samsung galaxi J7 review

Introduction

The smartphone jungle can be confusing, but the Samsung Galaxy J7 is surprisingly easy to decipher: J for "affordable price" and 7 for "big screen". This is the lite version of the Galaxy A7, offering semi-premium features but confined to the midrange. Another way to look at it is as an E7 Plus.

The attention-grabbing features start at the 5.5" Super AMOLED screen (Samsung's latest units have all had accurate colors and great sunlight legibility). There's also a 64-bit octa-core processor, a selfie camera with a dedicated LED flash and a main camera with a wide f/1.9 aperture and Pro mode.

The Galaxy J7 is one of those phones that care more about the size of the screen than its resolution and so it settles for 720p. The difference to Galaxy A7's 1080p screen is for the most part cosmetic but the practical difference is quite big - you get 20% more space for apps and web pages on the A7.

Key features

• Dual-SIM phone with LTE connectivity
• 5.5" Super AMOLED of 720 x 1,280px resolution, ~267ppi
• Snapdragon 615 version: 64-bit chipset, octa-core Cortex-A53 processor (four cores at 1.5GHz and four at 1GHz); Adreno 405 GPU; 1.5GB of RAM
• Exynos 7580 version: 64-bit chipset, octa-core Cortex-A53 processor (eight cores at 1.5GHz); Mali-T720MP2 GPU; 1.5GB of RAM
• Android 5.1 Lollipop with TouchWiz, theme support
• 13MP camera capable of 1080p video recording, 5MP front-facing camera, 1080p video
• 16GB of built-in storage
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1, ANT+, NFC (Exynos version only)
• 3,000mAh battery

Main disadvantages

• The design was tire1stretched a bit thin on the 5.5" screen
• No fingerprint, no NFC on some models and certainly no Samsung Pay
• No MHL (but USB OTG is supported)

The main camera is a 13MP unit - a pretty standard choice for the midrange - but the f/1.9 aperture elevates it above average and will make a difference at low-light scenes. The J7 is well-equipped for low-light selfies too, with a dedicated LED flash to help the 5MP front-facer.

The Galaxy J7 is a dual-SIM phone, Samsung didn't bother with a single-SIM version. No huge loss if you ask us, unlike the A-series this one has separate slots for two SIMs and a microSD. Fast LTE data can be used on either card, making the J7 practical for travel or getting the most out of two data plans.

   
Samsung Galaxy J7 official images

The Galaxy J7 comes with one of two distinct chipset models - Snapdragon 615 in some regions, Exynos 7580 in others. Both versions run Android 5.1 Lollipop on 1.5GB RAM (a bit of a tight fit), but the Exynos has a CPU clock advantage. We'll also find out how the different GPUs perform, both are OpenGL ES 3.1-enabled though so they'll be ready for new games to come.

The Samsung Galaxy J7 will lose to the Galaxy A7 in a beauty pageant but, after the novelty wears off, the A7 will have a fight on its hand. Well, time to kick the Galaxy J7 out of the nest and see how well it flies.

Note that the Samsung Galaxy J7 comes with either an Exynos 7580 or a Snapdragon 615 chipset. We're reviewing the Exynos version.

Unboxing the Galaxy J7

The Galaxy A series come in cyan box, while the J series come in orange boxes. That's a nice bit of color-coding to go with the letter codes. The box contents are fairly modest: a microUSB cable, a 5V 1.55A charger and a one-piece headset.

 
Orange A-series box • standard contents (including unimpressive headset)

The charger isn't powerful enough for Quick Charge, but it's the same that the pricier A series got. The headset is clearly cheaper though, it only has one button and uses simple earbuds compared to the in-ear headset of an A series phone.

Hardware overview

The Samsung Galaxy J7 measures 152.2 x 78.7 x 7.5mm (7.9mm on some versions), that's a good 1.2mm (1.6mm) thicker than the A7. It's also 30g heavier at 171g. This all gives it a bulkier feel and the all-plastic exterior gives away its lower position in the pecking order.

Samsung has been stepping up its design game and with the latest premium devices it has reached a level most people will call "beautiful." The Galaxy J7, however, belongs to the previous era, the one favoring practicality over looks.

  
If not for the size, the J7 may be confused for a Galaxy S III or other Galaxy phone

The ordinary design makes it a face in the crowd - is it a J7? E7? Some sort of Note Neo maybe? Grand something? The J7 does not aspire to individuality, instead it's content with helping the Galaxy line solidify the ranks in the midrange.

