Samsung Galaxy J5 Smartness Beyond Belief

Buying a budget phone in the past usually resulted in a lot of frustration. Thankfully we have moved on to an era in which budget phones are becoming flagship smooth. One such device is Samsung’s latest budget smartphone, the Galaxy J5.

Some of you might recall that the first J series smartphone was mediocre at best, however this time around Samsung wanted to make sure the new device gets remembered. Cramming all the best components you can get on a budget, engineers set out to create a revolutionary smartphone.

Designing good-looking phones is expensive. First of all you have to go through a laborious design process using up precious time and money. Not only that, designers have to use premium materials in order to end up with an attractive device.

Since design doesn’t play a huge role for many budget shoppers, designers decided it’s best to leave it as is. As such, the new J series closely resembles previous generation with only minor tweaks. Built out of quality polycarbonate, Galaxy J5 is a sturdy device measuring 142.1 x 71.8 x 7.9 mm and weighing it at 146 grams.

The good news is that the back cover is removable and provides access to a microSD slot, SIM slot, and a removable battery. We were glad to see that engineers didn’t ditch the much appreciated microSD slot like on high-end models.

Getting bombarded with multimedia became an integral part of 21st century. Movies, games and TV shows seem to be our entertainment of choice, so even budget smartphones grew their screens to accommodate the new trend. To the surprise of many, Galaxy J5 sports a 5-inch Super AMOLED screen squeezing out 720 x 1280 pixels resulting in 294ppi density.

Just think of the days we used to squint at budget phones only to get this unbelievable screen a short time later; an unbelievable transition indeed.

Since this is a Super AMOLED display, properties such as contrast, colors, brightness and black levels are spot on. The only drawback we found was the lack of ambient light sensor forcing you to adjust brightness manually. We would pay a tenner more just to have it included.

Under the bonnet is Qualcomm’s reliable Snapdragon 410 with four cores clocked at 1.2GHz backed by Adreno 306 GPU and 1.5GB of RAM. Surprisingly well-powered, this setup does a tremendous job when combined with Samsung’s latest TouchWiz user interface which is based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

A startling fact is that the interface is nearly identical to the one found on Galaxy S6, especially when you consider the price gap. With a smoothness to match, Galaxy J5 is a true champion of performance.

Engineers have eliminated a lot of bloatware leaving only essential apps. The new lighter OS makes short work of anything you muster up. A 2600mAh battery has tons of stamina enduring even the longest commutes.

Imaging-wise, Samsung decided to give the J5 two brand new sensors, a 13-megapixel main sensor and a 5-megapixel front sensor. Despite not having the same performance as higher-end models, both cameras produce satisfying results in all conditions.

The front sensor has an additional feature in the form of an LED lamp designed to help out in low-light conditions. It’s not a perfect solution to video chatting in dark alleys, but it certainly helps out.

Samsung Galaxy J5 is a far cry from what budget phones used to be. Improved almost in every aspect, there is little to be desired for such a tiny price. We are sure that users will love the way it all comes together to create a perfect budget phone so if you are looking for something new on a budget, definitely don’t miss out on this one!