[Samsung Galaxy A3, A5, A7 (2017) Guides, News, & D] Yanktar03:
I haven't been here for a few years, I think since I got my SIII!

I use the SIII still when we are abroad with a local pay-go SIM and it's still a pretty good phone. But I had wanted an upgrade and T-Mobile's J7 was SUCH a great bargain, at $200 US, that I got it. I like the J7 and most of its features (there are some small, minor things I don't like, but they are minor). But my problem with the J7 is it's too damn big. It doesn't fit in a pocket easily, the protectors with belt clips protect the phone by breaking--Otterbox doesn't make a Defender for the J7, and the protectors they make don't look at all like my J7 (speaker and flash, not just speaker).

So, getting a new SIM for the one that's been lost for my wife's backup SIII (she prefers her giant iPhone 7(?) that's more of a phablet), I saw the J3. The T-mo guys said it's just like the J7, only downsized. I ordered a dual SIM one off Amazon and when it came I found it could only do simple 3G, and 2.4ghz WiFi. Back it went. I went back to T-Mo and bought THEIR J3 and they assured me it didn't have those problems. Well, it certainly ran 4G, but not 5ghz WiFi, and nobody at T-Mo or Samsung support could figure it out. Back to T-Mo to return it where the manager tried to steam-roll me, then wanted a re-stocking fee. No Way! I've been with them a dozen years but will leave if they pull that--the clerk had told me it ran 5ghz and I bought it because... I got my money back.

I went looking for ANY phone that would do what my J7 could do--minimum of 16g memory, SD up to a minimum of 128gig, etc. all in a small format. Found the A3, again on Amazon, with dual SIM capability but the caveat that it was either dual SIM or single SIM and SD (OK, that's dumb but at least I'm forewarned). The one drawback was the non-replaceable battery, but that was offset by the IP68 water-resistant rating! Since we are at the beach all the time, that was a well-worth-it trade-off.

The phone came Tuesday and it's now Sunday and so far I love this phone! I don't notice the display issue (my over-60 year-old eyes) but Samsung's garbage Smart Switch wouldn't allow the two phones to connect either by wire or by wireless. I had to back the J7 up to my PC, then restore to the A3. So far pretty much everything works that I've tried, other than the Xtakagi Memo Pad Tools that refuses to read or write to the SD chip --but that's not Samsung.

I've had a couple of minor problems:

1) Despite this phone claiming to be 4G compatible, I can't find a setting for it. I do get HDPSA and HSPA+, which seem to be as fast as 4G, but no 4G LTE. T-Mo supports 4G on my other phones so is there a setting?

2) Damn thing is just LOADED with bloat-ware and I had to deactivate a ton of them, and assign everyone I could to use the SD care. I'm tempted to root it because, since the A3 isn't generally sold in the US by the main cell providers, if at all.

3) While the Blue Tooth links up with my truck, it doesn't make the connection easily. Not sure why.

While several people here don't like the "feel" of the phone, that's irrelevant to me since I immediately put it in a rubber&hard plastic shock absorber case. (still no Otterbox Defender!) Being a smaller format, I was able to find a nice leather belt pouch it fits in, which I prefer, when possible, to clips.

Still haven't turned on the fingerprint recognition and still just am forwarding the J7 to the A3--haven't switched SIMs yet.

Battery life seems to be much better than most phones I've had, and I don't even have it on battery saving mode.

But so far, I'm VERY happy with this phone. My family noticed that my "new phone/new computer cursing" was not only minimal, it was pretty much non-existent! It does (so far) everything my J7 does, but it a much more compact format, yet with a more than adequate screen size. And it goes in a pocket far more easily!