The new Samsung Galaxy J7 Core is the Philippine-variant of the global version of Samsung Galaxy J7 NXT, and is a new budget-oriented smartphone with decent specs.
Here’s our first look to the latest “J”-series phone in the budget-segment category from Samsung.
The Samsung Galaxy J7 Core accompanies a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display with 720p resolution. It is made up of plastic construction with matte finish, and almost outdated design, same as we found on the Galaxy J7 (2015) and Galaxy J7 (2016) and it is not a metallic build quality. On the side panels, we can see the glossy plastic that gives a good look on the phone.
Giving the physical overview, on the top is absolutely nothing. At the right, we have the power on/off button. Down to the bottom, we have the 3.5 mm jack, microUSB port, the main microphone. Lastly, the volume rockers are located on the left side of the phone.
Turn over to the back, at the upper center part are the loudspeaker, the primary 13-megapixel camera and the LED flash. We can remove the back panel and we see that the 3,000 mAh battery is a removable one, a rare nowadays. Also, the dual-SIM card slots plus the memory card slot are located under the panel.
Kindly do note that there is no fingerprint scanner here, which is a little bit disappointing, considering the price of the phone and limited 16GB of internal storage. On the front panel, above are the usual sensors and the 5-megapixel selfie camera with dedicated LED flash. Going down, we have the home button and the two capacitive buttons.
Our first impressions turns to be a mixed bag, praising the display technology used and the size of the display. At 5.5-inch Super AMOLED panel, this is good for multimedia as the images are vivid, especially when watching videos. A dedicated microSD card slot is also nice as the storage is just small on today’s standard at that price range. An octa-core Exynos 7870 processor is good as this is due to lower battery power but support a coherent multitasking experience. We tend to be disappointed on the company’s lack of fingerprint scanner here and other sensors, including ambient, light and gyroscope.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Core key specs:
| Display | 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 1280 x 720 resolution, 267 ppi |
| CPU | 1.6Ghz 64-bit Exynos 7870 octa-core processor |
| RAM | 2GB |
| GPU | Mali-T830 |
| SIM | Dual-SIM, Dual standby |
| Storage | 16GB |
| Storage expansion | Dedicated microSD slot up to 256GB |
| Rear camera | 13-megapixel lens, f/1.9 aperture with auto-focus and LED flash |
| Front camera | 5-megapixel lens, f/2.2 aperture with LED flash |
| Video recording | 1080p (30 fps) |
| Operating system | Android 7.0 “Nougat” |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth 4.1 | |
| GPS, A-GPS. GLONASS | |
| FM Radio | |
| micro-USB 2.0, OTG compatible | |
| GSM, HSPA, 4G+ LTE (Category 4) | |
| Dimension | 152.4 x 78.6 x 7.6 mm |
| Weight | 170 grams |
| Battery | 3,000 mAh removable capacity |
| Colors | Gold, Black |
Availability
The new Samsung Galaxy J7 Core will be available starting September 16, 2017 at all Samsung concept stores nationwide, with a SRP of P9,990. There will be a free 16GB microSD card plus Mobile Legends Booster Pack that includes 10,000 Battle Points and 3 Hero Trial Cards as part of the company’s Mobile Gaming Partnership.
