Review of Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) J320: Amoled screens to the masses. Samsung Galaxy J3 - Technical specifications Samsung galaxy j3 which android

Screen technologies have advanced significantly in 2015-2016. You won’t surprise anyone with an IPS matrix anymore; even budget smartphones have them. However, now a new trend has emerged - AMOLED screens are entering the segment of low-cost devices, where Samsung has been and remains the leader. If once such matrices were installed only in flagships, now they have reached affordable products.

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) is a budget smartphone with a good Super AMOLED screen. This is what will be discussed in this review. The handset is interesting primarily for its display, since analogues can only offer an IPS screen of average quality.

In general, Super AMOLED began its “trip to budget” back in 2015, when it was released, not the most expensive one. A little later, an even cheaper Galaxy J2 was introduced, which is one step below our Galaxy J3 (2016). And yes, there is also an AMOLED display, but of worse quality. However, there is also the Galaxy J1 (2016) smartphone, which will be one of the cheapest Samsung products in 2016, but with a Super AMOLED screen.

But let's return to the Galaxy J3 (2016). This product is at the intersection of the middle and budget classes, equipped with a 5-inch AMOLED screen. That is, in terms of its dimensions and weight, the handset is close to the 5-inch Galaxy J5, but their characteristics are noticeably different - the J3 is noticeably limited in certain parameters. What is this smartphone and why is it good - let's find out!

Galaxy J3 (2016) video review

As always, at the beginning we suggest you look at the phone in question in our video:

Design

When Samsung started making smartphones out of metal, its handsets became noticeably easier to distinguish. Now everything is clear and understandable: the flagships and fashion line Galaxy A are metal, and the series of affordable Galaxy J devices are plastic. And even in this very budget Galaxy J series, there have been noticeable changes in terms of design.

We have long been accustomed to the fact that Samsung phones are such “remnants” with rounded corners, a characteristic body shape and control elements. But 2015 showed that it is possible to vary the appearance of smartphones, and in 2016 the company went even further - just look at the Galaxy J3 (2016).

When we first saw the Galaxy J3 (2016), it was difficult to recognize it as the “typical Samsung”. It seems that the shape of the case is normal, but on the front side we see a combination of white and black colors - the panel with the buttons is made white, and the screen frame and the entire upper part are left black. At the same time, the side ends are silver, and the back cover is white. That is, we had a white version of the Galaxy J3 (2016) smartphone.

The handset became completely unrecognizable - Samsung had nothing like it, and I had never seen anything similar from other manufacturers. It may not look “super-mega” stylish, but at least it’s fresh and original – it’s commendable that the company decided to do such a redesign for the budget model range. But keep in mind that all phones in this line will have a similar design. At least the Galaxy J1 (2016) looks exactly the same. It should also be taken into account that there is a completely black color option for the Galaxy J3 (2016) black and there such “originality” is simply not visible for obvious reasons.

If you look at the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) from the back, there are no changes here - this is the same “remnant” that you have seen many times. At the same time, the back cover has a sloping shape on the sides and rounded ends, which makes the phone very comfortable to hold in your hand. The lid is pleasant to the touch and has a high-quality matte finish.

Despite belonging to the budget class, the Galaxy J3 (2016) has a small thickness of 7.9 mm and a weight of 138 grams. The smartphone does not weigh on your hand at all, it is comfortable to use and there is no need to often transfer it to another palm. From this point of view, everything is fine here. Another thing to note is the excellent build quality – Samsung has always been good in this regard.

In total, the new Galaxy J3 (2016) was distinguished by a refreshed original design, which over time will clearly become standard, at least for 2016. But in any case, this does not cancel the effect of novelty.

Connectors and controls

In terms of control placement, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) is a classic. More precisely, this means that the company did not apply certain “modern” solutions. There's nothing wrong with that, but more expensive handsets offer slightly improved ergonomics in some areas.

Above the screen are the earpiece, front camera lens, light and proximity sensors. Moreover, there is no indicator of events - some strange trend started at Samsung in 2016 and it even removed it from the Galaxy A fashion line.

