Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) vs OnePlus 3T: head to head review
Do you go for the big brand or the better specs? Here's how to choose
Trying to decide between the OnePlus 3T and the 2017 edition of the Samsung Galaxy A5 is surprisingly tricky - a classic case of swings and roundabouts.
The 3T is ever so slightly pricier at £399, but then it does have double the storage and RAM - meanwhile the £369 Galaxy A5 2017 isn't as impressive on the specs side, but has the might of the Samsung brand behind it (Note 7 notwithstanding), and is arguably the more beautiful of the two handsets.
So - OnePlus 3T vs Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017), which one should you buy? Let's go head to head.
Design
Galaxy A5 (2017): 146.1 x 71.4 x 7.9mm, 157g
OnePlus 3T: 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.4mm, 158g
The 3T is a little bigger, a little boxier, a little heavier, all of which makes the A5 comfier in the hand - but it's not a huge difference.
The matte aluminium finish of the 3T gives it a cool, textured feel, while the A5 is glossy but inevitably fingerprinty as hell as a result. Which look you prefer will come down to your preferred brand - if you generally like HTCs, you'll prefer the 3T. If you like Samsung devices, well, the A5 looks very much like its sibling the S7.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
Both phones have a rounded square lens in the centre back for the main camera, but the one on the OnePlus is considerably bigger and protrudes from the back, while the A5's sits flush. Branding is a little more subtle on the OnePlus, but mainly because people don't recognise the logo yet - and realistically, both will probably in a case anyway.
Colour-wise, you've got more choice with the Samsung - at least in terms of the bare chassis. That comes in a choice of Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist and Peach Cloud, while the 3T is available in just Gunmetal and Soft Gold. However, the official OnePlus cases in wood or carbon fibre finishes are really cool, and you'd be daft to finish ordering a 3T without adding one to your basket.
Then again, you'll always get a decent case selection with a Samsung - just in mainstream retailers, whereas for OnePlus you're mostly restricted to the manufacturer themselves.
OnePlus 3T
In terms of buttons, the OnePlus 3T has a physical Do Not Disturb switch, which the Galaxy A5 doesn't offer. Both phones have capacitive buttons either side of the home key, but the A5's are the wrong way round (compared with most Androids, at least). Back is on the right and Apps is to the left. This can't be changed, either. The OnePlus is much more customisable, so although the Back and Apps buttons are in the standard positions, it's easy to swap them in the software if you prefer the Samsung way round.
The home keys on the two phones are similar, but the big difference is that Samsung's presses in and OnePlus's doesn't. They're both similar-sized ovals below the display on the front of the phone, and both have the fingerprint sensor built-in - it just depends if you prefer the HTC-style unpressable pad or the iPhone-style clicky button.
The 3T's speaker is on the bottom left edge, while the Samsung's is on the top right (unusually). Neither are especially great, sound-wise, though the OnePlus is easier to muffle while you're holding the phone in hand.
Finally, you'll find a USB C charging port on the centre bottom of both handsets, with - yep - a 3.5mm headphone jack to the right of both. Nothing to judge it on here.
Winner: Draw. The Samsung looks more expensive and has more colour options, but oh lord the fingerprints. This is going to come down to personal style, and whether you're getting a case.
Display
Galaxy A5 (2017): 5.2-in, full HD (1920x1080), 424ppi
OnePlus 3T: 5.5-in, full HD (1920x1080), 401ppi
Oooh, tricky. Do you prefer a bigger screen, or a better screen? Both displays are full HD AMOLEDs, but due to its smaller size the A5's has a higher pixel density. Realistically, this isn't going to make a huge difference, especially if you're not using the phone for VR (and if you were hoping to use the A5 with the Gear VR, you're out of luck - it's not supported).
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
The A5 does include Samsung's always-on display, though, making use of that Super AMOLED screen to display the time, calendar and so on without having to power up the screen. If you're a compulsive time-checker, you might love this feature.
Both panels are coated with extra-tough Gorilla Glass 4, and both are bright, colourful, clear and responsive. You won't be disappointed with either one.
