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Samsung Galaxy A5 and A3 (2017): here are all known problems and solutions

AndroidPIT Samsung Galaxy a5 2017 4814
© nextpit

Technology has its issues. Like all devices, the Galaxy A3 (2017) and A5 (2017) have their share of problems that can sometimes spoil the experience a little. Of course, these devices aren't exploding like the Note 7, but there are some are minor problems which happen to some users. Fortunately, we have the solutions for you here.

The battery drains very quickly

Problem

Several users have reported the following problem on the Galaxy A3 (2017) and A5 (2017): the battery empties in just a few hours. The strength of the A5 being its battery life, it's all the more irritating.

Solution

If the loss of battery life seems really drastic, your phone likely has a defect - because the battery life of the A5 (2017) is well above the average. The A3 (2017) isn't bad either. It normally allows you a full day of use, including social networking, surfing, video and more. But, if you only get a few hours out of it, you've got a problem.

Go into the battery settings to see which applications are consuming the most energy to find the culprit. Some applications can work in the background, and, if they are poorly optimized they can seriously drain your battery.

AndroidPIT Smartphone Overheating 2588
Smartphones and batteries: will they ever get along? © NextPit

The fingerprint reader doesn't recognize your fingerprints

Problem

Some fingerprint scanner are quite finicky, but it is difficult to make a generality because several factors come into play: the way you registered your fingerprints, the condition of the finger, and so on. Several users have complained about the fingerprint scanner of the Galaxy A5 (2017), especially my colleague Jessica who had noted a big problem with it in her review.

Solution

In most cases, the problem comes from the user: make sure you have registered the fingerprint from various angles, in the same position as when you try to unlock your phone. This seems silly, but many users simply put their finger on the scanner during configuration, without swiping it correctly. Also, remember to keep your finger dry.

It seems from reports that the A5 (2017) is more affected than the A3 (2017). That said, it is still possible (in theory) that Samsung could offer some kind of an update to fix the problem.

AndroidPIT Samsung Galaxy a5 2017 4851
The fingerprint scanners of the A3 (2017) and A5 (2017) do not always work well. © NextPit

The device does not connect to the computer

Problem

Normally, your computer detects your Galaxy A3 (2017) or A5 (2017) phone when you connect it using a USB cable. But, sometimes the phone is not recognized by your computer.

Solution

First of all, you need to use a quality cable (either from the manufacturer or another reliable brand). If you don't see anything on the screen when you connect the phone, don't panic. Look at your phone: maybe it has detected the connection is prompting you about what to do next. If you still do not get any response from the device, check out the developer options (see how to enable them in this article) and enable USB debugging.

The WiFi connection is unstable

Problem

You are connected to the Internet with your Galaxy A3 or A5, and all of a sudden the connection is interrupted. This problem occurs from time to time (and not just on this model). It's difficult to determine the exact origin of the problem with this one.

Solution

Samsung has not communicated anything official about this problem, at least for now. This kind of issue is difficult to diagnose as there are several factors that can cause it. If you are sure that the problem is with the device and not with the connection (which is rather unlikely), check your network configuration and update your apps. Keeping your apps up-to-date to ensures their stability. If the problem persists, leave us a comment.

AndroidPIT router wifi 2
The problem sometimes comes from the router. © ANDROIDPIT

The touch screen is unresponsive

Problem

The touch screen of the phone leaves something to be desired, and sometimes you get no response from it at all. Navigation is complicated on the Galaxy A3 (2017) or A5 (2017) and sending messages seems to be an impossible mission.

Solution

The problem can be with the device hardware: if you have just received your phone, then it may have a defect, and if it has been dropped, that's another very likely cause of the trouble. It's difficult to do much yourself in this case, so get it repaired.

If the problem is software, simply restarting your phone may be the fix (it worked for me, in any case). If you are a more advanced user, you can try installing another ROM to see if this fixes the problem, but be sure you won't void the warranty first!

Did you encounter any other problems with these devices? Need help? Leave a comment below!

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Benoit Pepicq

Benoit Pepicq
Editor

Benoit is passionate about new technologies and everything related to computers. A big Android fan since 2011, he joined the AndroidPIT team to satisfy his passion and to share his knowledge on Android with readers.

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45 comments
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  • 1
    hippy Feb 7, 2022 Link to comment

    lack of internal storage,it is showing full but when you delete any thing it still shows full


  • 1
    Marat Dec 30, 2018 Link to comment

    I was just given a Samsung A5 for Christmas and I found it so horrendously difficult for what I needed that I just gave up and threw it in the trash. I mean, seriously, am I really expected to read through and learn the whole 125-page online manual just for a portable phone? Computerization is now just making things too difficult, not better. I prefer the old days when nothing was more complex than finding a public phone, opening the door, putting in your coins, and talking into the receiver. It doesn't take 125 pages to explain that, now does it?


