The Samsung Galaxy J series were rarely part of the attraction when it comes to Samsung’s marketing efforts, in order to stay strong in the entry-level smartphone market, the company has gone all in to release three new Galaxy J (2016) smartphones with a very attractive price, it has even partnered with YTL Communications to promote the phones as VoLTE and HD Voice capable devices while the telco took the opportunity to introduce its new 4G LTE network, the latter now has almost 85% of nationwide coverage just like its previous WiMAX network and has bundled a free prepaid SIM with 30GB of data for two months when you purchase any of the new Galaxy J Series.
The Galaxy J Series (2016) smartphones come in three models, namely the J1, J5 and J7, these smartphones do not come with an aluminum and glass build like the more recent Galaxy smartphones but they still look and feel nice if you get a chance to look at it, one software inclusion on the Galaxy J series would be the Ultra Data Saving (UDS) mode feature, which technically helps users save data efficiently and restricts background data, the magic is actually done by Opera Max VPN, which is a renowned app that have users connect to its VPN service and performs data compressing over the cloud.
Among these three devices, the J7 is the flagship model that comes with an Octa-Core 1.6GHz processor paired to 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, there’s a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display that looks vivid. What’s different this time is that Samsung has been rather generous with the J7’s camera, it has a pair of f/1.9 aperture 13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front cameras, both pair of cameras come with a single LED flash and they are capable of capturing Full HD videos at 30fps, which means pictures shouldn’t look too bad in low light. Lastly, the J7 comes with a removable 3300mAh battery.
The J5 is a slight step down from the J7 and comes with a slower Quad-Core 1.2GHz processor, it has the same amount of storage and RAM, similar camera specifications, however it comes with a smaller 5.2-inch HD Super AMOLED display and a slightly smaller removable battery at 3100mAh.
The J1 is probably the most value packed 4G LTE and VoLTE capable device among the competition, while the phone’s hardware specifications aren’t that attractive compared to its two siblings but it certainly is no slouch, the Quad-Core 1.3GHz processor and 1GB RAM will certainly do well for day-to-day tasks, it comes with a rather beautiful 4.5-inch WVGA Super AMOLED panel that looks really good despite of its lower resolution. The J1’s cameras are also decent for a sub RM500 priced device, the 5-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras come with a f/2.2 aperture and is capable of shooting HD resolution videos at 30fps. Due to its less power hungry hardware, the J1 comes with a removable 2050mAh battery.
Samsung’s new Galaxy J (2016) series will be available on 16 June 2016 at all Samsung Experience Stores and authroised dealers, the J1, J5 and J7 will retail at RM449, RM849 and RM1049 respectively, they will be bundled with a free Yes 4G LTE Prepaid SIM with 30GB of free data for two months and 100 minutes of free off-net calls, the phones are offered in three color options – Black, White and Gold.
For a limited time, users who purchase a Galaxy device worth RM300 and above will also stand a chance to win one of the 30 cars which Samsung is giving away this festive season.