It is always a super cool feeling to review a new phone before it hits the markets/shelves. Though I've owned other smartphone models, Samsung has been impressing me with their latest line of Galaxy devices.
Last November I tried my hands at the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and was duly impressed, the super AMOLED display and Android OS (which has come pretty far since I switched to iOS) was a pleasant surprise. The stylus was incredibly responsive...wider screen....connection to wearable gear.... but this post is about the new Samsung Galaxy A5. Let me not get ahead of myself.

First thing that I noticed on the A5 was the metallic outer casing and the rounded edges. Surprisingly, the Galaxy A5 is way lighter than my iPhone 5c and quite noticeably so.

Holding the camera at the launch in Accra on January 30th, 2015.

The phone is incredibly fast and comes with 16GB of memory (2GB RAM) and an opportunity for you to upgrade to as much as you would like/can afford on an SD card...not bad, especially if you want to push movies, photos or music via Samsung's AllShare Play feature to a Samsung TV ( I own a ChromeCast so I get to push YouTube and a few others apps from my mobile devices as well).

As a photographer though, I honed in quickly on the picture taking features on the phone. If you are a stats feign this is what you'll get with the Samsung Galaxy A5:

• CMOS 13 MegaPixels for the primary (back) camera
• Geo-tagging (so you can let friends know of pictures taken in Korle-Gonno)
• Touch face, face detection & panorama (even more k3ch3)
• 1080p @30fps for video...charley in 1998 could phones do this...lemme check Google real quick and get back to you.

Alright so my favorite photo feature on this 50 inch screen device has to do with selfies. I take selfies all the time, see here. And with the selfie-stick craze...yes selfie-stick is a thing...the ability to take pictures by only showing your palm to the camera tickled the day light out of me; closing the deal for the Samsung A5 as a must have phone in my arsenal. With all the bells and whistles of a metallic casing, light-weight device run on Google Android's KitKat (yummie!) a perk like automated selfie was a welcome bonus.

The launch at the new Samsung office at Stanbic Heights was fun and friends caught on to my favorite feature

Samsung official demonstrating to the press at the launch

Deeper

My friend and YFM co-worker Caroline Sampson was fascinated on Sunday when I showed her the phone after church.

Got it right after a few tries #PalmSelfies with YFM's Caroline Sampson

The phone's estimated retail value is 1,500 ghs and at that price point, (my first monthly salary in Ghana for perspective at what most consider here to be a good job) the phone isn't cheap.

In conclusion though the Galaxy A5 is a fun, light weight smartphone that I can use to impress all the beautiful ladies. #A5lifestyle

Deeper* is my 2015 resolution to dig deeper into conversations, reviews and sentiments I share on-air or online. 

Last Saturday was a good day for football/soccer and D-Black's Live Wire events hosted Celebrity Soccer Weekend with stars such as Davido, Samini, R2bees, Tinny, Castro, D-Black as captains of their respective teams.

Supporting Y FM, despite being down with the flu, +Ameyaw Debrah  captured YFM's social media guru +KumiCumz Nkansah & I at the Lizzy Sports stadium. #MoreVim

photo credit: Ameyaw Debrah

There were many members of Y FM staff and friends at the event.

Mary Anna - Head of Marketing

Esse - Red FM

Asantewaa Asante - Y Sports Presenter

HTW's Fred Deegbe

Sefa: Y Marketing; Eddie Micuh Jr: Y Sports; Quarps: Ryze & Shyne & Y Sports Producer; Flexxy: Afropolitan Mix

Blogger Extraordinaire: Ameyaw Debrah

DeLong - Events Y FM & Happy FM

Eddie Blay Jr - Steppin' to the AM

J.O.E.L Orleans - Y Campus Xpress

Foster, Eddie Micuh Jr & the new bossu: Giovanni - Caleb Adjomah

So I pulled out my iPhone just in time to catch Samini & goal celebration in front of D-Black and BAM.

Once in a while there are events that I am forced to wait a while before I get to share, tell the story behind the pictures and the Savvy Madam event at Golden Tulip in January this year is one of them. Not that it is government secret and incredibly confidential but the post-event recap is still hush hush.

I am however, mighty proud of the founder of the Madam Network who put the event together. After business school I'm sure she has a lot in store for professional women who want to network and make an impact. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures which feature Deborah Vanessa and friends.