Review: Galaxy J7 Prime, a premium looking mid-ranger

Design and canvas

Os Galaxy J have always been within a range of simpler devices, with a plastic body and little else attracting attention. After all, we have a model that costs little and the design is in one of the areas that receive cuts. However, in its Prime version, the J7 comes with a very nice metal look, with a fixed back cover and all this gives a more premium.

As the back cannot be opened, the place where the SIM cards and the microSD card go is separate in two drawers that are on the right side. Same place where the volume control buttons are. Detail: Samsung did not have the same idea as other more expensive models, thus separating the external memory of the two SIM cards. This means that it is possible to put two lines on the device, along with memory expansion at the same time.

A curious part of the Galaxy J7 Prime is that the speaker is neither behind nor at the bottom. It's on the left, just above the power button. The position is nice for when the phone is on a smooth surface, but not pleasant for when you use it while gaming. It is common to leave your finger right at the exit, covering the sound. Okay, it's just a matter of getting used to it, but you'll get it wrong on the first few tries.

The screen uses the controversial LCD TFT, but with technology PLS. It's something closer to IPS, but very far from Super AMOLED that is in the Galaxy A and Galaxy S. It does have good color reproduction, but it loses to direct competitors, such as the Moto G4 and Zenfone 3 Max. In fact, what bothered me the most was that when pressing the screen, it's very easy to see the LCD “going to the side”, creating chromatic aberrations. This kind of effect happened on resistive screens, but it's been a while since I've seen it on capacitive displays – which are made of glass.

Oh! The Galaxy J7 Prime comes with Gorilla Glass to protect the glass, it's just not clear which version it is.

Hardware

The specifications of the Galaxy J7 Prime put the device even higher, when it comes to an intermediary. it comes with a 7870 Exynos Octa, rolling eight cores at 1.6 GHz, accompanied by 3 GB of RAM. The internal memory is 32 GB, which is more than enough for most users. If you still need more, just put one microSD up to 256 GB and stay with 288 GB of total space.

This set of hardware is enough to run almost any app from the Play Store. Everyday apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp run without any stuttering. As there is 3 GB of RAM, something uncommon in intermediate devices, the smartphone is capable of running a good amount of apps at the same time. I tested an average of five of them at the bottom, with one at the front and everything went well. I didn't notice any drop in performance.

The GPU is a Mali-T830MP2 and it handles graphics well. Yes, we are with an intermediate and it matches that, playing heavier games with minimum or medium graphics. All this ensures that the frame rate per second stays high, that is, that the fluidity of the game appears more frequently. Titles like Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 ran well, with their proper graphics savings.

Software

A TouchWiz has been criticized in the past for being too heavy. Today it is simpler, lighter and does not have a pre-installed garbage truck. The look is the same as in the TouchWiz that equips more expensive smartphones, which leaves everything cleaner and more organized. A highlight is for the Opera Max, which comes with the device and is capable of compressing the data when sending over the cellular network. That means you send the same information, just in smaller packets. The result is a very nice saving in the consumption of the data allowance, in addition to greater speed when loading content in various apps, or in the browser.

Samsung has put Android 6.0 Marshamallow on the Galaxy J7 Prime, with no planned update to Android 7 Nougat. Even so, regular updates appear, with fixes for security and adding some features.

Cameras

The rear camera is equipped with 13 megapixels, with an aperture of f/1.9 and can record videos in up to Full HD. The resolution is not innovative and not unique to this model, but the large aperture allows more light to enter. This results in better photos when taken at night, with less noise in the image. The front works with 8 megapixels and has the same aperture, along with a wider viewing angle. Selfies will be well defined, with good lighting and will be able to accommodate more friends in the same image. Finally, the front camera, as well as the rear, has an LED flash.

The interface is almost the same as on other devices, but the position of the HDR button bothered me. This feature exists, but it is inside the “MODE” part and not on the front, as in the S7, for example. There's even a near-manual mode, where it allows precise control of white balance, exposure and ISO.

The result is that the photos look good, fitting the smartphone well in its price category and competitors. The closest Zenfones, for example, don't take as good pictures as the J7 Prime. The same goes for the Moto G4, only with a much smaller difference.

Extras and battery

The 3300mAh battery of this handset is just OK. It doesn't have long autonomy, as the Galaxy A9 does, but it doesn't look bad. During a day of use, with web browsing, social networks, maps with GPS and also music on Deezer, I managed to unplug the device in the morning, around 9 am and it went on until the evening. Coming home, the Galaxy J7 Prime had 15% battery left, around 20pm. There was still room for an extra breath.

A point worth mentioning about the smartphone is that the fingerprint reader recognizes the registered finger even with the screen off. This is something that not even the Galaxy S7 does and that helps a lot in unlocking speed. On the negative side, I noticed that the screen quality is inferior to its competitors.

Conclusion

The Galaxy J7 Prime is something close to a rare gem in a buried market for mid-range options. It draws attention mainly for the finish, along with a very attractive price. The hardware offers good performance and fits the category, with clearance to the sides. It's safe to say the J7 Prime could be your smartphone for years, before you start complaining about age. What weighs is that the battery does not match what we have on the market. With such a wide housing, you could put a battery with greater charging capacity. Zenfone 3 Max is an example of this, Galaxy A9 too.

Yes, the Galaxy J7 Prime is a smartphone that I recommend. Especially for those who don't want the cost of the Galaxy A, or Galaxy S.

Specifications

• Brand: Samsung
• Model: Galaxy Prime J7
• Processor: Exynos 7870 Octa-core Cortex-A53 1.6 GHz
• RAM memory: 3 GB
• Internal memory: 32 GB
• GPU: Mali-T830MP2
• screen size: 5.5 "Full HD
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1 (A2DP and LE), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot, GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, microUSB 2.0 and FM radio with RDS
• Weight: 167 grams
• Dimensions: 151,7 x 75 x 8 mm