Below the screen are the traditional buttons for the list of recent applications, Back and Home. The last one is mechanical, and the first two are touch-sensitive, and lack backlighting. They are painted silver and are clearly visible, but not in the dark.

At the back on top there is a rear camera lens, an LED flash and an external speaker.

On the left side there is a volume rocker - this is its traditional place when talking about Samsung smartphones.

The power button is located on the right side - its location is also not changed by the company.

A 3.5 mm mini-jack for headphones and headsets was placed on top. It was located here in all Samsung products until 2015 - from that moment on, many models, including the aforementioned Galaxy J5, offered a more convenient option for placing the audio jack at the bottom. But for the inexpensive Galaxy J3 (2016), they decided not to leave this option.

At the bottom there is a microUSB port and a speaking microphone.

For the second year now, Samsung's top-end products have been impossible to disassemble, but with regard to affordable smartphones, the company still leaves the option of changing the battery yourself.

Likewise, budget handsets still remain faithful to the microSIM card format, although, perhaps, it would be smarter to switch all phones to nanoSIM - it would quickly stop the leapfrog with different SIM card form factors. To install cards you will have to remove the battery. If you have any problems with this, our short video will help resolve them:

In total, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) in terms of ergonomics is no different from the company’s standard smartphones. It did not move the audio connector to the bottom end for greater convenience, but this does not cause serious problems.

Case for Galaxy J3 (2016)

The body shape of the smartphone in question is quite typical, so buying a cover or case for the Galaxy J3 (2016) is not so difficult.

For example, such a beautifully designed book case for the Galaxy J3 (2016) is available for about 1,400 rubles.

This kind of overlay for the back cover costs even more – about 1800 rubles.

There are also other options for cases, since the Galaxy J3 (2016) is an inexpensive model, and therefore popular.

Screen

From the title of the article it is absolutely clear that the screen is the main feature of the Galaxy J3 (2016). If we remember the past, Samsung used AMOLED in all of its Google flagships, but such displays entered the more affordable segment en masse in 2015. To some extent, the Galaxy J5 can be called the first sign, and the first generation Galaxy A3 is also not very expensive and advanced. And now we are dealing with the even cheaper Galaxy J3 (2016).

Are there any “special features” of the touch screen in an inexpensive South Korean smartphone? Obviously, the manufacturer will not install the latest generation matrix in an affordable product. This is still the same Super AMOLED, the picture on which looks rich and bright, although if you put something like it next to it, it will immediately become clear who “rules the roost.” But in comparison with analogues on IPS screens, the difference is instantly visible to the naked eye. This is simply a different level of technology, especially since in this price category no more than “average” IPS matrices are used.

In turn, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) is also distinguished by its deep black color and wide display viewing angles. True, there are still some things about him that confuse us. For example, the screen is not protected by mineral glass, which fits into the logic of a “non-flagship”. Another not very pleasant point is the lack of automatic brightness adjustment. Yes, yes, there is no such thing, although advanced control over screen brightness has become one of the features of Android 5. The limitation is purely artificial, designed to widen the gap with more expensive handsets with OLED screens.

As for the resolution, at least they didn’t skimp on this - the Galaxy J3 (2016) offers 1280x720 pixels, which with a 5" diagonal gives a pixel density of 294 ppi. In its class, this is a typical value. Let's say more - Samsung could easily have settled on the 960x540 pixels option out of a desire to “degrade” the apparatus, but that would be completely “beyond the bounds.”

Meanwhile, objective measurement data indicate a maximum brightness of 437.65 cd/m2, which is generally quite decent. But there is also a nuance here - we got a similar indicator by turning on the “Outdoor” mode, after which the brightness “jumped” by about 60-70 cd/m2. And she wasn’t the only one who “jumped up.”

As you can see, in normal operation, the screen of the Galaxy J3 (2016) showed a gamma curve very close to the reference curve 2.2, but “outdoors” it is noticeably higher. This means that not only the brightness of the display has increased, but the entire picture has become brighter than necessary. That is, a certain distortion was allowed, and this was precisely such an “idea” in order to enhance the effect of increasing brightness.

Meanwhile, the color gamut of the Galaxy J3 (2016) screen easily covered sRGB and approached Adobe RGB - this is a typical result for Super AMOLED matrices with an “adaptive” profile.

