[toc]
Introduction
Affordable smartphones with modest features are getting more popular in well-off industrial countries and it does not always have to be a premium device. Samsung unveils the J5 Prime with the best-looking design in its price bracket, especially the build quality. Our review reveals if and where the device makes it worth the money to buy.
Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime key specs:
- 5.0-inch HD PLS TFT LCD display, 1280 X 720 pixels
- Dual-SIM (nano)
- 1.4Ghz 64-bit Exynos 7570 quad-core processor
- Mali-T720 GPU
- 16GB internal storage
- Dedicated microSD slot up to 256GB
- 2GB RAM
- 13-megapixel rear camera, f/1.9 aperture, autofocus with LED flash
- 5-megapixel front camera
- 1080p at 30fps of video recording
- Android 6.0.1 “Marshmallow”, TouchWiz UI
- Fingerprint scanner
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth v4.2
- GPS
- USB-OTG capable
- 142.8 x 69.5 x 8.1 mm
- 143 grams
- 2,400 mAh non-removable battery
Unboxing
The box comes in a white color and is very simple to see. Opening it, we got the unit itself in a plastic, some basic papers including the warranty card. There’s also a sim ejecting tool, an adapter wall charger with USB cord and a hands-free earphone. Keep in mind that the charger doesn’t support rapid charging so expect to wait for a quite some time in refilling the battery of the handset.
Display & build
The J5 Prime is really good in the hand, like holding a premium flagship phone. As we move on to the keys and other stuff at the corner, the speaker is surprisingly located at the top right corner of the phone with the power button.
Above the display are the sensors, the selfie 5-megapixel camera, and the multicolored notification light. The home button of the phone has been redesigned, located at the front, below the screen. It is located between the lit capacitive keys, recent and back. It also houses the fingerprint sensor and wakes up the phone even if you don’t press the button, just swipe your finger on it.
There’s nothing on the top part of the device. At the left side, we find the sim-card and microSD trays, a dedicated secondary Sim card slot and the volume controls. On the bottom, we get the 3.5 mm audio jack, the microUSB port for charging the phone and transferring files into PC or laptop, and the small microphone hole.
Looking at the resolution screen is a 5.0-inch TFT display with 720p, a downgraded type of screen, instead of the usual AMOLED display. Despite that particular feature, the phone is very handy. It should be the ideal screen size, especially for the first time in the Android world, and also in everyday normal use. The viewing angles are not that good nor bad. Colors are sharp like the Super AMOLED screen.
Software & UI
The phone still running on Android 6.0.1 “Marshmallow” and rumors that the company is planning to upgrade it to Android 7.0 “Nougat”. Samsung uses their own TouchWiz UI in new design compared to older Samsung devices and is now offering more polished and less pre-installed applications.
Performance & Audio
The Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime packs a quad-core processor on its Exynos 7570 chipset boasted at 1.4Ghz with Cortex-A53 cores. In everyday use, this is good for casual usage and not for heavy gaming.
The speaker is situated on the top right of the phone which is good, especially for gaming enthusiasts that require using the landscape mode as the speaker cannot be easily covered by our hands. In general, the loud is enough for a typical smartphone and the clarity of the sound is fine to hear. For better audio experience, use a pair of earphones. Bass is noticeable here but not great.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime has a 13-megapixel camera at the back and a 5-megapixel camera at the front and is considered as a standard camera resolution today for a mid-range category.
The images of the rear camera are vibrant but the color accuracy is somewhat pale. Overall, the quality is well-good and has many details. On dark environments, the images tend to be washed out and often blurred.
The front camera produces sufficient details, especially for “Selfies” and a little bit sharp, also, the color reproduction pleases us quite well. If you want to capture an image in not so bright conditions, there’s a screen flash to help.
Connectivity
The phone supports all GSM and HSPA+ bands. Connecting to LTE is easy, especially for areas that has good LTE signals. Wi-Fi with 2.4Ghz is supported. Other connectivity includes Bluetooth v4.2, and GPS & GLONASS satellites.
Battery Life
Despite having a non-removable 2,400 mAh battery capacity, the longevity of the phone’s battery life is somewhat nice, which is a surprise for us, thanks to the chipset power-efficient performance. Re-charging the phone from 0% to 100% takes a quite long time, for almost 2 hours.
There is a feature called “S Power Planning” that allows the user to reserve the phone’s battery for calls by putting a certain percentage of the battery, most especially for calls and messages.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime is not a perfect smartphone, but a really good device of the lower mid-range category. Thanks to long battery life in a small capacity, the metal build, and compact display. Overall, for the price of P9,990, is somewhat pricey as we compare the specs to other smartphones within the same price range. If you’re a hardcore gamer, then there are alternative devices that we have in the market.
Pros
- Pretty-looking design
- Build is good
- Decent performance
- Above-average battery life
- Camera produces nice quality
Cons
- Speaker could be better
- A bit pricey in its features
- Android 6.0 “Marshmallow”
- Small 10GB of usable storage
