’t the first time the brand has used components from its former South Korean rival, with its high end Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series models also featuring LG made batteries. Now, it appears that LG is planning on growing its cooperation with Samsung by also making batteries for the more affordable smartphones lineups as well.

As per the report, the new batteries will be produced at LG Energy Solution’s Nanjing plant and will be transported to ITM Semiconductor’s local plant in Vietnam. After this, the batteries will be packaged and delivered to a Samsung smartphone factory. The report further added that an industry official had stated that ITM Semiconductor likely offered its services at an aggressive price. In other words, Samsung did not intentionally seek out LG Energy Solution to supply batteries for the future Galaxy A and Galaxy M series of smartphones.

RELATED:

• Samsung to reportedly launch a cheaper Galaxy A series foldable smartphone
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 might come with a Temperature sensor after all
• Samsung Galaxy S22 is the world’s first smartphone to support voice over 5G (Vo5G): Report
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 wireless charger gets FCC certification, 5W Charging speed tipped
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro may not come with the fan favorite rotating bezel

The post Samsung Galaxy A and M series phones will house LG batteries: Report appeared first on Gizmochina.

A few years ago, Samsung used to be terrible at releasing updates for its devices but that is no longer the case now. The smartphone market leader is only bested by Google when it comes to updates. Now, Samsung is taking it to another level and even surpassing Google by extending the duration of security updates for several of its phones.

In a press statement released today, Samsung revealed that it will be extending updates for several of its Galaxy products launched since 2019. These phones, which include models from the Galaxy “Z, S, Note, A, M, XCover, and Tab series will now receive at least four years of security updates”.

Samsung says that it has had to work with its OS and chipset partners as well as more than 200 carriers to ensure that its Galaxy devices receive timely security patches.

While Samsung doesn’t say, not all of these devices will receive updates monthly. A lot of them will receive security updates every quarter while some will fall under the “other regular” security updates group.

Below are the devices that will receive security updates for four years:

• Galaxy Foldable devices: Fold, Fold 5G, Z Fold2, Z Fold2 5G, Z Flip, Z Flip 5G
• Galaxy S series: S10, S10+, S10e, S10 5G, S10 Lite, S20, S20 5G, S20+, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra, S20 Ultra 5G, S20 FE, S20 FE 5G, S21 5G, S21+ 5G, S21 Ultra 5G
• Galaxy Note series: Note10, Note10 5G, Note10+, Note10+ 5G, Note10 Lite, Note20, Note20 5G, Note20 Ultra, Note20 Ultra 5G
• Galaxy A series: A10, A10e, A10s, A20, A20s, A30, A30s, A40, A50, A50s, A60, A70, A70s, A80, A90 5G, A11, A21, A21s, A31, A41, A51, A51 5G, A71, A71 5G, A02s, A12, A32 5G, A42 5G
• Galaxy M series: M10s, M20, M30, M30s, M40, M11, M12, M21, M31, M31s, M51
• Galaxy XCover series: XCover4s, XCover FieldPro, XCover Pro
• Galaxy Tab series: Tab Active Pro, Tab Active3, Tab A 8 (2019), Tab A with S Pen, Tab A 8.4 (2020), Tab A7, Tab S5e, Tab S6, Tab S6 5G, Tab S6 Lite, Tab S7, Tab S7+

RELATED:

• Samsung launches the Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7+ Mystic Navy color variant in India
• Samsung working on two Galaxy Watch models; could ditch Tizen for Android (Wear OS)
• Best Android 12 Features; Better Privacy Controls, new APIs, and several UI Tweaks

The post Samsung extends security updates to four years for several of its phones appeared first on Gizmochina.

Samsung has really stepped up its software support game and is now one of the best in the industry. The manufacturer has a list of supported devices that informs users of how frequently supported devices will receive updates. It has done so again now and the latest update reveals that the 2017 Galaxy A series will no longer be updated.

