These new CAD renders, obtained exclusively by Android Authority in collaboration with @OnLeaks, show the new design direction Samsung has in store for next year’s Galaxy A5. The renders show that next year’s mid-ranger will inherit the high-end design of this year’s Galaxy S7, following the trickle-down design pattern Samsung has established with the Galaxy A5 series.

If you’re a neophyte where the A series is concerned, the design of the current Galaxy A5 (2016) is part Galaxy Note 4, with its “scalloped” sides and flared corners, and part Galaxy S6, with the two phones looking near-indistinguishable from the rear. But the upcoming Galaxy A5 (2017) looks to be a near straight copy of the Galaxy S7, complete with rounded edges on the back.

According to our source, the display of the Galaxy A5 (2017), with a model number of SM-A520F, comes in at 5.2 inches with dimensions around 145 x 71 x 7.8 mm. This makes the A5 (2017)’s footprint nearly identical to the current A5, but with a half millimeter thicker body, hopefully for housing a larger battery (the 2016 A5 packs a 2,900 mAh battery). Take a look at the renders in the gallery below.

Side-mounted speaker?

Perhaps most interestingly, the Galaxy A5 (2017) will have a side-mounted speaker and a completely flush camera lens on the back. The headphone port looks to have switched sides (but at least it’s still present) but the 2017 A5 will make the switch to USB Type-C. While we can’t guarantee material choices, it does look as though the A5 (2017) will feature the same metal-and-glass construction as the Galaxy S7.

Previous Galaxy A5 (2017) specs leaked via import listings and a benchmark database indicate 3 GB of RAM paired with an Exynos 7880 chipset, featuring four 1.87 GHz Cortex-A72 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.3 GHz along with a Mali-T860MP4 GPU. We have no idea about storage capacity, but the renders do seem to show both a SIM tray as well as an SD card lot.

The new Galaxy A5 (2017) should launch sometime around December 2016, if past A5 launches are anything to go by.

What do you think about the new Galaxy A5 design?