Samsung’s Galaxy J5 and J7 receive the upgrades they deserve

Samsung has finally revealed their new Galaxy J5 (2016) and Galaxy J7 (2016) smartphones, fixing many of the issues we originally had with the devices. The duo got a bump in specs as well as a few nice new features.

Galaxy J5 (2016)

The Galaxy J5 was a rather underwhelming device from the get-go with a measly 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. With the Galaxy J5 (2016), Samsung has bumped the specs up by quite a bit.

Now, it sports a larger 5.2-inch HD Super AMOLED panel on the front of the device with a 1.2GHz octa-core processor mated to 2GB OF RAM and 16GB of expandable internal storage. Now with twice the storage, users start with 10.6GB of available storage compared to the old device’s 4.3GB of available storage.

In the camera department, its got a 13MP f/1.9 primary camera mounted on the back plus a 5-megapixel f/1.9 selfie shooter with front-facing flash for those crucial low-light selfies. Keeping the lights on is a larger 3,100 mAh battery.

Galaxy J7 (2016)

Perched higher up the ladder is the bigger and more powerful Galaxy J7 (2016). Along with a larger 5.5-inch full-HD Super AMOLED panel, the J7 (2016) also sports beefier internals with a 1.6GHz octa-core processor on the inside mated to 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable internal storage.

While the bump up in screen resolution to full-HD from the HD panel on the previous model is nice, the best part of this new model is the increased RAM — double that of the old J7’s 1.5GB.

For photos, the Galaxy J7 (2016) sports the same optics as on the Galaxy J5 (2016) which should result in a similar photo-taking experience. Since it’s a bigger device, it also gets a bigger battery — rated at 3,300 mAh — which is also a bump up from the previous J7.

The new Galaxy J duo also has support for microSD expansion (up to 128GB) and dual-SIM capabilities via a dedicated microSD card slot and dual-SIM slot. That means you don’t have to choose between 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and one microSD card.

Besides that, these devices now have support for NFC which should mean pairing and mobile payments are now that much easier. They’ve also got a metal frame that should lend a more premium feel in your hand.

A better duo, but a pricier duo?

As a whole, the upgrades these devices received are definitely necessary as it helps them keep up with the other low-end good-value smartphones in the market. However, with this bump in specifications, it is likely that the duo will also be marketed at a higher price.

These devices will soon see an official release in China, but there is currently no word on when the Galaxy J duo will see an international release or when they will arrive in Malaysia.

With the upgraded specs on the J5 (2016) and J7 (2016), these entry-level Samsung devices actually have better internals than the South Korean company’s mid-range Galaxy A3 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016) smartphones. However, the Galaxy A series devices have a more premium build and finish (plus a fingerprint scanner on the A5) which does feel great in the hand.

What do you think of these new Galaxy J devices?

[SOURCE, 2, VIA]