While making comparisons in every aspect of life can be a very annoying thing to do, smartphones are where they’ve found themselves a good friend in. Whether it’s the flagships or the budget smartphones, comparisons are a must to ensure that whenever you’re about to march out to buy one, you always make the choice that suits you best; we’re talking Galaxy J7 Prime vs Galaxy J7 2016 folks!
The J series was made to target the mid to budget category of smartphones. They were meant to provide stiff competition to the Huaweis‘ and Oppos’ but in the end, they somehow went into a conflict with their own kinsmen. This isn’t the first time Samsung has made use of the “Prime” naming scheme to come up with a better version of its older sibling and we’re pleased to see that this time the J7 Prime sees some excellent upgrades compared to its normal J7 2016 version.
Build quality and display
The Galaxy J7 2016 was released in Q1 of 2016 while the J7 Prime will soon be hitting shelves during Q3 of the same year. The J7 2016 upon its release attracted plenty of plaudits as it significantly improved on its predecessor, the J7. Its build features a plastic back which can easily be mistaken as being entirely metal because of its fine finish. A metallic frame separates the front and back panels which makes for an aesthetically pleasing smartphone.
Its 7.8mm width is nice while its 170g weight does not justify itself as the smartphone contains minimum amount of metal nor any waterproofing. Its display features a 5.5 inches Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 267ppi pixel density which translates to a 720p resolution. Adequate, but we don’t know as to how well it will do on the gigantic display.
The J7 Prime however, is a nifty upgrade on the J7 2016 because it features a new design while it seems to make much more use of metal. We’re not entirely sure about its build material though but its images suggest a fine metal unibody design whose edges peacefully curve into its front panel. Build wise, the J7 Prime is a tad thicker (8mm width) compared to the J7 2016 but is a little lighter at 167g.
Speaking of the front, it features a much improved 5.5 inches Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 401ppi pixel density. This results in a greater 1080p HD resolution which brings much better graphics to the table compared to the J7 2016.
The specifications easily suggest that the J7 Prime features good upgrades on the J7 2016. While the display size is the same, the J7 Prime’s greater resolution and a much more premium build are definite improvements on the slightly aged J7 2016.
Cameras
When it comes to cameras, both the smartphones feature 100% similar specifications; both feature a 13 megapixel primary sensor with customary features such as face detection, autofocus and an LED flash. No hunky features such as phase detection or OIS here but considering Samsung’s camera prowess, we’re sure that both of the primary sensors will perform up to the required standard.
The selfie camera is where things get a little interesting despite the fact that both feature 100% similar specifications. We’re under-seeing a growing trend of front facing LED flashes nowadays and both the J7 2016 and J7 Prime make pretty good use of it together with their 5 megapixel sensors. Nothing more to analyze here as we’re seeing two equally matched cameras who’re both bound to perform well.
Performance and hardware
The hardware department also sees some noticeable distinctions between the two smartphones. The J7 Prime comes in with a 1.6 GHz Octa-Core Cortex processor with an additional 3GB of RAM. This is a pretty decent amount to run the built-in Android Marshmallow which is where the J7 2016 falls a little bit off the pace despite featuring a similar Octa-Core processor but 2GB of RAM.
The J7 Prime features 32GB of internal storage and an external memory card slot. Fingerprint sensor is thankfully embedded into its home-key and we’ll see newer color schemes such as rose gold and white in the upcoming release.
The J7 2016 on the other hand features 16GB internal storage plus an external memory card slot. No fingerprint sensor here which is bad news while it is marketed in only black and gold color. These are significant differences between the two which makes the newer prime a comparatively better choice on all fronts.
Pricing
With regards to their prices, the Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 has already spent 3-4 months in the market while the J7 Prime is yet to see the market shelves.
Keep on the lookout for their prices on our website: J7 Prime (yet to become available) and J7 2016.
We expect the Galaxy J7 Prime to launch close to 35,000 rupees while a 1 year warranty is guaranteed with every Samsung smartphone in Pakistan. Upon going in a little more depth, this price tag seems justified as the smartphone houses some outstanding specifications which include a 3GB RAM, 5.5 inches 1080p display, expected metal unibody among other features. However, we’ve seen a lot of other smartphones provide similar specifications in lower prices.
This really puts up the J7 Prime’s price tag into question. The J7 2016 on the other hand features a significantly lower price tag which seems more justifiable but we’d recommend giving the best budget Android smartphones and the best 3G/4G smartphones lists a read before you make up your mind regarding which smartphone you’re going to go for.
With that, we come to the end of this particular comparison between two of Samsung’s 2016 releases. We’ve already talked about how 2016 has been a tremendous year for Samsung already, disregarding the Note7 exploding batteries issue, and the J7 Prime is another nice addition to their already growing arsenal of smartphones.
The comparison is pretty clear with regards to the improvements or loopholes the newer J7 Prime is due to bring over its slightly older counterpart but did it do enough to convince you? Do let us know your feedback in the comments below.