  • 1
    Bob W Dec 2, 2018 Link to comment

    Hello, I've had my Galaxy A5 2017 for a couple of days. All is well except the actual telephone only works with the earplugs plugged in. Without there is no sound and the person on the other end can't hear me, but the call time is ticking so there's a connection, and when the speaker is activated, the phone works as normal. Any suggestions why the phone doesn't work as normal? Anything I can do to remedy this?


  • Youness.Ziaee 1
    Youness.Ziaee Oct 30, 2018 Link to comment

    Hello support team.
    I have A320F(A3 2017)
    After Install Last Version Of Android(Android 8.0-Samsung Experience Version 9.0) In All Time (Always):
    1_The off Pixels On LED Has Ligh and it's Copletely Visable (It's Completely Vasable On Always On Display In Dark Place)
    2_It's Very Hard To See Movie On Mobile In Dark Place.
    The Colors Are Mixed Up And Details of the dark sequences of the movie can not be seen.
    * There were No Problem Before The Install Last Update.
    The Corresponding ROM Was Manually Installed On The Two similar devices (Two A320F) And Both Of Them Have This Problem.
    Attached information.
    Please Answer And Help Me.
    Thank you.
    uziaee@gmail.com


  • 1
    Lisa Hardy Mar 18, 2018 Link to comment

    Hi, I have the samsung galaxy a5 2017 version the past month or 2 sending & receiving texts has been a hit or miss process. Now the last few days when anyone calls me they tell me my phine echoes. I don't hear it but, they can hear themselves talking.
    Any idea how to resolve these 2 issues?


  • 1
    Farid farid Jan 12, 2018 Link to comment

    Hi i am using samsung A5 7..this phone whatsapp and imo any using app send voice message not send 3 seceand Above...what soliusiion iits problam


  • Chris Elliott 1
    Chris Elliott Jan 8, 2018 Link to comment

    messenger does not work correctly. Flashes when trying to make a video call and cannot accept any video calls and screen just continues to flash. Tried re-installing messenger but that did not work. anyone else experiencing this problem?


  • Gustavo Luiz 1
    Gustavo Luiz Oct 27, 2017 Link to comment

    My A5 2017 needs to have its proximity sensor recalibrated almost every day. Any suggestions on how to fix this?


    • Paul D. 2
      Paul D. Dec 18, 2017 Link to comment

      After the Android 7 Nougat update? With Android 6 the proximity works correctly. I have no fix at the moment


      • Gustavo Luiz 1
        Gustavo Luiz Dec 18, 2017 Link to comment

        Yes, it was with Android 7, but there was a Samsung update recently and I had not to recalibrate for a while since then. If anything changes I'll comment here and update.


      • Paul D. 2
        Paul D. Dec 22, 2017 Link to comment

        I have tried the firmware update and the problem still persists. I had to roll back to Android 6 to get rid of it again.


      • Gustavo Luiz 1
        Gustavo Luiz Dec 22, 2017 Link to comment

        Hey Paul, I just tested my sensor and it is not working again. If it works rolling back to an older version of Android it probably means that this problem is not related to a Samsung firmware failure, but rather to some incompatibility between the newer android and that firmware. Perhaps we should try and report this issue and information to both Samsung and Google


      • Paul D. 2
        Paul D. Dec 22, 2017 Link to comment

        I believe that it's Samsung's issue and they are not aware of the problem with Nougat.


  • Milda Lechny 1
    Milda Lechny Oct 1, 2017 Link to comment

    Have A5 2017 and have problem with wifi signal. Maybe know why. If i lput my second hand on top of phone (viewing internet, watching youtube, playing games etc.) and hold phone with both my hands, the signal is almost imidiately much more worst, sometimes lost. Whe i get hand out, its return to strong signal of wifi. Its really bad and problém with construction. Maybe its only my phone, dont try another one.


    • Zain Ali 2
      Zain Ali Feb 20, 2018 Link to comment

      same problem in my phone


  • cree 2
    cree Sep 4, 2017 Link to comment

    i have A5 (2017) over 2 months and sometimes it just turn of and i noticing it when i need to use it and screen is black. Few times pushing all buttons and nothing. Sometimes i feel short vibration when i hold 'turn on' button for few seconds. In the end i hold 'volume down' and 'turn on' buttons for 8-10 sec and it tun on. And today was odd situation, somebody calls me and i take phone and screen is black and cant turn it on, but ring tone is working...


    • Zain Ali 2
      Zain Ali Feb 20, 2018 Link to comment

      bro i have same problem


      • cree 2
        cree Feb 20, 2018 Link to comment

        Also i had problems with charging and battery lasted just 1 day with medium power saving, after night 10-20% off, but now after few Android updates, everything works prefect. I don't need to charge battery every day even when i play online games, and don't turn it off by it self.