The hardware does have some standout features making this the smartphone equivalent of a sleeper car - you won't think much of it at the stoplight until it drives off with screeching tires. Well, okay with Cortex-A53 cores and 13MP camera it will only provide moderate amounts of squeal but you get the point - the Galaxy J7 performs better than it looks, it's the opposite of flame decals.

On the plus side, Samsung got ergonomics right haven't made major changes to the formula since. This will make upgrades from older Galaxys seamless while newcomers will adjust quickly.

 
The Samsung Galaxy J7 uses time-tested design and ergonomics

The phone's side and back are smoothly rounded so there's nothing poking at your hand while you're holding it. Having handled the slender Galaxy A8, the J7 feels a little chunky though its weight contributes more to that than its thickness. 7.5mm is still very good, though note that some versions of the phone are slightly thicker (7.9mm).

The back panel is made of matte plastic, which offers good grip. It's not the best hand feel we've experienced but it wards off fingerprints with ease. It comes in a choice of White, Black and Gold paintjob.

The top and bottom side of the phone are indented so that the four corners rise slightly. This offers extra grip for your fingers as you hold the phone horizontally to take a photo. Otherwise the smooth chrome-finish sides can be quite slippery.

 
The selfie flashlight is on the left of the earpiece • no fingerprint scanner on this Home key

In portrait orientation your thumb has the hardware Home key and capacitive App switcher and Back keys to play with below the screen. There's no fingerprint reader on this Home key, that's still a premium feature.

Above the screen is a much more interesting setup. The 5MP selfie camera is on the right, while its LED flash is on the left. In the dark, one side of your face is illuminated a bit more, which gives better definition than if flash and camera were closer together.

Of course, the usual suspects are all there as well: earpiece, proximity and ambient light sensors.

The sides of the phone accommodate the Power key and the Volume rocker. The keys are a bit thin but solid to press.

   
The Volume rocker and Power key on the sides of the Galaxy J7

The top side of the Samsung Galaxy J7 is bare, the interesting bits are all on the bottom - microUSB 2.0 port, audio jack and mouthpiece. The USB port does not support MHL TV out (leaving you with only wireless methods), but it does have USB On-The-Go.

  
The mic, microUSB 2.0 port and 3.5mm audio jack, all on the bottom

The back panel is removable, giving you access to the three card slots and the battery. The SIM1 and microSD slots are stacked vertically (SIM on the bottom), while SIM2 is off to the side, this makes it easier to swap out. Both cards are microSIM by the way.

A look at the battery and the three card slots (SIM1 and the microSD are stacked)

The battery packs 3,000mAh, putting it on par with the Galaxy Note5. Of course, its chipset isn't as efficient though it has the easy job of driving a 720p display so we'll see how the J7 does at that.

The back has the time-tested Galaxy S III arrangement of a slightly protruding camera (13MP), an LED flash on one side and loudspeaker grille on the other.

  
The 13MP camera barely protrudes from the back

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy J7 is powered by a Snapdragon 615 chipset or a new-generation mid-range Exynos chipset. Both have 1.5GB of RAM. Some versions of the Galaxy A8 also use the S615 so the J7 is in good company. As for the Exynos chipset, it's a 7-series chip also built on Cortex-A53 cores but with Mali-T720 graphics instead of Adreno 405.

That's the version we have for testing. The A53 processor is clocked higher - all 8 cores are at 1.5GHz, while the S615 version are 1.4GHz + 1.0GHz. On the GPU front, the Mali should be faster, but both it and the Adreno support OpenGL ES 3.1 for the latest graphics effects (subject to performance, of course).

The Galaxy A8 we tested was also Exynos-based and AnTuTu 5 gives it an edge in performance. The Helio X10-based Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 also places higher, though not as high as its 2GHz octa-core A53 processor implies.

The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is based on the Snapdragon 615 chipset and has a 720p screen, but is slightly behind the Galaxy J7 in this test. Basemark OS II 2.0 swaps the J7 and M4 aqua though - speed advantage depends on the workload, apparently.

Phonebook and telephony

The Samsung Galaxy J7 has a strong reception and good in-call audio. It comes with either one or two SIM cards (one micro, one nano), the Duos version has dual-standby. Only one card has access to 3G and 4G networks, the other is for 2G calls.

The call log is visible behind the keypad (you can hide that to view the full list) and it shows which SIM was used to place/take the call. You can also filter the log by which SIM was used. The other two tabs show your favorite contacts and all you contacts.