The color temperature is, as always, too high, and in the case of the Galaxy J3 (2016) by a relatively decent value of 1400-1700K. The image turns out colder than we would like. However, this is not noticeable unless you know what a picture should look like with the correct white balance.

Another artificially imposed limitation is the number of simultaneous touches that the display recognizes. There are only two of them, although for Super AMOLED we are used to seeing “a full ten”. But this is on flagships, whereas here we have a “simpler” device.

The settings look very sparse. As you can see, there really is no automatic brightness adjustment. There is also no way to select a working profile - Samsung also retained this feature for more expensive handsets.

In total, the screen of the Galaxy J3 (2016) shows an excellent picture, bright and rich, with the deepest blacks. It has wide viewing angles, excellent brightness reserves - it is clearly better than most IPS displays. But, in order to “downgrade” the smartphone compared to its more expensive models, Samsung imposed some purely artificial restrictions: mineral glass is not used, there is no automatic brightness adjustment, you cannot select working profiles, and only two simultaneous touches are supported. But overall, everything looks very decent for its class.

Camera

Samsung smartphones are famous for their cameras. Even the Galaxy J5 distinguished itself in this regard - not only does it have two cameras that take decent pictures, but the front one also has a separate flash! Galaxy J3 (2016) is a simpler phone, which means its sensors are not so advanced. Their resolution was 8 MP for the rear and 5 MP for the front.

The camera application is standard, like all Samsung devices. Everything here is extremely simple and clear. On the right are quick shooting options, including filters and metering modes; On the left you can call up a list of available shooting modes.

In Pro mode, you can adjust white balance, ISO sensitivity and exposure compensation.

Maximum resolution is achieved with a frame aspect ratio of 4:3.

The photos of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) come out quite decent, especially for its price class. If there is enough lighting around, then everything looks very good: good sharpness, correct white balance, no noise. However, if there is not enough light, noticeable noise appears and image clarity decreases - a common behavior in such cases.

The video is shot in Full HD resolution, which is the norm for such a device.

The video also looks good, especially if during the day and outdoors: the frames are sharp, with good colors.

The front camera has a couple of shooting modes.

The resolution of the facial sensor is 5 MP and is achieved with an aspect ratio of 4:3.

The front camera takes noticeably worse pictures than the rear one, which is logical. And in comparison with the Galaxy J5, everything doesn’t work out so well. The frames are blurry, although their white balance is basically correct.

The video is captured with Full HD resolution, which is nice - no artificial limitation was introduced here.

The video from the front camera looks surprisingly better than the photo.

We were very pleased with the main camera of the Galaxy J3 (2016) - it takes excellent pictures during the day. The facial sensor is worse, but nothing can be done about it - high quality is reserved for more expensive models.

Characteristics of Galaxy J3 (2016)

The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016), also known as the SM-J320F, a mid-budget product for 2016, passed through our hands. In theory, it will take a place between the Galaxy J2 and Galaxy J5 (2016), but in comparison with the “first” Galaxy J5, its characteristics look quite good. Let us also recall that the Galaxy J1 (2016) still exists and, apparently, the Galaxy J7 (2016) will be released - this is the entire range of affordable Samsung smartphones for 2016.

The parameters of the Galaxy J3 (2016) don’t look so bad, but it’s hard to call them bad. There are quite a few questions about them, although, if you think about it, compared to the Galaxy J5 from 2015, the “regression” is not very significant.

The processor specifically raises a lot of questions for us. The relatively recent Spreadtrum SC9830 chipset, introduced in the spring of 2015, is used here. This is not the first time Samsung has turned to this “rare” manufacturer - the tablet also received a chip from its production at one time. Moreover, in the first case, a dual-core processor was used, made using a 40 nm process technology. Coupled with half a gigabyte of RAM, such a “design” noticeably slowed down.

But what is the SC9830? Let us rejoice - this is the first Spreadtrum chipset with LTE support! Yes, yes, even little-known processor developers are starting to master this standard. However, the processor did not switch to 64-bit Cortex-A53 cores, like all new MediaTek products, but remained on not the fastest and already somewhat outdated Cortex-A7. Fortunately, there are four of them and they operate at frequencies up to 1.5 GHz. Oh, here’s another thing - the 28 nm process technology is used, so the tube is not characterized by increased power consumption and heating.

