Design Similarity
There is growing controversy among netizens over the fact that the design of the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 is quite similar to that of the iPhone 5.
Samsung Electronics recently released the two models in Taiwan. The Galaxy A5 features a 5" HD Super AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 410 procesor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB memory, a 13 megapixel camera on the back, a 5 megapixel camera on the front, and a 2,330mAh battery. The Galaxy A3 is equipped with a 4.52" QHD AMOLED display, the Snapdragon 410, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB memory.
The Galaxy A5 was certified by the National Radio Research Agency in early December. Therefore, the handset is likely to be introduced to Korea as early as December.
The two models are drawing a lot of attention, in that they are the slimmest Samsung phones with a metal body. In addition, the variants of the Galaxy Alpha are low-priced, high-performance products developed by Samsung to escape from the sluggish sales of smartphones.
In particular, their design is widely acknowledged to be outstanding. Even though they are entry-level models, the simple design is regarded as the best among the Galaxy series.
The problem is that the design of those products is said to be a carbon copy of the iPhone 5. In fact, the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 are, at a single glance, very similar to the iPhone 5.
The shape of the home and volume buttons differs, as does the location of the speakers at the top and cameras at the front and back. However, the design of the Galaxy models and the iPhone 5 is similar, since they have a non-removable battery, a full-metal body, and diamond-cutting corners. In particular, the USIM slot and micro SD slot of the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 are remarkably similar to those of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S.
Previously, Samsung refuted the idea that the metal design of the Galaxy Alpha resembles that of the iPhone 5, saying that the Galaxy Alpha imitated its Card Phone launched in 2006, one year before the release of the iPhone 5. The four corners of the Galaxy Alpha slightly protrude, which differs from the iPhone 5.
In the case of the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5, there is no distinction like this. Thus, controversy over a similar design is quite plausible.