OnePlus 3T
Winner: Draw. OnePlus offers more screen space but Samsung packs in more pixels per inch, and Samsung displays are among the best in the industry. So which one you should go for will come down to this: do you want the slightly-bigger screen, or the slightly-better screen?
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) vs OnePlus 3T: head to head review
Do you go for the big brand or the better specs? Here's how to choose
Hardware
Galaxy A5 (2017): Exynos 7880 octa-core CPU (1.9 GHz), 3GB RAM
OnePlus 3T: Snapdragon 821 quad-core CPU (2x2.35 GHz, 2x1.6 GHz), 6GB RAM
Finally, a category that's easy to call! Even without considering the processors, the OnePlus is going to trounce most smartphones on the market right now with its staggering six gig of RAM. Heck, it might have more RAM than your laptop. It also has the top-end Snapdragon 821, though of course the Samsung Exynos processor offers eight cores over OnePlus's four.
Let's compare the benchmarks:
Geekbench 4 multi-core CPU test: Samsung 4,135; OnePlus 4,321
AnTuTu total score: Samsung 60,544; OnePlus 161,596
PCMark Work 2.0: Samsung 4,047; OnePlus 5,641
Not much of a contest, is it?
The OnePlus 3T is currently ranked third overall for the AnTuTu test, below only the two iPhone 7s, while the A5 didn't make the top 50. Fair to say, then, that the OnePlus definitely wins on performance.
In terms of hardware features, both include NFC (not always a given with OnePlus) and the Samsung also offers water and dustproofing to the IP68 specification, meaning you can immerse it in up to 1.5m of water for up to half an hour.
Winner: OnePlus 3T. The A5 is perfectly good, but for raw performance, the numbers speak for themselves. The waterproofing on the A5 is a nice-to-have, though.
Software
Galaxy A5 (2017): Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Samsung overlay
OnePlus 3T: OxygenOs based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, Nougat incoming
Out of the box at launch, both phones offered a tweaked install of Android Marshmallow - in other words, the previous version. However, neither is too far from stock, and both have extra features and customisation that makes for a better experience.
In terms of updates, OnePlus have got the jump on Samsung: since replacing Cyanogen, OnePlus phones use a custom version of Android known as OxygenOS, and the Nougat update to this has already begun rolling out. At the time of writing, we don't have a date for Samsung's update, but it is apparently in testing, so it shouldn't be too long.
OnePlus 3T
On the whole, the software on the OnePlus is better. OxygenOs offers an insane amount of customisation: everything from the way the remaining battery is displayed to the colour of your LED notifications. The Samsung offers some useful additions, too: palm-swipe to take a screenshot, pop-up context menus when you long-press an app icon (which wasn't in Marshmallow, and has presumably been designed to ape Nougat), that kind of thing.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
However, Samsung's app drawer is a bit rubbish: it scrolls the wrong way and is organised bafflingly by default. There's also a fair bit of non-removable bloatware: Galaxy Apps, Microsoft stuff, and lots of things beginning with S. The same can't be said of OxygenOS, which feels closer to the stock Android experience.
Winner: OnePlus 3T. Updates are a little faster, it doesn't have all the Samsung bloatware and the tweaks to stock Android are more useful.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) vs OnePlus 3T: head to head review
Do you go for the big brand or the better specs? Here's how to choose
Cameras
Galaxy A5 (2017): 16 MP, f/1.9, LED flash (main), 16 MP, f/1.9 (selfie)
OnePlus 3T: 16 MP, f/2.0, OIS, LED flash (main), 16 MP, f/2.0 (selfie)
Both Samsung and OnePlus are known for the high standard of cameras on their phones, and both handsets offer 16MP snappers on both front and back. They're fairly evenly matched, but the OnePlus has the edge in terms of video - it offers optical image stabilisation, and while the A5 can only film in 1080p, the 3T goes up to 4K.