Do you think the “retro technology” in the SC9830 is over? Not at all - there is also an old and not the fastest video card Mali-400 MP4. It’s good that there are four, and not two as before, computing clusters involved. However, the accelerator is really ancient, dating back to 2012. In principle, all games work on it, and they don’t slow down at all, but there is no support for OpenGL ES 3.0 and higher. So in the future, if your Galaxy J3 (2016) is suddenly delayed, some things may not start.

They decided to do the right thing with the amount of RAM - it is installed at 1.5 GB, just like the first generation Galaxy J5. In the price category where the Galaxy J3 (2016) is positioned, this volume can be assessed as “above average”. Smartphones with a gigabyte of RAM are still very common here, but there are separate models with 2 GB, and Samsung decided to stick with an intermediate option. There is 8 GB of built-in flash memory, which is also the norm for such a phone. Although, again, individual handsets offer 16 GB - this is exactly what the Galaxy J3 (2016) is compared to in the next section.

The remaining characteristics of the device in question are not something “out of the ordinary”. We described everything in detail about the screen and cameras above, and as for communications, here we have LTE Cat.4 - not the fastest option, but again typical for a product of this level. Wi-Fi is supported only by 802.11n standard.

In general, the characteristics of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) correspond to the concept of a mid-budget smartphone in 2016. Everything is more or less balanced, not very fast, but functional: there is LTE, a decent amount of RAM, cameras more or less and a Super AMOLED screen with certain artificial limitations.

Performance testing

To evaluate the speed of the Galaxy J3 (2016), we chose a smartphone. This handset has a configuration very close to the Galaxy J5, but was released later and is still on sale. In addition, the Galaxy J3 (2016) will have to compete with similar phones.

Inside the Lenovo A6010 there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, with a lower frequency than the Spreadtrum chip from the Galaxy J3 (2016), but on a more advanced architecture. In short, in system-wide speed we see approximate parity with a slight advance of the Chinese machine. But in 3D graphics, Lenovo is the clear leader.

The latest version of Antutu suggests that the Galaxy J3 (2016) is faster, albeit only slightly. However, keep in mind that the modern 3D test with OpenGL ES 3.0 simply did not run on the Samsung phone.

The browser in the SunSpider benchmark definitely performs better on the A6010, although the gap is small. The difference will not be visible to the eye.

In the ancient three-dimensional test Nenamark2, the Galaxy J3 (2016) managed to lag behind Lenovo - the video card in our smartphone is really “nothing”.

And here is a serious 3D benchmark - 3DMark clearly gives victory to the A6010 and its Adreno 306 video core. As we said, the accelerator in the Samsung smartphone is very weak.

Due to an incorrect measurement of the remaining battery charge on the Lenovo A6010, we will compare the autonomy of the Galaxy J3 (2016) not by , as we usually do, but according to the Antutu Tester utility. As you can see, the Samsung phone lasts noticeably longer. In general, efficient energy consumption is a feature of all South Korean devices, including inexpensive ones. But don’t let the diagram mislead you - such a gap is also associated with the basically poor autonomy on the Lenovo A6010. According to our method, the Galaxy J3 (2016) left 73% of the charge after completing all tasks, which is an above-average result - very decent for such a handset.

As always, the maximum energy consumption was spent surfing the Internet and 3D games. In general, the most energy is spent on those tasks that require the screen to be turned on. And I also unexpectedly spent a lot of money on a call through the mobile network - something is wrong in the communication module, since for smartphones this is not the most power-hungry operation for a long time.

Another nice thing about the Galaxy J3 (2016) is the presence of an extreme power mode. Let's remember that it uses features of AMOLED screens, which work most efficiently if a lot of black is displayed. Samsung may well not have added this feature to a low-cost device, but it's still there.

Games on Galaxy J3 (2016)

Games on mobile devices behave completely differently than on computers - they adapt to the capabilities of the device, and then set the level of graphics that it can handle. So even the Galaxy J3 (2016) with its cramped video card doesn’t really slow down.