   
Dialer • call log • favorites

The Phonebook is a list of contacts with a search field and an alphabet index. The contact info card has been cleaned up and shows the contact image (you can swipe down to view it fully), below that are the phones and emails with quick buttons to call/send message.

Here you'll also find the latest messages and calls with that contact. The View more toggle displays all the additional info. You can swipe left to call a contact straight from the list, right to send them a message.

  
The phonebook reminds you the last chat you had with a contact

The built-in call rejection feature lets you block calls from certain numbers or all numbers not in your phonebook. Do not disturb mode can be scheduled on select days and during certain periods of the day. You can set it to make an exception for certain notifications, including allowing only calls from your favorite contacts.

   
Blocking spam calls • Do not disturb mode

The single loudspeaker on the Samsung Galaxy J7 proved rather unimpressive. It matched the Xperia M4 Aqua, but at least the Sony has its waterproofing to point to. The Galaxy J7 was quiet in all three tests, scoring a final Below Average mark.

Messaging

The default messaging app is Samsung's own Messages. It has a clean looking UI and lets you can customize font size, backgrounds and speech bubble style. You can use pinch zoom to change the font size in a conversation thread. We didn't find the custom wallpaper/bubble styles though.

Receiving a new message displays a popup that lets you view or quickly reply to a message, a handy functionality that Hangouts lacks.

   
The Messages app handles multimedia attachments per thread

A built-in spam filter weeds out messages from select numbers or containing certain phrases. You can also schedule messages to be automatically sent later (so you don't forget).

  
Customizing the look • fighting spam

The Samsung-modified Email app looks almost identical. The top row is a shortcut to show emails only from just priority contacts or you can view a combined inbox if you have multiple accounts added.

The Gmail app also handles multiple accounts - even ones not on Gmail - and adheres more strictly to Material design principles. Add push notifications and we end up using it more often than the Email app.

The Samsung keyboard features a dedicated numbers row. You can assign preset phrases to them so simple messages like "on my way" can be typed in a second. You can add text shortcuts (so 'brb' gets replaced with 'be right back') and there's predictive text.

You can tweak the size of the keyboard slightly, making it taller or shorter and if you are okay with a tiny keyboard, you can use the small floating one.

   
Setting up text shortcuts • teaching predictive text • resizing the keyboard

It can update its database with popular words weekly and learn from your messages and contacts. Swiping can be set to move the text cursor or as an input method. Unfortunately, there's no floating mini keyboard though, it used to come handy on bigger devices (comfy for thumb typing).

  

Gallery sans wireless features

The TouchWiz gallery has been borrowed from the Galaxy flagships (with a reduced feature set). The default view shows photos grouped based on time. Thumbnails are shown on a clean white background and you can change their size with a pinch zoom.

  
Gallery

Editing tools include simple things like cropping and making collages, you can go into the Photo editor for more advanced editing options (note that you have to download those, they wasn't pre-installed). There's no support for online galleries though.

The Share button allows you to send a photo to a wireless printer, but the DLNA/TV sharing functionality is missing.

   
Editing a photo • sharing a photo

Only Google Play Music

Samsung's TouchWiz music player was one of the most feature-rich apps, but Samsung dropped it in favor of Google Play Music. This means no Sound Alive, not even an equalizer.

  
Only the standard Google Play music is provided

It's a capable player for offline music play, it does online streaming too. You can bolster your music collection with stuff from the Google store too.

  
Shopping for a new album

The Samsung Galaxy J7 also features an FM radio, a rarity on Galaxy phones these days. It can record radio broadcast (subject to local laws) and provides an alternative to your music collection or internet "radio".

  
FM radio with broadcast recording

Video player

The video player is similar to the gallery. It supports all kinds of video file types and codecs, up to 4K 2160p encoded with the new H.265/HEVC codec. As usual, multi-channel audio (AC-3, DTS) is not supported out of the box.

The pop-up video player is gone, but you can still beam can beam the audio over Bluetooth. There are extensive subtitle settings with adjustable font and text size, text color, edge and background. Multiple presets are available and you can make your own.

   
Browsing videos • Subtitles and other settings

Audio quality is mostly good

The Samsung Galaxy J7 put in a very solid performance in the active external amplifier part of our audio quality test. The smartphone produced had perfectly clean output and above average volume levels here to round up a great showing.

Sadly, degradation when you plug in a pair of headphones is rather prominent so you are left with less than impressive results in that case. Some intermodulation distortion appears and we measured a fair amount of stereo crosstalk. It's not bad, mind you, it just won't win any awards -

And here go the results so you can see for yourselves.