Samsung’s alphabet goes like this: E, J, A, S. That is if you want to arrange its series from “budget” to “premium,” but this doesn’t tell the whole story – the new A-series is closer to the S-series than it is to the Js.

So far we’ve examined the middle of the pack – the 5.2″ Galaxy A5 (2016) and the 5.5″ Galaxy A7 (2016). There are also the 4.7″ A3 and 6″ A9 (plus a rumored 5.7″ A8) too, but it’s the A5 and A7 in the spotlight today.

The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) is a knock-out – a phone with a premium design and a premium build. We even think it’s slightly better than the Galaxy S6 flagship, but there’s a catch.

The price. It costs almost as much as the S6 right now and that’s not easy to justify. Both have fingerprint readers and Samsung Pay and we don’t miss the QHD resolution too much (the A5 has a 1080p screen). The camera just isn’t as good, though – not for photos, not for video.

We like having a microSD slot again (even if we have to give it up to use the second SIM slot). What do you think?

The Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) is built on the same platform, the key difference is screen size – 5.5″ (with 1080p resolution). In terms of pricing, it’s positioned much better, a good deal cheaper than the Galaxy S6 edge+, for example.

Like the A5 (2016), the 13MP camera on the A7 has a bright f/1.9 aperture and optical image stabilization.

The Galaxy A7 (2016) has its own problems, though. It’s not a big upgrade over the original A7, which also has a metal frame, a 5.5″ 1080p Super AMOLED and a Snapdragon 615 chipset.

Are the fingerprint reader and camera improvements enough?

You have a week – and two reviews – to make up your mind before you cast your…

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The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note’s reign in our Top 10 trending chart has come to an end after a three-week stretch in the number 1 spot. The Samsung Galaxy J7 and J5 pair returns to the top with the larger model reclaiming the gold.

And that’s pretty much everything notable that’s happened this week. There are no new entries to speak of and only the occasional shuffling in the lower parts of the chart.

We find the Galaxy S6 in 4th, same as last week, and the J2 has remained stationary too, in 5th. The Grand Prime hasn’t moved an inch either, and stays in 6th. The iPhone 5s and 6s have kept their spots, 8th and 10th, respectively.

It’s the Galaxy Note5 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 that have swapped places. Samsung’s phablet has climbed two spots up to 7th, while the Redmi Note 3 is between the two iPhones in 9th.

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Samsung Galaxy J7
RANK: 1WAS: 2

specs review

Samsung Galaxy J5
RANK: 2WAS: 3

specs review

Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
RANK: 3WAS: 1

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy S6
RANK: 4WAS: 4

specs review

Samsung Galaxy J2
RANK: 5WAS: 5

specs review

Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
RANK: 6WAS: 6

specs review

Samsung Galaxy Note5
RANK: 7WAS: 9

specs review

Apple iPhone 5s
RANK: 8WAS: 8

specs review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
RANK: 9WAS: 7

specs review

Apple iPhone 6s
RANK: 10WAS: 10

specs…

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