The devices that are no longer supported are the Galaxy A7 2017, the Galaxy A5 2017, the Galaxy A3 2017, and the Galaxy J3 Pop.

Samsung’s flagships, starting from the Galaxy S9 series till present are supported for monthly security updates. Surprisingly, the Galaxy W20 and Galaxy W21 which are the Chinese equivalents of the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 2 are scheduled to receive quarterly updates. The page also shows that the Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+ will also receive quarterly updates and not monthly updates eve though they are flagship tablets that launched less than a year ago.

The bulk of Samsung’s mid-range phones released in the past year and in 2019 fall under the quarterly updates category. So if you own a Galaxy M or Galaxy A phone released between 2019 and now, you are eligible for quarterly updates. However, Samsung tells users to note that the frequency of updates will change as the support period expires. This means that older devices will eventually get pushed down until they are no longer supported.

RELATED:

• Samsung Galaxy A52 images appear on China’s TENAA
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G gets its first permanent price drop in the US
• Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro update improves noise cancellation and switching speed

The post Samsung drops support for 2017 Galaxy A smartphones appeared first on Gizmochina.

Samsung trademarked the Galaxy A52 along with other names back in January. After a while, the device, which will succeed the best-selling Galaxy A51, started slowly appearing on leaks. Today, Steve Hemmerstoffer(@onleaks) has shared some details of the upcoming smartphone.

According to Steve, Galaxy A52 5G‘s design will be a lot similar to the predecessor, Galaxy A51. Precisely, he says the device will have a 6.5-inch display with a centered punch-hole(Infinity-O). If you recall, both the Galaxy A51/A51 5G’s displays had the same size.

On the back, it will likely have the same rectangular camera layout with four sensors. A small difference here is the renders swaps the position of the fourth sensor and LED flashlight. For design, he says the company will retain the Glasstic(Plastic with Glass-like finish) rear panel and metallic frame. Besides, the concept render also shows a similar gradient Green color with a two-tone design(vertical stripes at the bottom).

However, if Steve were true, the Galaxy A52 5G will have a bit lesser thickness than the Galaxy A51. He says the device will measure 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4mm where the thickness would be 10mm if you count the camera bump. To compare, Galaxy A51(4G) had 7.9mm, but the A51(5G) has about 8.9mm thickness.

Further, the device will likely retain the 3.5mm headphone jack and in-display fingerprint sensor as well. This suggests that the display will indeed be an AMOLED panel which was expected anyway. That said, he hasn’t given details on what SoC will power the device. But thanks to an early benchmark that hints at a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC.

Samsung usually limits the Exynos SoC to regions like India, Korea, China while it brings the Qualcomm variants to the US. Hence, we can expect the same to be the case for Galaxy A52 as well. Anyway, earlier leaks say that the device will have a 64MP main camera supplied by its sister Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Finally, Steve predicts a similar $499 price for the Galaxy A52 5G which we can agree with. This is because Samsung crawled back with the Galaxy A series and its mid-range pricing after a dismal Q1 sales of its Galaxy S20 series. And it looks like the company doesn’t want to change the winning formula going forward.

UP NEXT: Samsung reveals One UI 3.0 (Android 11) update timeline for India

The post Samsung Galaxy A52 5G renders along with key specs leaked appeared first on Gizmochina.

At the end of last week’s Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung promised three generations of Android updates for its Galaxy S, Galaxy Note, and Galaxy Z devices from the Galaxy S10 series. Now, after a week, it looks like certain Galaxy A series of smartphones will be also eligible for this benefit.

Samsung has always been terrible at providing quicker Android updates. But thankfully, that began to change with the release of One UI. For this year’s Android 11, the company has already opened registrations for One UI 3.0 Developer Beta.

In addition to this, the South Korean tech giant surprised everyone by confirming three generations of Android updates to its flagship offerings. A week later more surprises emerge as the certain handsets of the firm’s mid-range Galaxy A series may also enjoy this benefit

This piece of information comes from a customer service executive when a person asked whether their Galaxy A90 will get three Android updates. To this, he replied that high-end Galaxy A series of phones and tablet products released after Galaxy S10 series are under additional review.

