Samsung J Series smartphones represent the very popular budget segment of the mobile phone market. In July 2017, a South Korean company announced another affordable model for this line - the J7 Neo, also known as J7 Nxt (in India) and J7 Core (in the Philippines). The recommended cost of the device is 180 euros, which allows the smartphone to compete with the extremely popular Redmi Note 4 and Honor 6X. The J7 Neo is equipped with a 5.5 ”high-definition Super AMOLED screen and an Exynos 7870 processor with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of permanent memory.
So, did Samsung manage to become a leader in the target range?
Design Overview
According to user reviews, they are disappointed that, from a design point of view, the manufacturer has done virtually nothing for the latest models of the J7 line. The new smartphone looks outdated and has the same appearance as the 2015 model. The phone comes with a removable plastic back panel covered with a relief pattern. Although the chassis is metallic, build quality is rated average. The glossy finish on the sides of the gold Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo, according to the owners, looks cheap. The corners of the body are rounded and the edges are curved. The power button is on the right, and the volume key is on the left. Below are a headset jack (3.5 mm) and a charging micro USB port.
On the front panel there is a physical button to go to the home page, and on both sides of it are standard touch buttons, the same as other Samsung phones. Above the 5.5-inch Super AMOLED-display with a resolution of 720p, there is a headphone speaker, a 5 megapixel front camera, LED flash and conventional sensors. The speakerphone grille is located at the rear, near the main camera lens and LED flash.
The disadvantages of the Samsung J701f Galaxy J7 Neo smartphone include the lack of a light sensor, which is disappointing for a phone of any price range. The touch buttons under the display do not light up, so it is sometimes difficult to get through them in the dark. There is no standard fingerprint sensor.
In general, there are no significant changes in the size of the device. According to users, it’s high time for the manufacturer to do something new for their budget models in terms of design.
Display
The J7 Neo is equipped with a 5.5 ”Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1280x720, which corresponds to a low pixel density of 267 dpi. The display does not have any protection. Although the screen is made using Super AMOLED technology, just HD in this price segment is clearly not enough. Today there are quite a few popular affordable phones with full HD resolution.
Image quality Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo J701f user reviews are called good, the colors are bright, vibrant. At times it seems that the display is a bit oversaturated. Viewing angles are good, as is the response time of the touch screen.
The readability of the display in the open air is decent, but a big drawback of the device is the lack of a light sensor. For this reason, each time you leave the house, you have to increase the brightness slider or activate the outdoor mode.
Software
The mobile phone comes with Samsung’s new user interface, which first appeared on the S8 and S8 + models. It is executed on the platform of the Android 7.0 Nougat operating system. With updated icons and functionality, the new shell looks much better, simpler and fresher than before. The optional function of the always-on display allows you to select a screensaver from several types of analog and digital clocks, as well as display a calendar or any image. What was called night mode on the S7 edge and required a separate launch, has now become part of the AOD.
The lock screen displays a standard Nougat group notification stream with direct response capability. By default, the phone and camera shortcuts are located in the lower corners, but you can change them to any application. Unlock the smartphone by entering a PIN code, template or password. The fingerprint sensor, not to mention the iris scanner or face recognition system, is missing.
User interface
It provides several home pages with applications scattered around them or with a separate folder for them.
The settings panel has also undergone changes. The notification center and quick installation icons, which can be swapped, have been updated.
Smartphone Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo J701F / DS Reviews praise for the extensive additional functionality. In particular, you can block and hide applications, a user interface is provided for one-handed operation, multi-window mode, quick start, smart notification and much more. The smartphone also supports the Dual Messenger function, which allows you to launch 2 copies of messaging applications (for example, WhatsApp, Facebook, Skype). A list of supported programs can be found after installation.
The phone has a mode for emergency situations - the user can make an urgent call or send an SOS signal. The smartphone offers Samsung standard features such as Easy Mode, a variety of themes, wallpapers, and icons. The S Secure security application is preinstalled, which is available on all phones of the South Korean manufacturer. It serves to ensure confidentiality and block access to software.
Performance
The smartphone is powered by the 8-core Exynos 7870 Octa Core, GPU Mali-T830 MP1, 16 GB of ROM and 2 GB of RAM. This is a decent mid-range chipset installed in many modern portable devices. Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo reviews are praised for their quick and trouble-free operation when performing everyday tasks, although with a heavier load in the form of several heavy tasks in the background, you can witness minor delays. Nevertheless, the phone's performance is not bad. The processor copes well with games, and it has no problems with overheating.
Of the total ROM volume of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo, according to reviews, about 10 GB are available to the owner. There is also the possibility of expanding the data storage with a dedicated SD card slot up to 256 GB.
Call quality is good, but the speakers sound pretty mediocre. The phone is not equipped with a fingerprint scanner, which, according to users, is a serious omission for the model in its price segment. In addition, there are no gyroscope, light and magnetic field sensors.
Cameras
The phone is equipped with two cameras: the main - 13 megapixels and the front - 5 megapixels, each of them has its own LED flash. There is a smile recognition system, autofocus and geo-referencing of photographs.
Video recording is made with a resolution of 1080p at a speed of 30 fps.
The interface of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo 2017 camera, according to owners, has not changed much since the J7 Max and offers features such as professional mode, HDR, panning, face retouching, voice recording, etc. There are also several filters, the ability to share pictures on social networks and broadcast them directly to the TV. Users liked the ability to open the camera app by double-clicking the Home button.
Pictures taken with the main and front cameras of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo, according to the owners, are disappointing: the colors of most photos taken outdoors are rather faded, and the level of sharpness is not high enough. In the price segment of inexpensive smartphones, there are many good models that can cope with this much better (for example, Honor 6X). Close-up shots have much better color reproduction and are generally good. The quality of photographs taken in low light conditions is average for phones in this segment. Selfies are mediocre at best.
Connectivity options
The smartphone allows you to install a micro SIM card, has an FM radio and supports wireless communication via Bluetooth 4.1, WiFi 802.11 b / g / n and LTE. Geo-positioning is carried out both by the GLONASS system, and by A-GPS. A headset jack (3.5 mm) and a micro USB port are provided. The latter allows you to connect external accessories that support USB On-The-Go. According to user reviews, the USB-C port would be more desirable, as this would ensure a faster implementation of the new standard.
Battery life
The smartphone is equipped with a 3000 mAh battery, which does not support fast charging. The Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo battery, according to reviews, with moderate use provides a pretty decent battery life, and with a screen time of 3.5 hours, the phone can easily last almost a day. This is a decent result for a budget device.
Conclusion
Smartphone Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo, according to reviews, is not impressive. The technical specifications of the model are mediocre, low-quality images, the case is plastic, and the design is outdated. And although the device is equipped with a Super AMOLED-screen, which is distinguished by rich, vibrant colors, its resolution does not exceed 720p. In comparison with competitors, the smartphone is lagging behind in many respects, including in terms of RAM and read-only memory. There are no fingerprint sensor, magnetic field, illumination and gyroscope.
J7 Neo is suitable for those who are looking for a budget Samsung phone. If the manufacturer is not so important, then it makes sense to consider alternative options.