Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) Review

Samsung Galaxy J5 was first announced in 2015 as a mid range phone and this was also the first time Samsung opted for online only sales for a device in India. Few days back Samsung announced the upgraded variant of J5 (2016) with a metallic construction. There are few other upgrades like bigger display, better RAM and also higher capacity battery with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

We have been using the new J5 for quite some time now. So how good is the new J5, lets find out in this detailed review.

 

Here is the video review.

Design and Build:

Design-wise, the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) comes with some minor changes when compared to 2015 variant. It still looks similar to any other mid-range Samsung phone. The major change to the device is that it now comes with a metallic chassis compared to plastic on the 2015 variant. The rear panel is still plastic with a brushed metal finish. The rear panel has the 13MP camera, LED flash and the speaker located near it. There is also Samsung logo along with 4G branding. The device is pretty good to hold especially with the sturdy metal construction.

The front panel has the physical home button and two touch button very similar to other Samsung phones. There is 5.2 inch HD AMOLED display front facing 5MP camera along with LED flash and usual sensors. But Samsung has not included an ambient light sensor on the device which is disappointing for a mid range phone. The touch buttons below the display are not backlit. There isn’t a drastic change in terms of the dimensions of the device.

Overall, while the device looks decent in terms of build quality, Samsung could have definitely made it better in the design department.

 

Display:

The display on the Samsung Galaxy J5 is 5.2 inch HD SUPER AMOLED (1280 x 720p) panel with 282ppi. This is an increase from 5.0 inches on the previous device. While almost all phones in this segment offer full HD panels, Samsung is shipping only an HD panel. But still, the display is one of the strong points of the device.

The display is vivid and has great colors, thanks to the Super AMOLED panel. The disappointing aspect is the lack of ambient light sensor, which means you need to increase the brightness when you go out. The touch response on the device is also very good, but there is no additional protection offered for scratches. There is an outdoor mode which increases the brightness of the display to maximum and you can use it when you are outside. The viewing angles are also pretty good.

Software:

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box with the company’s Touchwiz UI. Samsung has optimized the UI for Marshmallow with some changes to the notification center as well. The quick toggles section has been redesigned with a lighter color. Samsung has also included few apps like S Health, File Manager, S Planner, Opera Max and also Microsoft Office suite.

The UI looks pretty good overall.

There is also room for customization with the My Themes app where you can download additional themes. The Settings panel looks more or less similar to previous version. There is also one handed mode which reduces the screen size to make it easy for use.

The phone also comes with Smart Manager which can manage the battery storage, RAM and also make the device secure. The phone also comes with easy mode which makes the device easy for elderly people. Easy mode has a simple home screen layout which is again customizable.

Similar to the Samsung Galaxy J3, the new J7 also comes with S bike Mode which is a do not disturb feature for bikers and works with NFC. The phone also comes with NFC. More details on S Bike mode can be found here.

 

Performance:

The Samsung Galaxy J5 runs on Snapdragon Quad Core Processor clocked at 1.4Ghz and coupled with 2GB RAM. The overall performance of the device was quite good and we didn’t experience any lags or issues while running apps or switching between apps. While the Snapdragon 410 is one of the trusted mid range processors, it is now slightly old. The gaming performance of the device was also decent. The heat generated while playing games was considerably low. We wish Samsung shipped this device with a Full HD panel.

Related Video: Samsung Galaxy J5 Gaming Review

Multi tasking was very smooth on the phone, we ran multiple apps in the background including games and there was close to 1GB of RAM available.

The phone supports 4G LTE, and we achieved good speeds when we tested in our location. The call quality on the phone was decent and we didn’t notice any issues with calls. The speaker output was just average for a mid range phone and the speaker unit located on the rear panel did not help it either. The phone comes with 16GB of internal storage and out of which close to 11.0GB was available in first boot. You can expand the storage via micro SD card, but you cannot install apps directly on to the SD card. But having said that there is an option to move apps to the SD card.

 

Camera:

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/1.9, LED flash and also a 5MP front camera with LED flash. It is one of the few devices offering front facing LED flash in this segment. The camera interface is mostly unchanged. There is also a host of shooting modes including Panorama, Night Mode, Beauty face and more. There is also a Pro mode or manual mode where you can manage your photo settings. But sadly the rich tone or HDR mode was not present on this phone.

Now coming to the camera samples, the daylight photos taken with the phone was quite decent. The overall color quality was also good.

Since the phone does not come with PDAF, it does take some time to lock the focus. So it might not be the fastest camera out in the segment. Coming to the indoor shots (or low light), it does have decent clarity and manages to produce shots without much noise. Although noise creeps in, the levels are acceptable for a mid range phone. The phone can record videos in 1080P and the quality is again good. The front facing camera is quite decent for selfies and the front facing flash works quite well in low light conditions. Here are some of the samples taken with the device.

 

Battery Life:

The Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) comes with an upgraded battery of 3000mAh compared to 2600 on the previous generation. With Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the Doze feature, the battery performance of the device is quite good. We tested the phone with moderate usage and we could easily get a day of battery life with the phone.

The device also comes with Ultra battery saving mode which helps in getting additional battery life in case you are running short.

 

Verdict:

Priced at Rs 13,990, the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) is almost 2k higher than the outgoing model. Samsung has upgraded the build, display size, software, RAM and also the battery capacity on the new model. While the upgrades make the device a decent buy, when you look at the competition, two major things missing on the J5 are the fingerprint scanner and also  the lack of Full HD display. Also, Samsung has missed out on basic sensors like ambient light sensor.

If you are looking for a mid range Samsung device, then the upgraded J5 looks like a decent buy especially for people looking for smaller displays. If not, you should be looking at better alternatives like ZUK Z1, Redmi Note 3, Honor 5X or even the new Moto G4 Plus.

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