Galaxy Note 4 vs A5 specs: Samsung smartphone showdown

Samsung Galaxy Note 4Samsung

Samsung has finally started to trim its smartphones and shun housing them in less-classy plastic builds. This may be the start of something new. The South Korean tech titan has brought the slimmest and most elegant-looking smartphones to the table, outshining all its preceding line-ups and basically every single smartphone in the whole of the handset territory.

The Samsung Galaxy A5 and the Samsung Galaxy A3 both are the newest and surefire frontrunners in the design department and readers will enjoy assessing how the A5, the higher-specced version of the two, will stack up against the latest Samsung Note addition, the plastic-encased Galaxy Note 4.

It's time to start the match.

The A5 is the slimmest smartphone in existence, that's a given. It is ridiculously impressive with its 6.7 mm thickness (or thinness). This makes the Note 4 look hulking with its 8.5 mm body.

The Note 4 is also more of a phablet, as PC Advisor evaluated, sporting a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display screen that delivers a remarkable resolution of 1440 x 2560 on top of its monstrous 515 ppi pixel density. With this, the A5's 5.0-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, its 720 x 1280 pixel resolution as well as its 294 ppi pixel density are easily slaughtered. For crisp and high-quality details, the Note 4 is the way to go.

The Note 4 is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor that clocks in at 2.7 GHz. It also has a hefty 3 GB RAM. The A5 has a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410 processor complemented with 2 GB RAM. The former is the clear pin-up here.

Samsung Galaxy A5[Photo credit: Samsung Austria]

Imaging capabilities are not too far-flung as both have comparable cameras. The A5 boasts a 13-megapixel rear shooter while the Note 4 shows off a 16-megapixel snapper. The former was also incorporated with the same camera features the latter has, including the Wide Selfie, Palm Selfie, Animated GIF, Beauty Face Features, and Rear-cam Selfie. However, PC Advisor reported that the size of the Note 4 makes it "clumsy" to capture photographs. As the smaller device, A5 may just be the one tailored for that. The Note 4 may sport a decent 3.7-megapixel front-facing snapper, but the A5 has a better selfie experience on the cards with its 5-megapixel front shooter.

The A5 supports a 2300 mAh battery but Samsung made no mention of the usage. The Note 4 on the other hand, lasts a day with its 3220 mAh battery. Both are provided with the Ultra Power Saving mode and the fast charging technology that can have the devices fully charged in an hour.

The A5 offers a 16 GB model expandable up to 64 GB with a micro SD card. Users can choose from its rich color variants like Pearl White, Midnight Black, Platinum Silver, Soft Pink, Light Blue and Champagne Gold. The Note 4 offers a 64 GB storage capacity which can swell to 128 GB with a Micro SD as well. It is available in Charcoal Black, Frost White, Blossom Pink and Bronze Gold.

Overall, the A5 is the smaller mid-range phone clad in sophistication. The Note 4 is a full-size handset of more powerful specs. Users will have to figure out what suits their lifestyle and budget to determine the real winner. Nevertheless, these are clearly two of the most revolutionary offerings from the tech titan.