Taken on the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
On the software side, Samsung's app is better - it's got lots of extraneous nonsense like filters and eye-enlargement (seriously), but also a handy floating shutter button for one-handed use. Food Mode works quite well, and there's generally more to play with in the Samsung app than OnePlus's minimalist counterpart.
Taken on the OnePlus 3T
Picture-wise, both phones take quick, sharp, excellent shots and you'd be hard-pressed to tell which was from which phone, so on balance we're picking the OnePlus as it has the edge in video.
Winner: OnePlus 3T since it offers OIS and 4K. It's close again, though.
Battery power
Galaxy A5 (2017): 3,000mAh
OnePlus 3T: 3,400mAh
On numbers alone, you'd want to call it for the OnePlus, but as we all know, raw specs don't always tell the full story. In this case, though, they do. Despite having a larger screen to power, the OnePlus had considerably more stamina as a daily driver than the A5 (2017), which usually needed a top-up around teatime while the 3T powered on ‘til bedtime.
OnePlus 3T
Both phones use a USB C cable, both include a fast charger and neither has wireless charging, so on that basis, we're calling it for the OnePlus.
Winner: OnePlus 3T. As we said in our review, "this phone is a beast."
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) vs OnePlus 3T: head to head review
Do you go for the big brand or the better specs? Here's how to choose
Storage
Galaxy A5 (2017): 32GB, microSD support up to 256GB
OnePlus 3T: 64GB/128GB, no microSD
Sigh, another one where it's going to come down to personal preference - both have a decent amount of storage, but the Samsung offers the possibility of adding up to 256GB more while on the OnePlus, you're stuck with what you buy.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
However, what you're buying already has double the storage of the A5 (2017), with the lowest 3T option being 64GB and 128GB also available for £40 more than the base model (£439 total). The larger model is only available in Gunmetal, though: no Soft Gold 128GB at the time of writing.
Winner: Draw. Again. Samsung gets points for including a dedicated microSD slot, but OnePlus gets just as many for offering double the storage to begin with, plus a higher-end model. There's no calling this one.
OnePlus 3T vs Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017): the verdict
This was a very fair fight, with two closely-matched opponents - it felt like it could go either way. But which way did it go? Let's look at those round verdicts again:
Design: Draw. The Samsung looks more expensive and has more colour options, but oh lord the fingerprints.
Display: Draw. OnePlus offers more screen space but Samsung packs in more pixels per inch.
Hardware: OnePlus 3T. The A5 is good, but for raw performance, the numbers speak for themselves.
Software: OnePlus 3T. Updates are faster, it doesn't have the Samsung bloatware and the tweaks to stock Android are more useful.
Camera: OnePlus 3T since it offers OIS and 4K. It's close again, though.
Battery: OnePlus 3T. As we said in our review, "this phone is a beast."
Storage: Draw. Samsung gets points for microSD, but OnePlus gets as many for offering double the storage plus a higher-end model.
So out of seven rounds, we've got four won by the OnePlus 3T and three draws. That's fairly conclusive: we're awarding the trophy to OnePlus 3T as the better overall phone.
Overall winner: OnePlus 3T
However, that doesn't mean you should necessarily go for the 3T. The £30 difference in price is pretty negligible in smartphone terms, so assuming you'd happily spring for either, when should you pick the Samsung?
Well, the Galaxy A5 (2017) is part of a long and distinguished line of trusted smartphones. It's a known brand, and while that brand was undoubtedly tarnished by the Note 7 disaster, it's still a lot stronger than the relatively-unheard of OnePlus. If you're likely to want third-party bits like cases and accessories, you'll find it easier with a Samsung. Similarly, if you do smash the screen or otherwise break the phone (heaven forfend), you'll have an easier job getting it repaired at mainstream places than if you've got a OnePlus.
That said, the OnePlus is clearly superior in many aspects: hardware performance in particular, and it equals or bests the Samsung in many others. If expandable storage and waterproofing are important to you, you might prefer the Samsung, but if you're all about performance and battery life, go OnePlus.
Still can't decide? Read our in-depth OnePlus 3T review and Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) review for the full picture.