After the A series this year, Samsung Mobile Philippines went this time for 2 new smartphones for the J series this year.
In a brief media event, they announced the Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 and Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 which are already on sale and comes with a 32 GB Sandisk micro SD.
Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 has 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (Cortex-A53 version) quad-core processor, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, 5.2 inch HD Super AMOLED display, dual SIM, 13 MP rear cam with LED flash and f/1.9, 5 MP front cam with LED flash, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, OTG capable, GPS, micro SD slot and 3,100 mAh removable battery for Php 11,990
Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 has 1.6 GHz Exynos 7870 octa-core processor based on Cortex-A53, 5.5 inch HD Super AMOLED display, dual SIM, 13 MP rear cam with LED flash and f/1.9, 5 MP front cam with LED flash, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, OTG capable, GPS, micro SD slot and 3,300 mAh removable battery for Php 14,990
As you can see later at the first looks section, Samsung Mobile PH took some tweaks on these devices with Pinoy touch starting with some icon changes and the wallpaper. They also mentioned that they had the mobile data saving feature thru the Opera Mini and Signal Max technology which can help for their potential buyers in places with difficuly on telco signal.
The first look at the Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 (in gold) and Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 in white. The typical Samsung front view is visible on both phones. The screen is quite nice for their prices.
Both of them have a bit of brushed metal design in their back covers but it was more visible at the J5 2016.
The top portions of both devices
The placing of the power/unlock button are both at the right section.
Same at the bottom.
On the benchmarks of Galaxy J5 2016, I saw the almost identical scores of Antutu as to compare with the Samsung Galaxy On7 at around 28,000. Good that it has 5 point multi-touch but the number of available sensors are kinda disappointing. I also took a check at the phone app is pretty much the same as to the J7 2016.
It was a first in PH to experience an Exynos 7870 octa-core processor and the score in Antutu reminds me of a previous smartphone that I reviewed with 2.0 GHz Helio P10 SoC at over 50,000. A big clap to them for the 10 point multi touch but the same plot in the number of sensors.
For the camera samples:
Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 rear camera sample
Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 front camera sample no flash
Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 front camera sample no flash
Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 front camera sample with flash.
Definitely, the Galaxy J7 2016 is the faster device compared on the Galaxy J5 2016. I only had a chance to check the front on the J7 which I am surprised that they did not incude the auto flash option. The TouchWiz UI is a-ok and quite light on both devices but one concern for me that they only left over 5 GB of remaining storage out of 16 GB ROM. The J7 2016 might be a capable gaming device but you cannot put a lot of apps in that scenario.