Samsung A7

A CLEVERLY DISGUISED GALAXY S7, BUT IS THIS MID-TIER REFRESH A STAR IN ITS OWN RIGHT?

quint and you’d think you’re looking at the top-tier Galaxy S7. Samsung’s new mid-range phone certainly has the same rounded corners and curved edges, though under the chassis the hardware is quite different indeed.

It’s packing a lesser processor, and drops the resolution of the screen to 1,920 x 1,080. Android 6.0 and 32GB of storage (expandable to 256GB) are a wrinkle, too. That 16MP rear camera’s less impressive, but despite the cutbacks, they’re probably not enough to make you stump up for the outgoing king of phones.

For the money, you get an IP68 dust- and waterproof rating (that’s better than the Apple iPhone 7), a very welcome USB-C port so it’s on the right side of future proofing, and while the

$799, samsung.com/au

Spixel count is lower, the 5.2-inch AMOLED screen is still worth feeling smug about.

So it’s a case of having your cake and eating it too: a big-name handset with the look and feel of a premium device, albeit at a fraction of the cost. For day-to-day use, you’ve got yourself a tidy, well-built and reliable unit.