Further, he added that the company will announce the OS upgrade policies for these devices after checking hardware specifications and resources. Until then, he askes customers to stay tuned to the announcement on the Samsung Members app and official channels.

We hope Samsung to provide update benefits to Galaxy A series as well. And if they do, it will be a remarkable move and other OEMs may also join the bandwagon.

UP NEXT: Samsung resumes smartphone ODM operations, expects it to account for 10% of total units

(Via)

The post Certain Galaxy A series phones may get three generations of Android updates appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Korean giant has seen rough days in the past some years due to increasing competition. They have lost almost its mid-level market to Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. Now, Samsung seems to tackle the rising competition with the newly launched Galaxy M series and Galaxy A series of devices. As per new reports, Samsung is planning to garner sales of worth $4 billion from its A series by the end of 2019.

Already, Samsung Galaxy M series has received a lot of praise for its M series entry-level devices in India. Similarly, Samsung will launch various other mid-level devices ranging from Rs 10,000-Rs. 50000 this year. In order to further boost the sales, Samsung will make them available across offline channels also. While talking about the Samsung’s Plan, Rajiv Singh, senior vice president of mobile marketing at Samsung India said, “2019 started off extremely well for products at Samsung with the M series. We are now creating a whole portfolio for the A series, which we will be launching this from March. Till June, we will launch phones every month.” 

In order to make most out of the mid-range market, Samsung will also announce many new Galaxy A series of devices. Further, Rajiv Singh talked about the plans to increase Samsung’s revenue in India. He quoted, “The impact will have on the revenue of Samsung as a single brand is going to be unprecedented. It is going to make a record for the India market. Our mission is to make a $4 billion brand for a single series this year in India.”

They are betting hard on the new Galaxy A series of devices. Samsung is working day and night to compete against the Chinese brands. The Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have impacted the growth of Samsung in the past some years. Samsung India’s net profit has fallen below 11% to Rs 3712 crore in the financial year 2018. Overall, the growth has increased by 10% to Rs 61065 crores.

Despite continued growth, Samsung slipped from the first position to Xiaomi in terms of total shipments. Although, the Korean giant has managed to remain on the top in revenue generation in the Indian smartphone market.

• Read More: Samsung Galaxy S10+ variant with 12 GB RAM, 1 TB storage spotted on AnTuTu and Geekbench

Further, Rajiv Singh added that “The series will add to the overall top line and market share… the volume that goes through and the value that gets generated that’s our ambition for our A series. It will serve the entire portfolio and will become India’s biggest brand of a single name series in 2019. That’s our ambition.” 

The move by Samsung India is quite overwhelming as it will increase the positive competition in India.

(Source)

The post Samsung India plans to reclaim its lost crown by generating $4 billion sales from A series devices appeared first on Gizmochina.

After the launch of Huawei P9 Plus and LG G5, having more than one camera on the rear side of the smartphone has become a trend. According to the latest tweet by the known leakster Ice Universe, it seems that there is no doubt: Samsung is preparing a new smartphone with four cameras on the rear side, and it will launch before the end of the year.

If the tweet is to be believed, given the time frame, it will surely not be a flagship phone from the Galaxy S series, and neither a Galaxy Note device because the Note 9 has been unveiled last month. If we exclude the Galaxy S and Note line-ups, the most important one is definitely the A-series, so the upcoming smartphone with four rear cameras may be the Galaxy A9 (2019).

Samsung
Camera Camera Camera Camera

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) September 2, 2018

However, we cannot exclude the possibility that the tweet may refer to a Samsung device with four cameras in total, so a dual camera setup on the back and two cameras for selfies. But the way Ice Universe presented the tweet, it’s likely hinting at four cams together instead of a 2+2 combination.

