Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) Review

Samsung had launched the mid-range devices, the Galaxy J5 and J7 back in July 2015 and were pretty successful models in India. Few days back, the company has launched the upgraded versions of these two devices, the Galaxy J5 (2016) and Galaxy J7 (2016) in India. The upgraded J7 (2016) comes with a metallic build and also features Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a bigger capacity battery. The new J7 comes for Rs 15,999.

We have been testing the device for quite some time now and here is our detailed review of the phone.

Here is the video review.

Design and Build:

Design-wise, the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) comes with some minor changes when compared to 2015 variant. It still looks similar to any other mid-range Samsung phone. The major change to the device is that it now comes with a metallic chassis compared to plastic on the 2015 variant. The rear panel is still plastic with a brushed metal finish. The rear panel has the 13MP camera, LED flash and the speaker located near it. There is also Samsung logo along with 4G branding. The device is pretty good to hold especially with the sturdy metal construction.

The front panel has the physical home button and two touch button very similar to other Samsung phones. There is 5.5 inch HD AMOLED display, front facing 5MP camera along with LED flash and usual sensors. But Samsung has not included an ambient light sensor on the device which is disappointing for a mid range phone. The touch buttons below the display are not backlit. There isn’t a drastic change in terms of the dimensions of the device.

Overall, while the device looks decent in terms of build quality, Samsung could have definitely made it better in the design department.

Display:

The display on the Samsung Galaxy J7 is 5.5 inch HD SUPER AMOLED (1280 x 720p) panel with 267ppi. While almost all phones in this segment offer full HD panels, Samsung is shipping only an HD panel. But still, the display is one of the strong points of the device.

The display is vivid and has great colors, thanks to the Super AMOLED panel. The disappointing aspect is the lack of ambient light sensor, which means you need to increase the brightness when you go out. The touch response on the device is also very good, but there is no additional protection offered for scratches. There is an outdoor mode which increases the brightness of the display to maximum and you can use it when you are outside. The viewing angles are also pretty good.

Software:

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box with the company’s Touchwiz UI. Samsung has optimized the UI for Marshmallow with some changes to the notification center as well. The quick toggles section has been redesigned with a lighter color. Samsung has also included few apps like S Health, File Manager, S Planner, Opera Max and also Microsoft Office suite.

The UI looks pretty good overall.

There is also room for customization with the My Themes app where you can download additional themes. The Settings panel looks more or less similar to previous version. There is also one handed mode which reduces the screen size to make it easy for use.

The phone also comes with Smart Manager which can manage the battery storage, RAM and also make the device secure. The phone also comes with easy mode which makes the device easy for elderly people. Easy mode has a simple home screen layout which is again customizable.

Similar to the Samsung Galaxy J3, the new J7 also comes with S bike Mode which is a do not distrub feature for bikers and works with NFC. The phone also comes with NFC. More details on S Bike mode can be found here.

Performance:

The Samsung Galaxy J7 runs on Exynos Octa Core Processor clocked at 1.6Ghz and coupled with 2GB RAM. When we tested the 2015 variant, we mentioned that the J7 had good overall performance, the same goes with the new J7 as well. The overall performance of the device was good and we didn’t experience any lags or issues while running apps or switching between apps. The gaming performance of the device was also good and much better than the Moto G4 Plus. The heat generated while playing games was considerably low and the bigger 5.5 inch display is ideal for gaming. We wish Samsung shipped this device with a Full HD panel.

Related Video: Samsung Galaxy J7 Gaming Review

Multi tasking was very smooth on the phone, we ran multiple apps in the background including games and there was close to 1GB of RAM available.

The phone supports 4G LTE, and we achieved good speeds when we tested in our location. The call quality on the phone was decent and we didn’t notice any issues with calls. The speaker output was just average for a mid range phone and the speaker unit located on the rear panel did not help it either. The phone comes with 16GB of internal storage and out of which close to 11.0GB was available in first boot. You can expand the storage via micro SD card, but you cannot install apps directly on to the SD card. But having said that there is an option to move apps to the SD card.

Camera:

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/1.9, LED flash and also a 5MP front camera with LED flash. It is one of the few devices offering front facing LED flash in this segment. The camera interface is mostly unchanged. There are also a host of shooting modes including Panorama, Night Mode, Beauty face and more. There is also a Pro mode or manual mode where you can manage your photo settings.

Now coming to the camera samples, the daylight photos taken with the phone was quite decent. The overall clarity looked good, but the biggest issue was the consistency in photo quality. At times the color reproduction was not good and in some occasion the colors look washed out.

Since the phone does not come with PDAF, it does take some time to lock the focus. So it might not be the fastest camera out in the segment. Coming to the indoor shots (or low light), it does have decent clarity and manages to produce shots without much noise. Although noise creeps in, the levels are acceptable for a mid range phone. to  The phone can record videos in 1080P and the quality is again good. The front facing camera is quite decent for selfies and the front facing flash works quite well in low light conditions. Here are some of the samples taken with the device.

Battery Life:

The Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) comes with a 3300mAh battery which is an upgrade from 3000mAh. With Android 6.0’s Doze feature,  the battery performance was very good on the device. With average usage you can get more than a day of battery life. Even if you are a heavy user, you can get through with one day without any issues.

The phone also comes with ultra battery saver mode to get extra battery life.

Verdict:

Priced at Rs 15,990, the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) is priced higher than the 2015 versions and it also misses out on of the important features in this segment, a fingerprint scanner. Looking at the specs to price, The J7 (2016) seems to be overpriced especially with some good devices like Redmi Note 3, ZUK Z1 and Moto G4 Plus, all priced lower than J7. J7 also misses out on basic sensors which is quite disappointing from Samsung. But having said that J7 (2016) has an optimized software with great performance.

If you are looking for a mid range phone from Samsung, then J7 (2016) is worth considering, otherwise we suggest you to look for other options.