Review Galaxy On7: Samsung's big-screen mid-ranger

Following the strategy of Xiaomi and Quantum, the Samsung launched a smartphone that is only sold over the internet: Galaxy On7. To boost sales, the company entered into a partnership with B2W, a group that runs online stores such as Submarino and Americanas. More interesting than the South Korean manufacturer's market decisions are the qualities of the new device. And these are my impressions:

Layout and Finishing

O Galaxy On7 it's big and follows the traditional lines of Samsung. The side finish is plastic with a chrome effect, this time the central part has brushed lines that do not reflect. The back is removable and wrinkled in effect, in an unsuccessful attempt to imitate leather. Underneath the case, the removable battery and slots for the SIM card and microSD card, up to 128 GB.

On the front we find the camera, proximity sensors an LED flash, and below the Samsung brand. At the bottom, the classic “Home” button, next to a capacitive button for multitasking and another for the back function, which are not backlit. On the right side is the power button and on the left is the volume control.

Samsung's rice and beans in its middlemen, no news.

Fabric

A Samsung used technology TFT for the 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. The result was a screen inferior to other intermediate models of the company itself, such as the Galaxy J5. The white is very bluish, but the rest of the colors are vivid and faithful. The viewing angle is reasonable, and information loss is noticeable from different angles.

Again, there is no way to leave the brightness setting on automatic as the device does not have a light sensor. The “Outdoor” mode, which leaves the screen at its maximum brightness level, makes it easier to see under the sun, but it doesn't help much.

For the most demanding, a few warnings: it's easy observe pixels between graphics, texts and icons. Another detail that can bother you are the black edges around the display, which are more evident than usual.

speed and performance

O Galaxy On7 it has a 410 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 1,2 processor and 1,5 GB of RAM, accompanied by the Adreno 306 GPU. The same set found in the Galaxy J5. Interestingly, the user experience was not the same with both devices.

O On7 it manages to be fast in daily tasks, but it slips when demanding a little more, the slowness in the animations is evident in these cases. The smartphone does well with multitasking when switching is quick; when switching between applications that have been open for a longer time, it is necessary to wait for the information to reload. Still, it does much better than Android devices with just 1GB.

Internal storage is a limiting factor for many users. The cell phone has 8 GB of memory, but only 4,4GB can be used.

System

The Galaxy On7 runs the Android Lollipop 5.1.1 and carries the TouchWiz customization with it. Due to low internal memory, Samsung avoided pre-installing many apps; they are still there, but in smaller numbers.

There is only one “trick”: two clicks on the main button and the camera is activated quickly. In addition, the traditional changes to the Android interface, which change the settings menu and the notification bar, which has quick shortcuts for adjustments and a slider to control the brightness.

Samsung did not say whether it intends to take the device to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Make a note of this if you feel it is important to always have the latest system.

Camera

A Galaxy On7 rear camera it has 13 megapixels with LED flash and is competent in natural lighting conditions. Photos are sharp, but there's a problem when the scene is too bright: white can be blown out. That's what happened to me most of the time.

When the environment is darker or the light is artificial, the sensor has the same shortcomings as most devices in this price range: graininess and unfaithful colors. The front camera has 5 megapixels. Enough to take pictures with good resolution and post on social media.

The camera software works well for those who like to capture moments quickly and also for those who like to manually set ISO, exposure and white balance. In the settings, you can choose the mode "Pro" that brings these features. The problem of blown white is alleviated when manual adjustments are made, including.

Battery Life

Os 3000 mAh battery are enough to take a whole day away from the charger. In heavy use, using it most of the time on 4G connection, browsing for several hours, taking a lot of photos, exchanging messages and listening to music on Spotify; I reached 15 hours of use, with 15% battery remaining. With moderate use, I reached the end of the day with 30% charge.

Price and availability

Samsung launched the Galaxy On7 in the first week of November with a suggested price of R$ 949,00. The price did not hold up and it is already possible to find it for R$799,00 No. Submarino or in the American stores. With a little patience, it is possible to buy it for R$719,00 – this value appears frequently in both stores.

Conclusion

O Galaxy On7 is a smartphone for those who don't give up the big screen and also don't want to spend a lot of money on a cell phone. The device has a great battery life, reasonable camera and performance, but it doesn't impress in any way.

If the 5.5-inch screen is not essential for you, Samsung itself has more interesting options (and even cheaper, depending on promotions) such as the Galaxy J5, which has a better screen and similar performance.

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Technical Specifications

• Processor: 410GHz quad-core Snapdragon 1,2;
• RAM memory: 1,5 GB;
• Screen: 5.5-inch TFT with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels (267 dpi);
• Camera: 13 megapixels, autofocus, LED flash;
• Frontal camera: 5 megapixels;
• Battery: 3000 mAh;
• Connectivity: 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB 2.0;
• GPU: Adreno 306;
• External memory: support for microSD card up to 128GB;
• Internal memory: 8 GB;
• Dimensions: 151.8 x 77.5 x 8.2 mm;
• Weight: 172 grams;
• Sensors: accelerometer, proximity;
• Platform: Android 5.1. Lollipop