(via)

The post Samsung to allegedly unveil 1st phone with 4 rear cameras in 2018 appeared first on Gizmochina.

After rumors about Samsung‘s next year’s flagship smartphone Galaxy S10 featuring a triple-camera setup, a new report suggests that the South Korean giant is now planning to introduce triple-camera setup to its premium mid-range Galaxy A (2019) series smartphones.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 has been rumored to be the first smartphone from the company to come with triple camera sensors, similar to what we saw on the Huawei P20 Pro. But the report indicates that the upcoming Galaxy A series device will be the first smartphone from Samsung to have triple cameras.

Further, the Galaxy A (2019) smartphones are also said to come with an in-display fingerprint sensor. According to the reports, Samsung will be using an optical display-based fingerprint sensor for the Galaxy A series smartphones.

According to the report, the company is looking to introduce triple-camera and in-display fingerprint sensor to Galaxy A (2019) lineup before these features are fully adopted for the company’s flagship Galaxy S-series smartphone. The global hardware development team of Samsung has reportedly started working on adding these features to Galaxy A series devices.

The Galaxy S10-series is also expected to have an in-display sensor but will feature a more premium ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. The quality of triple-camera on both the Galaxy S-series and Galaxy A-series are expected to be different as well.

Usually, the Galaxy A series smartphones gets launched a couple of months before the Galaxy S-series smartphones. If the South Korea-based company sticks to its usual schedule and doesn’t delay the Galaxy A (2019) launch, the Galaxy A-series will be the first from Samsung to have triple-camera and in-display fingerprint sensor.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 pricing leaked for 128GB and 512GB storage models

There are very few devices available in the market which comes with features such as under-display fingerprint sensor and triple-cameras. Currently, only the Huawei Mate RS Porche Design features both — triple-cameras and in-display fingerprint sensor.

(Source)

The post Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy A (2019) series to reportedly feature triple-camera setup appeared first on Gizmochina.

Samsung has changed their design language in the past several years and the company has also brought some premium materials and great build quality to their midrange phones lineup.

Galaxy A5 2016 year edition is a great example of it but is it any good? Learn more in the full Galaxy A5 2016 review. 

The review is brought to you by TechLineHD.

Subscribe to TechLineHD for more reviews

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 VIDEO REVIEW:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPbxXcge_U[/embedyt]

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

Let’s start by the design as the Galaxy A5 looks and feels like a flagship phone. It uses a quality metal frame around the device along with metal buttons, which are located on the left and right sides and they have excellent tactile feedback. Also, there is a single SIM card slot and the microSD card slot for storage expansion. It’s worth mentioning that you can also opt in for a dual-SIM card model.

The Gorilla Glass 4 protects the 5.2” 1080p Amoled display, which is just gorgeous. It is sharp, vibrant, bright and it has great viewing angles. Also, you can adjust colour temperature to your liking in the settings menu. 

On the top we have a 5MP selfie shooter with a bright f/1.9 aperture. Unfortunately, the phones does not have a notification LED light. 

On the bottom there are typical Samsung capacitive buttons with a nice backlight. The physical home button also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. While it is very accurate and recognises your fingerprint quickly, it does not work straight from the standby mode. For me, it is a huge letdown, because even some cheapest budget phones have this feature. 

The backplate is also covered by the sheet of the Gorilla Glass 4 and it is a fingerprint magnet but at least it is not that visible on the gold colour unit I have. 

As far as optics, we have optically-stabilised 13MP shooter with a single LED flash and a bright f/1.9 aperture.

The usual set of ports along with the loudspeaker and the mic are located on the bottom.

Overall, the phone feels really solid and if you asked me, I would say it could easily rival even the Galaxy S6. By the way, the full comparison review is just around the corner, so stay tuned to the TechLineHD for that. 

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: USER INTERFACE

When it comes to software, we are looking at the Samsung’s Touchwiz UI, which is built on top of Android 5.1. 