• Riptide GP2: visible some delays;

• Asphalt 7: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Modern Combat 5: Blackout: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• N.O.V.A. 3: Some delays are visible;

• Dead Trigger: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Dead Trigger 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Real Racing 3: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Need For Speed: No Limits: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Shadowgun: Dead Zone: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Frontline Commando: Normandy: Some delays are visible;

• Frontline Commando 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Eternity Warriors 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;
• Eternity Warriors 3: not in Play Store;
• Eternity Warriors 4: not supported;

• Trial Xtreme 3: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Trial Xtreme 4: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Dead Effect: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Dead Effect 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Plants vs Zombies 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Iron Man 3: Some delays are visible;

• Dead Target: excellent, the game does not slow down.

As you can see, nothing really slows down. But they wrote clearly about Eternity Warriors 4: it is not supported. This is what the lack of compatibility with the new version of OpenGL means.

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) firmware update

Android 6 for the Galaxy J3 (2016) may be released, but not immediately - towards the end of 2016. It is also impossible to exclude the possibility that this will never happen. But, of course, updated firmware will continue to be included, so this guide will not be superfluous.

So, to flash the Galaxy J3 (2016), you need to do the following:

1. and make sure that the smartphone has enough charge;
2. enter the smartphone into Download Mode (while simultaneously pressing the “off” + “volume down” + “home button”) keys, then press “Volume up”;
3. connect a USB cable to the device;
4. in the Odin application on your computer, select files from the archive with the firmware:

• for the column PIT - a file with the extension *.pit;
• for PDA - a file whose name contains the word CODE, if there is none, then you should know that this is the heaviest file in the archive;
• for CSC - a file whose name contains the word CSC;
• for Phone - a file containing MODEM in the name;
• Note. If the files for the CSC, Phone and PIT columns are not in the archive with the firmware, then we sew exclusively using the one-file method, i.e. indicate the location of the firmware in the PDA column, and leave the remaining lines empty.

Make sure that the “Auto Reboot” and “F.” checkboxes are checked in Odin. Reset Time". If the location of the *.pit file was specified, then the “Re-Partition” checkbox will be checked automatically;

Press the “Start” button and watch how the firmware process occurs. The phone may reboot several times during installation and in no case should you disconnect the cable from it until the message “All threads completed” appears in the Odin log or the green information window with the inscription “PASS!” lights up.

The firmware update process traditionally lasts several minutes (from 5 to 15) and if successful, you will be asked to configure the smartphone according to your preferences. After this you can start working.

If suddenly something didn’t work out, you can ask about it in the comments under the article.

BY

Galaxy J3 (2016) cannot be better than the next flagship, and therefore it did not receive Android 6.0 out of the box - only Android 5.1. In the meantime, Android 6.0 for the Galaxy J3 (2016) could in theory be released, although it’s difficult to vouch for this - after all, the handset is inexpensive, and even Samsung doesn’t always update them.

Samsung, as always, installed its TouchWIZ shell on top of the system. It is presented in the same form as the company’s smartphones from the second half of 2015 - everything is familiar and convenient.

If desired, you can customize the design, including installing one of the downloaded or purchased themes.

The notification panel and task manager have been redesigned in some ways. The first one was “improved” more and the second one less. Let us remind you that the notification panel differs from the standard one in its quick settings - in Samsung they are not pulled down, but are displayed statically at the top.

Among the pre-installed applications there is a complete set from both Samsung and Microsoft. However, the epithet “basic” should be added to the “set from Samsung”, since flagship products offer a slightly wider range of programs, as well as subscriptions to various services.

Smart Manager is a familiar aggregator of functions for memory cleaning, energy saving and security modes.

Microsoft has a traditional set of office applications, such that they are installed themselves from the Play Store, and then take up a fair amount of memory space. Let's hope that this was a feature of only our non-final firmware!

Somehow, the Papergarden utility, designed for reading periodicals, or more precisely magazines, has found its way into the list of programs. It is possible that the retail version of the Galaxy J3 (2016) will not have it.

