Samsung's latest Galaxy A series smartphones are water resistant, made for clicking selfies

Samsung is kickstarting 2017 with a refresh to its Galaxy A series lineup of smartphones.

The South Korean smartphone manufacturer today unveiled the new Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5, and Galaxy A7, stating that all of these mid-range and high-end smartphones now feature water and dust resistance. The three new handsets now also get the USB Type-C ports, hinting that the new connector port is finally becoming mainstream this year. They also get premium design with metal frame and 3D glass back, similar to what's found on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

The 2017 editions of Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 also sport larger batteries with support for Fast Charging capability, another feature that was previously mostly common on flagship smartphones within Samsung. Both the handsets are also getting big upgrade on the selfie camera.

Starting with the Galaxy A7 (2017), the smartphone now sports a larger 5.7-inch Super AMOLED FHD (1920x1080 pixels) display. It is powered by a 1.9GHz octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and houses 32GB of internal storage which can be expanded using a microSD card.

The new Galaxy A7 should click better photos than its predecessor, now featuring 16-megapixel camera with aperture f/1.9 on both the rear and front. It is powered by a 3,600mAh battery (up from 2,900mAh in last year’s Galaxy A7).

The Galaxy A5 (2017) sports a 5.2-inch FHD Super AMOLED display, and houses a 3,000mAh battery. The rest of the features are the same as the Galaxy A7 (2017).

The last in the pack, the Galaxy A3 (2017) sports a 4.7-inch HD (1280x720 pixels) Super AMOLED display, and is finally getting a fingerprint scanner.

It is powered by a 1.6GHz octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and has 16GB internal storage, and again, a microSD card slot for more space on the phone.

It rocks a 13-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front facing shooter, and a 2,350mAh battery. Though it’s not getting support for Fast Charging, users planning to purchase this phone will be happy about the IP68 certification on the phone, much like the other two phones, meaning resistance to dust, rain, and sweat.

All the smartphones are running Android 6.0.1 software, and will be available in stores first in Russia early this month, and then trickle across the world eventually.