Finally, Samsung has taken up the design of its most affordable line of smartphones – the J-series, improved the appearance, finalized the characteristics. On the test, the Samsung Galaxy J3 2017 is the cheapest smartphone from the new series of smartphones from the Korean company. Budget Samsung are popular, so let’s see what he can and can do.

Doesn’t look budget

Samsung decided not to be greedy and thoroughly reworked the design, the younger model looks in the spirit of the company’s expensive devices. If you are not very familiar with the line, then you can easily confuse the J3 2017 with some other Samsung’s older series. Yes, they all look the same, but now the screen is 2.5D curved glass and most of the back panel is covered by an aluminum panel.

I was offered a phone in a beautiful soft blue color, in addition to this option, there will also be golden and black. Not so original, but in the spirit of traditions: I think that they will mainly take it in black from us – this is how it is accepted.

The assembly is excellent, the case made of matte plastic is not separable. The older J5 and J7 have an all-metal case, it seems that they decided to save money by lowering the status of the younger model, hinting that they are asking for a surcharge for more expensive versions for a reason.

Screen without useful function

I knew that LG and Samsung like to save money on lower models by removing the ambient light sensor from their phones. What for?! I don’t know, but in the Galaxy J3 2017 the situation is the same – the phone does not automatically adjust the brightness, adjusting to bright or dim lighting. Brightness has to be adjusted manually by moving the slider across the screen.

Unlike older and more expensive models, again, this is a TFT-IPS display, not AMOLED. But this is pure taste, because the screen is good. It is covered with glass with an oleophobic coating, a resolution of 720×1280 pixels, a diagonal of 5.2 inches with small frames.

Power

Exynos 7570 processor, 2/16 GB of memory – a modest basic minimum. The compartment for a memory card is separate, you can additionally put two SIM-cards, against the background of Chinese models with hybrid trays, this is an advantage.

Android 7 is also good, although the speed of the shell is not the highest, in some places you can notice how the phone becomes thoughtful when you switch between applications or start quickly scrolling through pictures in the gallery. He does not like such a fuss.

[infogram id=”nedorogie_smartfoni” prefix=”E0l”]

The bell speaker moved to the side of the case – it’s original, I haven’t seen this for a long time, during games you can’t block it with your hand. The volume reserve is good, but the quality is not very good, it creaks at maximum volume.

LTE works well, there is no NFC in the smartphone, it also does not see the 5 GHz network, it connects only to 2.4 GHz – there is nothing to brag about the budget model.

For charging, a microUSB port is used, there are no bells and whistles like fast charging, a 1A power supply is included. The battery capacity is 2400 mAh, the phone charges in 2.5 hours from a complete charger.

By the time of work – the results are standard, it withstands a day of active use. If you need higher performance, look towards models with batteries from 4000 mAh.

Camera without frills

The front camera surprised me with the presence of a flash – the 5-megapixel camera does not have other valuable features like autofocus. The main camera is 13 megapixels, it shoots well during the day, but the phone does not differ from most Chinese competitors in terms of shooting quality, just normal quality for the money.

Alternatives

The official price of the Samsung Galaxy J3 2017 is 12,990 rubles. On its side is the name of the brand, fancy shell, good camera, convenient size, nice design. Of the minuses – there is no light sensor, no fingerprint scanner, plastic in the finish of the case, no NFC.

Next comes the fun part. For the same 13 thousand, you can find a lot of Chinese smartphones on sale.

Xiaomi Redmi 4X – metal body, fingerprint scanner, 5-inch HD screen, 3/32 GB of memory, Snapdragon 435 processor, 5 and 13 megapixel cameras, 4100 mAh battery.

Meizu M5s – metal body, 5.2-inch HD screen, fingerprint scanner, 3/16 GB of memory, MediaTek MT6573 processor, 5 and 13 megapixel cameras.

Honor 6C – metal body, fingerprint scanner, 5-inch HD screen, 3/32 GB of memory, Snapdragon 435 processor, 5 and 13 megapixel cameras.

Conclusion

The example of the Galaxy J3 clearly shows how Chinese manufacturers scared Samsung. Samsung decided to invest in design, tighten up the characteristics, although it still failed to create the perfect budget smartphone.

A few unfortunate shortcomings spoil the impression of a generally pleasant device. There would be a bigger battery here, add a light sensor and more powerful stuffing – the phone would turn out more fun. And so, Samsung does its best to hint that it is better for the buyer to look towards older, more expensive devices.

However, I believe that this model will be one of the most popular among Samsung smartphones this year. Simply because it is a new and inexpensive model with a nice design and comfortable size.

For the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) provided for testing, I thank the friendliest gadget store Biggeek.ru .