Fast forward to 2019. The galaxy a5 is probably the best phone i've had. It's never given me any problems.
That being said, the dreaded battery issue Samsung's experienced with the s7 happen to me a couple weeks ago. My phone was sitting at 75% charge in my pocket when I felt my leg getting hot. I pulled the phone out and felt it. It was almost to the point of melting plastic hot. Then the battery drained to 0% within minutes. I let it cool then tried plugging it in. I was able to recharge it and power back up. With that being said, I didn't want to risk it happening again and going into full self destruct mode. So I have been very careful with it avoiding prolonged use and keeping the screen dimmed.
Because I don't want to risk it happening again, I opted for the new phone choice again. I could have gone into the service provider's store and just signed a 2 year contract at $80 per month for 6gb data plan and get a new phone. But years ago I locked myself in to the same plan but at a student rate of $50 per month. As long as I didn't renew the contract I could stay on it indefinitely. So that means buying which ever phone I want unlocked so it'll work on my network.
With the issue of the dreaded exploding battery looming in the near future, I started my research on a new phone again. This time, the Samsung Galaxy s9+ won out. It's in the mail now.
Canadian eh!!!