The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime (2016) smart phone was launched in August 2016. Prices for the Samsung Galaxy J7 start from Rs. 18,790. It sits in the sub-INR 20k bracket, and is a much capable version of the Galaxy J7 that was launched in March 2016.
Design
The Galaxy J7 unmistakably looks like a Samsung phone, but a bit vanilla. With edges that are rounded off and a familiar arrangement of the home button, front camera, ear piece, proximity sensor, fingerprint sensor and LED notification light, the Galaxy J7 looks as Samsung as an egg could look like an egg.
The slim build of the Galaxy J7 Prime means that it feels great to hold. Our test unit came with a golden shade, but it’s a gentle rose gold, which is pretty unisex. It measures 151.70 x 76.00 x 7.80 (height x width x thickness in mm) and weighs 170.00 grams, which is pretty lightweight.
The phone comes with a 5.5inch, touch screen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels. Touch sensitivity is great, and the quality of the PLS TFT LCD is impressive indeed. The PLS technology is the same as the IPS. Even though the Prime skips the Super AMOLED display, the colors are bright and lively. But it is surprising, that standard J7 gets the AMOLED whereas the Prime, being from a high price segment, doesn’t.
Specs
The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is powered by a 1.6GHz octa-core processor that comes coupled with Mali-T830MP2 GPU. The phone packs 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. The Galaxy J7 Prime comes with the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow straight out of the box.
Performance
Performance is good for the price, with no hold ups during multi-tasking. Heavy apps run smoothly, though it understandably lags a bit while negotiating games of the extreme variety. What’s more, in case your phone’s battery is running low, all you have to do is simply activate the Ultra Power Saving mode. It helps reduce power consumption by allowing access to only necessary applications so that you can use your phone for longer. It does so by compressing data and restricting background applications from consuming unnecessary data, claiming to save your 4G data usage up to 50%.
While resource heavy games like Asphalt run well, there’s that one frame which might go missing once in a while, or a perceptible lag now and then. The phone does tend to get a little warm while playing these heavy games, but not so much that it gets uncomfortable to hold. However casual, one handed games like Subway Surfer run just fine, and the great display only makes things better.
Camera
As far as the cameras are concerned, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime packs a 13-megapixel primary camera on the rear and an 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies. The primary camera even lets you tinker around with a Pro mode that allows for the ISO, white balance and exposure settings to be set manually.
Apart from the Pro mode, there’s Panorama, HDR, Beauty face, Sports, Night, Auto and Continuous shot modes. In Auto mode, which most users are going to stick to, images are sharp and crisp, while low light images are usable. Even the front camera has a Wide Selfie mode, along with the usual effects and a Beauty face feature.
The images from both the shooters are above part for the segment, and we actually used the cellphone’s camera to carry out a couple of quick shoots for our sister publication, Motoroids.
Features
The feature that stands out in the Galaxy J7 Prime is the S Bike application that helps you manage calls when you’re riding a motorcycle (provided you buy the NFC tag that comes with the Galaxy J3 as standard). You can stick the NFC tag on your bike’s tank or on your helmet. You can the activate the S bike mode by gently tapping the Galaxy J7 Prime on the NFC tag or by pressing the S bike icon on the phone’s Quick Panel. Once you activate the S bike mode, a pre-recorded message informs the caller that you are currently riding a bike. If the call is urgent, the caller can choose to press 1.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB OTG, 3G and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). It also comes loaded with applications like S Secure which locks your apps and helps protect sensitive data by saving them in a secure folder. Additionally, the J7 Prime will protect your privacy by enabling the Secure Wi-Fi application. Then there’s a responsive fingerprint sensor, along with an S Power application that helps you reserve battery for calls, extend battery time and manage calls when you’re running out of power. Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Accelerometer and Ambient light sensor.
Battery
All of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime hardware is powered by a 3300mAh Non-removable battery. The battery easily lasts for the whole day with regular usage including a lot of social networking, internet browsing, calling and some games.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is a great phone overall. It’s got great battery backup, fast performance, good cameras and a full HD display that impresses. Its capabilities however, might be overshadowed by the more affordable Chinese offerings, but as far as quality goes, the J7 Prime is definitely a few cuts above.