All other applications represent the very “required minimum” that is on any smartphone. Of course, here they are presented in the Samsung edition. Here, for example, is a file manager.

A beautifully drawn Clock app with alarm, world time, stopwatch and timer.

The S Planner calendar has a user-friendly interface and a good set of functions.

In principle, the interface and shell do not slow down at all on the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016), even despite the not-fastest processor and video card. Of course, Android 5.1 here is 32-bit due to the limited capabilities of the chipset. However, this does not affect usability in any way.

Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) is a well-made budget smartphone with below-average specifications. More precisely, “lower” here is the processor and especially an outdated video card, and “average” here is the amount of RAM and flash memory. Although in this price category you can increasingly find 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of flash memory - these are the parameters with which the South Korean handset will have to compete.

The most interesting thing is that it has something to offer in response to competitors, namely a screen. The very thing that is in the title may not be the best possible, but in any case a very good Super AMOLED display with good color reproduction, high brightness, wide viewing angles and the list goes on. Yes, it does not have auto-adjustment of brightness and color profiles due to the budget of the device, but it is very good even without this - noticeably better than most of the “consumer” IPS that have flooded the market.

We have already mentioned the build quality, but it’s time to say again about the autonomy – for a smartphone of the Galaxy J3 (2016) class, it is very decent. And the main camera takes relatively good pictures. Another, albeit not the most important, but pleasant point is the refreshed design, which has not yet become boring, but is relevant only when choosing a light-colored design option for the tube. Now let's figure out how much the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) costs.

Galaxy J3 (2016) price

The Galaxy J3 (2016) was not available for purchase at the time of writing, but the handset will apparently be marketed as an alternative to products like the Lenovo A6010, with which we compared its speed. In other words, we are talking about a price level of 12-14 thousand rubles.

Let's remember that Lenovo A6010 offers a more modern processor with a better graphics card inside than the Galaxy J3 (2016). It also has more RAM and internal memory. But the screen is definitely better on the Samsung phone, as is the camera. And there’s nothing to say about autonomy – the A6010 works surprisingly little.

This is another very serious competitor with decent parameters. It costs closer to 13 thousand, offers a good 64-bit MediaTek processor, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of flash memory, a 13 MP camera and a 5-inch IPS screen.

ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser ZE500KL for 12,500 rubles also looks very interesting. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chip, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of memory, and at the same time a good camera with laser autofocus, as the name implies.

Pros:

• high-quality Super AMOLED screen with HD resolution;
• good autonomy for its class;
• excellent assembly;
• refreshed design;
• good quality of daytime photography;
• there is LTE support.

Minuses:

• slow video card in the processor;
• no LED indicator for events;
• touch buttons are not backlit;
• There is no automatic screen brightness adjustment.

For many years now, Samsung has been trying to compete with Chinese brands in the segment of smartphones under 15,000 rubles, but each time it fails. In the summer of 2017, the Koreans released the Galaxy J3 (2017) smartphone with the next goal of “killing the competition.” The new product has a 5-inch screen, a modest processor, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, LTE support, 2 SIM cards, and a metal case. All this was valued at almost 13,000 rubles. Should you look towards Samsung if you need an inexpensive smartphone? You will find the answer to this question in our test review.

Galaxy J3 (2017) is a representative of the budget J-series. The device was presented in the summer of 2017. I have already been able to test the older models of the J-series, and they caused, for the most part, purely positive emotions. Read and - here. What can the Galaxy J3 (2017) boast?

Unlike its counterparts, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) has a slightly different appearance. Aluminum is still used in the finishing, but the inserts for the radio modules on top and bottom are finished with plastic that looks cheap. The model received a 5-inch TFT display. What’s most interesting is that cheaper devices (for example, Galaxy J2) have higher quality SuperAMOLED. All other characteristics are at the level of competitors, or a little more modest. But the cost of a smartphone cannot be called low.

The hardware of the Galaxy J3 2017 (model index SM-J330F) is powered by a chip with a quad-core 1.4 GHz Exynos 7570 processor, a Mali-720 graphics chip, and 2 GB of RAM. Built-in memory is 16 GB, it can be supplemented with microSD cards. The smartphone supports LTE Cat.4 and single-band Wi-Fi. There is no NFC and, accordingly, Samsung Pay does not work. No fingerprint scanner. The main camera received a 13 megapixel sensor. Front - 5 megapixels. Currently, the device comes with a pre-installed Android 7.1 Nougat operating system with Clean UI shell.