  • IHaveProblem 1
    IHaveProblem Sep 1, 2017 Link to comment

    Look +-5 comments down, there is my comment with urgent problem.


  • 1
    Danial Khaledi Aug 2, 2017 Link to comment

    I have got screen flashing problem, specially when puting brightness to low, it flashes a purple color. also screen wont turn on sometimes and i try to turn it up for few minutes by pressing power button many many times and that is really annoying.


    • 1
      Erfangh Sep 10, 2017 Link to comment

      I had your problem with my galaxy J7 . It was really annoying.whenever I turned the screen off or put the brightness to low it flashed some lighting from the screen .


  • Koala 1
    Koala Jul 25, 2017 Link to comment

    My Samsung A5 had this weird problem of ghost touch at first at the bottom of my screen. It was then followed by the phone screen being unresponsive at the bottom of the screen (around 2cm high) and before i could get it to service centre, the whole screen turned unresponsive! Hopefully I can get it fixed...


  • Chris Eve 2
    Chris Eve Jul 21, 2017 Link to comment

    My A3 screen has decided to stop working. Samsung won't repair it claiming there is a crack in the screen, invisible to myself or the Three store reps. Three won't give me a replacement even though it's still under contract & warranty. Where do I stand?

    IHaveProblem


    • IHaveProblem 1
      IHaveProblem Sep 1, 2017 Link to comment

      My mum's A3 screen too! Respectively, when she plugged on the mobile and she just received a message (SMS) it SHUT DOWN. When you try to turn the phone on, the first thing appears is 'Downloading' on the green BG & in the left upper corner there are lines about informations about battery, software and things like that, this text is pretty tiny & it is pretty colourful differenting.
      The farest point on the way to turning it on, you will stuck, when there appears 'SAMSUNG' logo & it keeps flashing after few seconds regularly. & it won't stop (untill a minute) When my mum came in Orange after the repairing.. they said some cable didn't touch properly another.
      This problem happened for the 2nd time. Orange (Yeah, the shop) said, that they won't give a permanent (until another problem, not hoping for..) replacement because though it's still under contract.
      Yeah, Orange can fix it, but when they have 'free days', what means 'CLOSED' for tommorow because of national saint's day/fete ... 'It will be fixed in 30 days, yet you have another phone. When they repair it, they will 'stole' nowadays' phone and give you the repaired one. All datas from the replacement phone are lost. When this problem will happen for the 3rd time, all datas will be again lost! (unless you set photos/vids on gmail photos to automatically save)
      Why this f4cking cable keeps not responsing?!

      And, also, that system is like, all you can do, is s4ck your 4ss. Orange won't do anything about monetization, just wait. F4ck th3m. (that numerization is kinda censoring.)


  • Cassie Roux 2
    Cassie Roux Jul 17, 2017 Link to comment

    My A5 KEEPON GOING TO MUTE EVEN IF I DONT SET IT ON MUTE

    ErfanghKoala


    • Koala 1
      Koala Jul 25, 2017 Link to comment

      Mine too! And sometimes even when the sound is on, no sound comes out from the speakers and i have to restart my phone.


      • 2
        Abdullah Sohaib Sep 4, 2017 Link to comment

        Yup same problem here and also my videos stuck and dont play without any reason then i have to restart the phone. Any solution to this problem or did you claim the warranty?

        Erfangh


      • 1
        Erfangh Sep 10, 2017 Link to comment

        Man I exactly have the same problem . It usually happens when I'm using my headphones. I have yo restart he phone everytime.


    • cree 2
      cree Feb 20, 2018 Link to comment

      When i turn on internet my music player stops XD


  • Mandy Watson 1
    Mandy Watson Jul 11, 2017 Link to comment

    I've got the a5 2017, only had it about a month and it also keeps dropping off my Wi-Fi, my partner has a5 2016 and the fone I had before this was a5 2015 and none of them dropping from the Wi-Fi, only seems to b this fone, it's like it keeps hanging and I need to disconnect it from the Wi-Fi and then reconnect it and it's starting to frustrate me a little other than that it's a gd fone. Any help would b great.


    • Will Connah 1
      Will Connah Jul 16, 2018 Link to comment

      Same here Mandy, very frustrating not even lasting 10-15 minutes


  • Stevie Mac 2
    Stevie Mac Jun 30, 2017 Link to comment

    I've had my A5 2017 since February and it has been a great smartphone but I've recently experienced WiFi connections at work and home dropping out on me regularly.

    It does drop out at work as the siganl is poor but it doesn't seem to retain the WiFi login when I try to reconnect whereas previous phones it automatically logged back in when it connected.

