About the same time last year, Samsung launched the first generation Galaxy A series which implemented Samsung's new design language of premium materials. And today, Samsung Malaysia is announcing the arrival of the second generation Galaxy A series which was announced last month. The new 2016 Galaxy A series will continue Samsung's new design language used on both the Galaxy S6 series and Galaxy Note5.

What's next for Samsung? — "Arguably Samsung has chosen the right path to innovate from the ground up with higher quality materials and innovating closely to Apple's terms meaning that not every year will we be able to see flashy new flagship devices with a radically improved feature set across the board. But the important thing is the they have taken the first step." Continue reading.

That includes a metal frame sandwiched between Gorilla glass to give it that premium look. In reality, the physique of the 2016 Galaxy A series is similar to that of the original Galaxy S6 with aluminium buttons, contoured design on the metal frame and an identical ToutchWiz experience atop of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

Besides switching from metal to glass in this year's Galaxy A series, Samsung has also tuned up the specifications to make it competitive for 2016. That includes a bigger and better display, upgraded processors and a new 13MP f.19 camera. Features like microSD card storage expansion and support for dual SIM cards are still present on the new 2016 Galaxy A series.

As for availability, the three 2016 Galaxy A smartphones is now available in stores starting at RM 1,299 for the 4.7" Galaxy A3 and goes up to RM 1,899 for the 5.5" Galaxy A7. The prices differ from last year's Galaxy A series by a huge margin but Samsung is including some nice upgrades this year.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) Key Specifications:

• 4.7-inch 720P Super AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 410 SoC @ 1.5GHz
• 1.5GB RAM
• 16GB memory
• 13MP f1.9 rear camera
• 5MP front camera
• 134.5 x 65.2 x 7.3mm (132g)
• 2,300mAh battery
• RM 1,299

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) Key Specifications:

• 5.2-inch 1080P Super AMOLED display
• Exynos 7580 SoC @ 1.6Hz
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB memory
• 13MP f1.9 rear camera with OIS
• 5MP front camera
• 144.8 x 71 x 7.3mm (155g)
• 2,900mAh battery
• RM 1,599

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) Key Specifications:

• 5.5-inch 1080P Super AMOLED display
• Exynos 7580 SoC @ 1.6Hz
• 3GB RAM
• 16GB memory
• 13MP f1.9 rear camera with OIS
• 5MP fron camera
• 151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3mm (172g)
• 3,300mAh battery 
• RM 1,899