Technical parameters of Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) SM-J330F

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Characteristic	Description
Case materials:	Aluminum, plastic, protective glass with 2.5D effect
Housing protection:	No
Screen:	TFT, 5-inch diagonal, resolution 720x1280 pixels (294 ppi), outdoor mode, no automatic brightness control
CPU:	Quad-core Exynos 7570 (4 cores up to 1.4 GHz)
GPU:	Mali-T720
RAM:	2 GB
Flash memory:	16 GB (10.5 GB user available) + microSD memory card slot (up to 256 GB)
Mobile connection:	2G (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G (850/900/1900/2100 MHz), 4G (including LTE 800, 1800, 2600)
SIM card type:	Two nanoSIM cards
Communications and ports:	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz), microUSB, Bluetooth 4.2, 3.5 mm for headset
Navigation:	GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU
Sensors:	proximity sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope
Main camera:	13 MP, f/1.9, autofocus, LED flash, FullHD video recording 30 frames per second
Front-camera:	5 megapixels, without autofocus, f/2.2
Battery:	non-removable, 2400 mAh
Dimensions, weight:	143.2x70.3x8.2 mm, 142 grams
Case colors:	black, gold, blue
Operating system:	Android 7.0.1 Nougat with Clean UI

Samsung Galaxy J4 (2018) prices

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Delivery package and first impressions

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Samsung Galaxy J3 (SM-J330F) 2017 model series comes in a blue thick cardboard box. The model name is printed on the front, and the main technical parameters are on the back. There is no image of the gadget.

In the box you can see the device itself, as well as:

Charger adapter with USB connector
. Cable for synchronization with computer USB - microUSB
. Stereo headset with miniJack 3.5 mm
. SIM card tray clip
. Instructions, warranty card

On sale you can find three color options: black, gold and blue. All colors are perceived well, different options look very interesting and organic.

Samsung Galaxy J3 2017 is a fairly compact device. Its dimensions are 143.2x70.3x8.2 mm, weight 142 grams. The phone fits perfectly in the hand and is comfortable to use. You can carry the device in the pockets of tight clothes without any problems. There will definitely be no inconveniences.

You cannot reach the edges of the display with one hand. But the problem can be solved. There is a special mode in the settings that reduces the image by 30%, allowing you to reach the corners of the display with your thumb.

Design and appearance

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The appearance of the Galaxy J3 2017 is solid. The front part is glossy, covered with protective glass with a 2.5D effect, which is expressed in a slight rounding of the surface on the sides. Corning Gorilla Glass is used here. However, there is no protection against falls. The glossy surfaces of the smartphone have an oleophobic coating, but it is not as effective as on models with a higher price. Fingerprints, dust and dirt appear relatively quickly on the black body. But they are removed quickly and easily. On models in blue and gold, prints are more difficult to see. In this regard, they are more practical.

The back of the Samsung Galaxy J3 2017 is made of aluminum. It occupies up to 80% of the total area. There are plastic inserts on the top and bottom, painted in a color different from the metal. Moreover, the material differs in texture. It is clear that this is a budget-level model. The body itself is monolithic and looks quite strong and reliable. The assembly is high quality.

On the front there is a 5-inch diagonal screen. Above it there is a speaker, a front 5 megapixel camera, an LED flash, and the manufacturer's logo. There is a mechanical key under the display. There is no fingerprint scanner here.

On the sides of the central key there are two touch buttons. One is responsible for returning to one level, and the other for launching the manager of programs running in the background. The buttons are not backlit.

On the right side of the Galaxy J3 2017 there is a power and screen lock button. In addition, here you can see a speaker slot for playing external sounds. This layout stands out from existing phone models. The speaker itself is average in volume, but the sound in it is quite pleasant and spacious. During testing, an interesting pattern emerged. If you put your smartphone with the speaker down in a handbag, the ringtone will not be heard. Although it all depends on the contents of the bag! In winter clothes, the bell can be heard, no problems.

