Samsung needs no introduction. In the market of smartphones with the Android operating system, Samsung has long been confidently holding the palm. Not to mention the constant battle for a client with an equally well-known competitor Apple.
The article will discuss the company's budget representative - the Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime smartphone , the characteristics of which are hardly outstanding. Is it worth the money that the famous manufacturer is asking for it, or is the end user still overpaying for the brand? Let's try to figure it out.
General information and technical stuffing
What are the characteristics of the J2 Prime? This smartphone is an entry-level budget device announced by the general public at the end of 2016. Of the features, we can note only the number of processor cores (it has 4 of them), support for 4G networks (LTE), the presence of an LED flash in the front camera and some software solutions.
Consider the main technical specifications of the Samsung J2 Prime. The smartphone uses a 4-core processor Mediatek MT6737T. As a graphics accelerator acts Mali-T720. RAM with a capacity of 1.5 GB is not impressive, but for basic tasks it will be enough. The internal memory has a capacity of 8 GB (the user has about 4 GB, the rest is occupied by the system and applications).
MicroSD cards supported. The display has a diagonal of 5 inches and a dull resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. The front camera of the device has a resolution of 5 megapixels and its own flash. The main camera is a standard camera with a resolution of 8 megapixels. The J2 Prime operating system is Android 6. The system works in symbiosis with the Samsung TouchWiz II proprietary interface.
Two SIM-cards of micro form factor can be inserted into the device, the device can work in 4G networks. There is a standard set of wireless modules (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS), there is an FM receiver. The battery capacity is 2600 mAh. As you can see, the Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime smartphone is not better than most budget devices from other manufacturers in terms of specifications.
Unpacking, design - somewhere we already saw it ... And more than once ...
The gadget comes in a traditional white cardboard box for Samsung. Moreover, the proposed kit is very modest. The following was found in the box:
- The smartphone itself.
- Charger.
- MicroUSB cable.
- User manual and warranty card.
There were no headphones, even the cheapest ones, in the box.
And here is the smartphone in your hand! And ... absolutely no emotions. The case is plastic. The design is almost one-on-one licked from Samsung smartphones in recent years. Nothing remarkable. If we put a more expensive J5 Prime next to our experimental specimen, then the differences may not be immediately noticeable. The same “washed-out” edges, an oval “Home” button in the center and two buttons on the sides (by the way, they can’t boast of a J2 Prime backlight).
Above the screen are light and proximity sensors, a speaker and a front camera with LED flash. At the back you can see the protruding peephole of the main camera, flash and speaker. If you do not buy a case for the phone, then the rim of the main optical module will be quickly scratched. On the side faces attached power button and volume rocker.
At the bottom there is a microUSB connector and a microphone, at the top there is a jack for connecting a headset or headphones. The dimensions of the smartphone are as follows: width - 72 mm, length - 145 mm, thickness - about 9 mm. The device weighs 160 g. The smartphone, in principle, lies well in the hand, it is comfortable to use, although it may seem a little heavy right away.
Performance: what does Samsung have with hardware?
As already mentioned above, the smartphone has on board a 4-core Mediatek MT6737T processor. The chipset is made using 28 nm technology. And what does it mean? Let's try to figure it out. The elder brother of J2 Prime, the J5 smartphone, was built on the basis of the Shapdragon 410 processor. When comparing two smartphones in the tests, an interesting picture develops. In terms of performance, the J2 processor is practically not inferior to the J5. There you go!
What else is good about Galaxy? J2 Prime can run almost all “heavy” games on the device, however, at medium settings. But this does not detract from the Mediatek processor.
Communication and wireless modules
The phone supports the use of two SIM-cards micro format. Communication works flawlessly, voice quality is at its best. It is worth noting that much more depends on the operator and the location of the caller. A nice feature of the smartphone is the ability to connect to 4G networks. For a budget smartphone, this is very good.
The device also has Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11n, GPS and GLONASS modules. There are no complaints about their work. Everything is functioning at an excellent level.
Cameras are a little better than "nothing special"
Many are interested in the Samsung Galaxy smartphone . J2 Prime specifications are mostly pretty good. And yet, its optical modules are not particularly distinguished from those of competitors.
The pluses include the resolution of the front camera of 5 megapixels and the presence of a flash. Selfies are obtained in very good quality, the properties of the video image when talking via Skype are also not satisfactory.
The main camera with a resolution of 8 megapixels allows you to get pictures of good quality. Photos taken in the dark with a flash, of course, cannot be called ideal, but, in fairness, it is worth noting that their quality factor is at a very decent level, given the budget class of the smartphone and the characteristics of the camera. Both cameras can shoot decent quality videos in FullHD resolution.
The screen is sad but understandable
And now about a scoop of tar. The screen has a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, which with the other characteristics of the smartphone looks, to put it mildly, strange. Despite the low resolution, the image is of quite acceptable quality. The display has an oleophobic coating, but this does not prevent it from collecting fingerprints. On the gadgets of some competitors, you can find screens with high resolution for the same money.
Then the company decided to use the magic power of its brand, considering that the coveted Samsung name on the box will force the buyer to close their eyes to the low resolution of the screen. Of course, only large companies can afford to play such games with users, thanks to the reputation earned over many years.
In fact, this is what happens: a person, in spite of the worst characteristics of J2 Prime, buys it because of a well-known brand, and not a fancy gadget of a less well-developed company.
Battery: like everyone else
The smartphone battery capacity is 2600 mAh. With an average load, the device may well survive a day. If you play a serious game, you can seat the device in 4-5 hours. These are quite common indicators for the batteries of most modern devices. The pluses include the fact that the battery on the Samsung Galaxy Prime is removable. Many modern smartphones have a built-in battery for the sake of a slim body, and cannot be replaced, in which case.
Interesting software chips from Samsung
On top of the relatively recent Android 6 operating system, Samsung’s proprietary firmware is installed, which contains some interesting software solutions from flagship devices.
Application icons have an interesting shape with rounded edges. The smartphone received a proprietary "adult" application for working with notes - Samsung Notes. The program allows you to work with text and graphic notes. It is possible to work with audio notes. You can block selected entries for general viewing, access to which will be carried out only with a password.
Of particular interest is the so-called "protected folder". A special application in the smartphone’s firmware makes it possible to create a folder and store various personal information such as photos, music, videos under a password. Another useful feature of this application is the ability to install another instance, for example, Skype, in a special folder and have two different accounts (regular and protected) of this program on one device. Not every smartphone has such capabilities out of the box.
Summary of dating
What else is this Samsung famous for? The specs of the J2 Prime are a bit confusing. On the one hand, a powerful processor, good cameras, wonderful proprietary software, on the other hand - a screen with archaic resolution and a small amount of internal memory. Another Samsung experiment.
However, despite conflicting specifications, the J2 Prime will in any case find its buyer. Many will turn a blind eye to screen resolution for the sake of gaming performance and the feeling of owning a branded gadget.