    At home it drops out in favour of alternative public WiFi in my neighbourhood for some odd reason.

    This doesn't happen on any of my other devices at home, just this phone and I keep it up-to-date regularly.

    Ramutis Bražiūnas


    • Ramutis Bražiūnas 1
      Ramutis Bražiūnas Jul 7, 2017 Link to comment

      Yes.I absolitely agree.If the signal is poor,the phone losts wifi at all (disappears wifi icone ).I had not observed similar on S4.


  • Gergő Takács 1
    Gergő Takács Jun 8, 2017 Link to comment

    I have a Galaxy A5 2017 too. My prolem is the data usage... I have a Vodafone pocket router and I have in 12GB of internet. I know It's weird, but... the ANDROID OPERATION SYSTEM drains my internet very quickly and I have no idea why. I hope it's one of the infinity bugs of the Marshmallow and when I update soon to Nougat, this bug is gone. Any idea what is the problem? Anybody have this problem too? I need to know, I spent a lot of money for this mobile and I really love it, but... I start to hate this Galaxy a little. If you know what's the problem, please reply me. Thank you! :)


    • cree 2
      cree Feb 20, 2018 Link to comment

      well, for many years i ordered 1GB mobile data for a month and usually i even didn't use it all (if don't watch youtube), but from september or october it last just for 2 weeks and then i saw that Instagram use over 500mb in 2 weeks even i upload 0-3 pictures ~3mb, facebook also started to use over 500 mb, before that time they used less than 50 mb per month! I really don't understand what's happen.


  • Malinda Paranagama 1
    Malinda Paranagama May 31, 2017 Link to comment

    I have a A5 2017 running on marshmallow, the issue i have is that sometimes when i'm playing a game the back navigation button stop responding and the same thing happens when i plug in earphones. I've tried several different earphones, at first it works smoothly but after a while it stops responding. Then i have to press (literally press) the back navigation button hard enough for it to work. I tried giving it to several mobile repairing shops but they do not seem to know how to repair it. They say its a software issue because if it is a hardware issue it would not be working on and off. They tried reinstalling the firmware but there was no success. Anyone else has this problem or possibly any solution?


  • 1
    metin maden May 22, 2017 Link to comment

    İ have problem with watsapp syncronisation problem in my a3 2017. Unles I touch on watsapp icon, İ cant see the last messages. the same is for Gmail on my A3 2017. İ need to sync manually. what is more, İ cant call back the last incoming call as the number is beeing seen without zero (0) at the beginning on incoming call. Any one else?


  • 2
    Mike G. Apr 13, 2017 Link to comment

    Been using the a5 since feb and haven't had this issues.. Battery life is great.. FP scanner is also great. Also have friends using a5 and a3 and none of them have this said issues.


  • 5
    Dejan Jandric Apr 11, 2017 Link to comment

    I had A5(7) for a whole week, none of this wasn't the issue. Battery could last for a day of heavy using, day and a half of some medium using like social apps and chatting, and day for some really hc use. Fingerprint worked perfectly, not like A5(6) which is not so accurate, at this phone worked so good. Reason why i switched it for P9 its because of its glassy look, too fragile i think.


  • Awais Naeem 1
    Awais Naeem Apr 11, 2017 Link to comment

    Usually i dont leave comments on any article because i agree with them but with these problems as a A5 (2017) user i didn't find any of these problems as these are fully fake


    • Bastian Siewers 66
      Bastian Siewers Apr 11, 2017 Link to comment

      Hi!
      Just because you are not experiencing the issues, does not mean they do not exist ;)

      Paul D.ErfanghIHaveProblemKoalaRamutis BražiūnasDeactivated Account


    • 24
      Deactivated Account Apr 11, 2017 Link to comment

      Most of these might be a firmware problem(s). I remember with my s6 on lollipop, I think, on one release there were a parralax (wallpaper motuon effect) issue. Some people had it some didn't it all depends on the version of firmware you have and you might be lucky they might have fixed these issues before you received the update for example.

      Ramutis BražiūnasDeactivated Account


    • 1
      Huseyin Keskin May 9, 2017 Link to comment

      I'M a A5 (2017) user and got a replacement regarding suffering on the FP sensors accuracy. The second device had the same problem till getting an update last week. Now the FP is more accurate and faster then before. Battery life is great. Phone "was" stuttering some times but after getting the last week update they are almost gone. Also, the problems are not fake.


    • Koala 1
      Koala Jul 25, 2017 Link to comment

      Lucky you! My A5 (2017) has this weird problem of lagging really badly while charging and the screen becomes so unresponsive that I can't even type.


    • cree 2
      cree Feb 20, 2018 Link to comment

      so you are very lucky. I had lots of problems, but it was fixed after Android updates (well there is some very small left, but not big deal, can to live)

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