All-metal, ultra-thin smartphones from Samsung

Samsung unveiled its first full-metal handsets on Tuesday, the Galaxy A line-up of ultra-thin mid-range smartphones.

Available in 4.5-inch, 5-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes, each phone boasts a unibody full aluminium frame, super Amoled display, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and 4G LTE capabilities.

The Galaxy A phones are the first full-metal smartphones that Samsung has released (the Galaxy Alpha had a metal frame, but a plastic rear cover). Its flagship handsets, such as the Galaxy S5, traditionally have plastic bodies.

The full-metal design is complemented by diamond-cut chamfered edges and skinny profiles, with the 4.5-inch A3 measuring 6.9mm, the 5-inch A5 measuring 6.7mm and the 5.5-inch A7 a mere 6.3mm.

The phones are aimed at younger users - each is armed with a front-facing camera primed for selfies, with features like wide selfie, palm selfie, animated GIF and "beauty face features", which smooths out a subject's face, enlarges the eyes and slims down chubby cheeks.\

The A7's screen boasts a full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution, while the A5 and A3 settle for 1,280 x 720 and 960 x 540 pixel resolutions respectively. However, all three devices boast great contrast and vivid colour reproduction, thanks to the super Amoled display.

The A3 and A5 are powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, while the A7 has an octa-core (quad-core 1.5GHz and quad-core 1GHz) processor. All three devices feature LTE category 4 support, with 16GB storage built in and a microSD slot that supports up to 128GB.

The A7 has a 2,600mAH battery, the A5 has a 2,300mAh battery and the A3 has a 1,900mAh battery.

The A series will be available in a range of colours, with the A3 ($448) and A5 ($598) launching in pearl white and midnight black today, and platinum silver, Champagne Gold and soft pink versions to follow.

The A7 will be available in pearl white and midnight black, and will be available later this quarter (pricing to be confirmed).

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