2016 is panning out to be a fabulous year for Samsung. The releases of the company’s latest flagships in the form of the Galaxy S7 and the Note7 have restored Samsung to its formerly dizzying heights. However, it is not just about the flagship department as the South Korean giants have made tremendous improvements in all other price ranges as well.
The Galaxy J series was invented as a means to challenge the mid-range bracket with premium quality releases. It is known to target both the lower and lower-mid categories. Its first releases did not receive that much of an applause despite some sleek announcements but its 2016 range is wreaking havoc. Why? Because now Samsung is stuffing much more in its devices than ever before. This brings us to an inevitable comparison between one of the J series most liked smartphones; the Galaxy J5 and the Galaxy J5 2016.
Also check out: Galaxy J7 (2016) vs. Galaxy J7: which one should you get?
Galaxy J series prices in Pakistan
As of typing, 2015’s Galaxy J5 is priced at Rs. 17,000 while the new 2016 Galaxy J5 is priced at Rs. 23,000. What do you get by paying Rs. 6,000 on top? Let’s find out.
Build quality
As mentioned before, the Galaxy J series mainstays lay within the affordable price bracket which means that expecting full metal uni-bodies or 100% aluminum is bonkers. We’ll jet off with the Galaxy J5 2016’s exterior first.
The Galaxy J5 2016 features a glass front panel while the back is made completely out of matt-finished plastic. Both of these are separated by a thin layer of metal. There you go, there’s your metal! The front features a scratch resistant glass with the bottom bezel holding the customary Samsung-like capacitive buttons and the press-able home button while the upper bezel shelters the secondary camera among other sensors(ambient, accelerotmeter etc.). The plastic back feels great in your palm and it is home to the primary camera and the LED flash. The smartphone has an 8.1mm width and weighs in at 159g.
The J5 is built along similar lines with nothing to separate the two. It features the same build materials including a touch of metal between the back and front panels. However, the J5 is slimmer compared to the J5 2016 as it features a 7.9mm waist while also being lighter at 146g.
Conclusion: eh. Now that you’ve taken a look at their numbers, there’s little reason to believe that the Galaxy J5 is a significant upgrade on its predecessor. Fine details separated the two but the slimmer and lighter Galaxy J5 tipped the scales in its favor.
Display
This time, we’ll call the Galaxy J5 on stage first. This bad boy features a 5.0 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 294ppi pixel density. This in-turn results in a 720p resolution. That’s probably as much as we could expect from the older of the two models and it covers 67.5% of the smartphone’s front panel meaning that the remaining area is occupied by the bezels.
The Galaxy J5 2016 however features a minor upgrade to its older brother. It houses a larger 5.2 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a 282ppi pixel density. The display supports multiple fingers at once and also a 720p resolution. Furthermore, the J5 2016’s display covers 70.7% of the smartphone’s front.
Conclusion: while the J5 2016 does compromise on a little bit of pixel density, everything else its display offers is in excess of what the J5 has to offer thus making the newer smartphone a definite upgrade on its predecessor in the display category.
Camera
Both of these smartphones feature 99.9% similar cameras. Statistically, both the smartphones come in with a 13 megapixel primary sensor, a f/1.9 aperture sized lens and an LED flash. The secondary cameras come in at 5 megapixels. Both also feature a front-facing LED flash as well ensuring that selfies in the dark are no longer a problem.
Conclusion: no difference. Nothing much to talk about here or make further comparisons as both the cameras would do equally well in taking care of your basic photography needs. Do we even need to mention why?
Performance and hardware
When it comes to the hardware, the only major difference between the two smartphones is their RAM. The J5 features 1.5GB of RAM while the J5 2016 features 2GB. Both the smartphones feature a 1.2 GHz Quad-Core Cortex-A53 processor, same chipsets and GPU.
The J5 2016 comes in only a 16GB internal storage model while the J5 is marketed in two 8 and 16GB variants.
The J5 2016 comes in with increased RAM and a base 16GB model which are what separates it from its predecessor in this particular category.
Conclusion: performance-wise, both are likely to suffer from lag but the J5 2016 will perform better due to more installed RAM.
The verdict – get the Galaxy J5 2016!
Both the smartphones feature near similar specifications which brought both of these to a neck and neck competition. However, the J5 2016 emerges as the winner as it houses a larger display, more RAM and a base 16GB model despite being a little heavier and thicker compared to its predecessor. It’s just Rs. 5-6,000 on top for an improved experience.
Do you feel the same way? Let us know in the comments below.
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