In its latest attempt to increase its budget smartphones stockpile, Samsung has come up with the Galaxy J3 2017. We’ve previously seen some outstanding releases with the 2016 surname such as the A7 2016 etc. which undoubtedly make our expectations rocket when it comes to Samsung’s 2017 releases. Does the J3 2017 do them any favors?

Build quality and display

Samsung’s cheap smartphones aren’t the best when it comes to build quality. With their plastic backs and the easily scratch-able chrome plated metallic frame separating the front and back panels, we haven’t been too much impressed by what we’ve seen. The J3 2017 features similar but vastly improved build materials except for the chrome plated metal frame (thankfully) but our reservations are still there.

When it comes to the smartphone’s display, it features a 5.0 inches Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 294ppi pixel density. This translates into a rather healthy 720p resolution which is okay for a 5 inches display. It might just feel a tad pixelated.

Cameras

Samsung has never done justice to its cheap smartphones especially when it comes to their cameras. Either the primary camera gets a kick up its backside or the selfie camera gets badly neglected. This isn’t completely the case with the Galaxy J3 2017 as it features an 8 megapixel primary camera with an LED flash while its selfie camera features a respectable 5 megapixel sensor.

No such thing as OIS, laser autofocus etc. to talk about which we have seen in smartphones in similar price brackets to the J3 2017 but we’re satisfied by the two camera’s megapixels.

Hardware and software

The J3 2017 is powered by a mammoth 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 processor with an additional 2GB of RAM. When both of these are working in tandem, they do pack a punch but we’d advise you to expect occasional lag while using the built-in Android Marshmallow.

The smartphone is available in two variants separated by their internal storage (16 and 32 gigs) while both contain expandable memory card slots. The battery is removable, which is good news as it allows you to replaces a degraded battery while white, black and gold colors grace the J3 2017’s exterior.