Although it is not as heavy as it used to be in the past, it is still Samsung’s UI after all. We have a briefing app, which is basically a news feed similar to the Blinkfeed we’ve seen on HTC phones for years. Also, we have redesigned icons, different colour schemes and so on. 

Some of the notable features would be the ability to quickly access the camera app straight from the standby mode by simply double tapping the home button. I have to say this is really good feature and it works well. 

A dedicated theme store allows you to choose from a variety of themes and lets you make the device look your own.

Finally, the Touchwiz UI is fast and snappy, and it’s a pleasure to use it as I didn’t have any hiccups or lags. 

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: BENCHMARKS

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

Samsung Galaxy A5 has a mid-range level specs. It uses an octa-core Snapdragon 615 chip with the clock speeds of up to 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and only 11GB of it are available to the user.

While the phone will not be your next benchmarks champion, the hardware is definitely enough to run some graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8 at the highest settings without any lags but with just a few skipped frames.

The Snapdragon 615 chip is infamous for its overheating issues. However, I have to tell you that Samsung optimised it well and the phone does not overheat even after extensive periods of gaming. 

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: MULTIMEDIA

The sound via earphones is actually very good. However, the volume output could be louder. 

The loudspeaker is pretty good too. While it is not the loudest out there, it has quite a balanced sound with a decent amount of depth.

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: CAMERA

As far as the camera app, we have a typical Samsung interface. There are some settings and shooting modes to play with but most importantly, the app is fast, responsive, easy to use and the capture speeds are very fast. 

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

The daylight images are near excellent and it is almost on par with most of the flagships. There is a huge amount of details, colours look natural and contrast levels are great. A few flaws that differentiate the Galaxy A5 from the e.g. Galaxy S6 are the dynamic range and exposure adjustment in some shots but these are just minor complaints. Well, the Galaxy A5 is a midrange phone after all. 

1 of 27

When it comes to indoor and low-light shots, the level of details decreases and more noise kicks in. Still, the phone is capable of producing some good looking images and that is thanks not only to the capable hardware but also to mature post-processing.

1 of 2

As for selfies, the Galaxy A5 is very good. It produces high-quality images with a good amount of details.

When it comes to the video recording, the phone can shoot up to 1080p videos and they look sharp, have lots of details, and the continuous auto-focus works fine. See a camera video review for various video samples. 

Make sure to check out my dedicated camera review video for more camera samples.

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: CONNECTIVITY

All the connectivity options that include Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS are working fine. Also, the signal reception is excellent and the call quality is good.

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: BATTERY LIFE 

The Galaxy A5 has a 2900mAh battery. In short, it performs really well. I could constantly get over 4.5h or even 5 hours of SOT even if used the phone quite intensively with maximum auto brightness setting. Also, the phone features a fast charging feature and I was able to fully charge the phone in less than 1.5 hours. 

Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 edition. For around $400 you are getting a phone that has a premium design and excellent build quality, great display, fast UI, a fingerprint scanner, great battery life and a very good camera. 

The Snapdragon 615 chip does its job for day-to-day tasks very well and even for some gaming. However, if you are a serious gamer and you love playing the all latest 3D games, the processor along with the GPU will not be powerful enough for you.

Another shortcoming would be a fingerprint scanner. Don’t get me wrong, it is fast and accurate. However, it does not work straight from the standby mode as the majority of even a lot cheaper phones. Cmon Samsung, step up you fingerprint scanner game. 

All in all, the Samsung Galaxy A5 is a great phone despite a few shortcomings and I can definitely recommend it. However, I can’t say there aren’t any other alternatives out there at this price point. E.g. the Galaxy S6, which is still a flagship, can be bought at a similar price right now. It has a much better chipset for gamers but has some other disadvantages like poor battery life. 

At the end of the day, the Galaxy A5 is still an awesome phone and the chipset is the only major shortcoming if you care about gaming.

Buy Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 from Amazon UK 

The post Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Review – Almost A Flagship Smartphone? appeared first on Gizmochina.