Samsung Galaxy E5 review – trimmed down version of Galaxy A5

Samsung Galaxy E5 is using the same hardware – 64 bit snapdragon quad core processor MSM8916 as seen on the Galaxy A5. The E5 however is trimmed down version and cheaper as compared with the Samsung Galaxy A5 smartphone.

Box Pack Content
GalaxyE5 handset, data cable, travel charger, SIM Tray ejector pin, quick start guide, warranty card, premium earphone and ear plug caps.

Design, Display and OS
Unlike the A5 that came packed in a full Metal body the Galaxy E5 comes with a metal frame and the rest is plastic body. Rear side is black colour made of plastic, matte finish, give a good grip and soft to touch. The handset still looks premium. It is light weight at 119 grams with built in battery and thickness is 7.37mm, breadth is 70.28mm and length is 141.95mm.

Volume rocker is placed on the left, power button on the right along with SIM slots and micro USB port with 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom. There are dual Mics for noise cancellation. The handset comes with 2 sensors accelerometer and proximity. Light sensor is missing, as a result you will need to manually adjust the brightness levels.

There is outdoor option in brightness settings that will increase the brightness to maximum for about 15 minutes after which brightness will switch to default. This is a good option to quickly increase the brightness when you are using the handset under direct sunlight.

The screen is 5 inches – it’s super AMOLED supporting 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. Touch is smooth and responsive, viewing angles are great.

This is a dual SIM handset with 3G support, you will need 2 nano SIM’s. SIM slot 2 is hybrid slot that can either hold a nano SIM or a micro SD card, you cannot use both together.

This handset is running Android 4.4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI.

Memory and Storage
The E5 comes loaded with 1.5GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Of the 16GB storage you will get around 11GB free space and of the 1.5GB RAM, free RAM on first boot will be around 710MB. OTG is not supported and you cannot install apps on external storage.

Performance
E5 is using Qualcomm Snapdragon 64 bit cortex A53 quad core processor (MSM8916 chipset) clocked at 1.2GHz with Adreno 306 GPU. Performance is smooth, no lags.

App	Result
Quadrant	12131
Antutu	20875
Vellamo	Metal (962) Multi core (1261) Browser (2042)
Nenamark 2	53.2 fps
Multi Touch	10 point

Gaming
I tried Asphalt 8, it got installed on the internal storage. Game play was smooth no issues found. Hardware is powerful for playing high end games.

Camera and Entertainment
There is 8MP AF camera packed on the rear and 5MP FF front camera. Front camera supports native video calling. Camera quality is above average. Rear camera can shoot full HD videos. Check sample images and videos at the end. The front camera supports Selfie, Wide Selfie with palm shot support.

Others
Sound is loud and clear. 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS (quick lock) and Bluetooth worked without any issues.

Battery
There is 2400 mAh built in battery that gives a very good backup time – about 5 to 9 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage.

Task	Time	Battery drop (%) (max temp)
Running Benchmark apps	23 minutes	5% (35)
FHD video playback with Wi-Fi on + full brightness	22 minutes	4% (32)
Asphalt 8 Game Play	12 minutes	4% (37)
Full Wall Charge	Under 3 hours	10% to 100%

Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy E5 is a cheaper version of the Galaxy A5, there are some specs changes that helped reduce the cost. But this handset still does not compete with the Lenovo A6000 price wise. The Galaxy E5 is priced at under Rs. 16,500. Though the E5 has an advantage when it comes to build quality and Super AMOLED screen, there is still a huge price difference.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 (review box does not support decimals).

Samsung Galaxy E5 is available for Rs. 16,180.

Image Gallery

Rear Camera sample

Front Camera sample