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
Join the Discussion
46 Comments on "Samsung Galaxy E5 review – trimmed down version of Galaxy A5"
Hello Gogi,
Please can you tell me when will Samsung launch its Galaxy A5 2016 in india?
I got Samsung Galaxy A5 & E5. On comparing the two phones, I notice the E5 speaker output is very low compared to the A5. For eg: Alarm is louder in A5. Also YouTube videos are louder in A5 than E5.
Is there any way to tweak loudness in E5
Dear Gogiji, Why is that some handsets support USB OTG and some do not? Does USB OTG option depends on google’s android release or the manufacturers of the mobile?
It is software controlled, nothing to do with the hardware.
Every thing is good in galaxy e5 but problem is that it does not support otg. Is there any software Which can be use to support otg?
How to connect usb/pendrive?
Few days ago I bought the E5, can I use USB OTG on it, if no plz give another solution.
In the reviews the product not support otg cables but you want to go to the store and check that ig support or not.
Hey gogi i bought E5 a month ago, my galaxy E5 getting started to upgrade Lollipop 5.1.1 but after upgrading my phone lacks OUTDOOR brightness mode. Any there any solution on it?
Hi kuldip, actual light sensor is missing, so the handset will not automatically adjust brightness you will need to do it manually.
I know that e5 has manual brightness setting but there is Outdoor option on notification bar which help to make higher brightness when we use outdoor…but when i upgraded to 5.1.1 this option was removed
Ah okay, well nothing you can do cause that is software related, you can try sending feedback to samsung to add that.
I bought the Phone one month ago. Now suddenly it doesn’t switch to standby anymore. So my battery life time is shortened terribly. Any idea how to solve this??
If it started happening after installing some app then better remove that app. If not then get the handset checked at service center.
Hey gogi!.
I bought the phone about a month ago and it is great. Everything seems to be fine with the phone. Except now, from aome days the ram remains 80-85% full which is slowing up the device. I havent installed anything new nor have i upgraded anything recently…
What might be causing the problem?
We hear samsung phones lagging a bit. Is this the same problem? What do you suggest?
Should i install cynogen12??
Please reply..
I own e5, I was using the Cpu Z app for finding for detail it showed my battery capacity is 2300mAh is this possible? as per spec mentioned by samsung & you it should be 2400mAh.
Another app called phone INFO showed the same 2300mAh for my e5.
It also showed the processor 32bit instead of 64bit as per your mention in this review should I be worried about these two factors?
I bought this phone 1 month ago but my phone dropped from my hand. Now speaker is not working, what can I do?