The volume keys are located on the top left side. At the bottom you can see two trays at once, which can be opened using a standard paper clip or paper clip. One slot is used for a nanoSIM card, and the second for another nano-sized SIM card and a microSD memory card. Thus, when using the services of two operators at once, you will not have to give up additional memory. Cards, by the way, are supported up to 256 GB. This is a big plus!

On the bottom edge there is a 3.5 mm jack for a headset and headphones, as well as a microUSB port for a charger and connection to a computer. Here you can see the microphone hole.

On the back side you can see a 13 megapixel camera lens with autofocus and LED flash. The lens does not protrude relative to the plane of the smartphone itself.

The battery is located inside the case. It is not removable.

During the test, I never encountered any problems in assembling the smartphone. The impressions are good. The smartphone is assembled at the Samsung plant in Vietnam.

Screen. Graphics capabilities

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The Galaxy J3 2017 abandoned the use of a SuperAMOLED screen. Instead, there is a budget TFT matrix with a diagonal of 5 inches, which is typical for devices costing up to 10,000 rubles. Resolution 720x1280 pixels (294 ppi). The picture quality on the display is typical for state employees. It is moderately bright and contrasting. Viewing angles are not the greatest, and there is slight fading when tilted.

The display is covered with protective glass with a 2.5D effect and oleophobic coating. Medium width side frames.
It is worth noting that there is no automatic brightness adjustment, but there is an “Outdoor” mode, which maximizes the brightness, and the screen becomes readable in the sun.

Display sensitivity is 8 points out of 10. Presses are processed with a delay of 1 second.

The screen has no special settings, everything is ascetic. Galaxy J3 2017 turned out to be the weakest in terms of picture quality of the three J-series devices of 2017.

Hardware platform: processor, memory, performance

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The smartphone runs on an Exynos 7570 chip system, which includes 4 Cortex-A53 cores operating at up to 1.4 GHz and Mali-720 graphics. RAM 2 GB. The device has 16 GB of internal memory (10.5 GB available to the user), supports microSD removable media up to 256 GB.

By and large, the performance of the smartphone, although not high, is still quite sufficient for a device in its segment. In tests, the device shows modest results. In life, this manifests itself in the opening of the application after 1 second. When used slowly, there is enough speed, but there is no reserve. In games, the device performs rather modestly - solutions with complex graphics do not work correctly, although some run, but at minimum quality settings.

However, using the basic functions of a smartphone (calls, instant messengers, browser, social networks, video and music services) is comfortable.

Communication capabilities

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The smartphone supports all modern communication networks: 2G/3G and LTE cat. 4 on Russian frequencies, confidently receives the signal and does not lose it for no apparent reason. The quality of signal reception is not satisfactory, the device confidently maintains communication indoors and does not lose the signal in areas of poor reception (tested on MegaFon and MTS networks). Talking on the phone is comfortable. The speaker has a good volume reserve, and the interlocutors did not complain about poor audibility during testing.

Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2 networks are supported, and there is FM radio. Connection to a computer is via a microUSB connector. One of the obvious disadvantages is the lack of NFC. For this reason, contactless payments do not work, including Samsung Pay.

Among the additional communication tools, it is worth noting GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS (standard Google Maps cartography is built into the smartphone). The navigation error radius during testing was about 3 meters, which is very little. The gadget copes well with the role of a navigator.

Battery. Duration of work

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Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) has a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2400 mAh. Under testing conditions, with a number of calls of 35-40 minutes per day, browsing the Internet for about 2 hours via 4G, listening to an mp3 player through a headset for about 2 hours a day, the device worked for 2 days. When watching videos, the smartphone worked for 15.5 hours, in navigator mode - about 3.5 hours.

If we take average data with a mixed mode of use, we get two days of battery life. Those who use only calls can easily count on 4 days of work. In terms of battery life, the device is comparable to most Android smartphones in its class.

The battery charges in 2.5 hours.

User Interface and Operating System

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Currently, Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) comes with Android 7.0.1 Nougat firmware with Clean UI. The software can be updated over the air. Externally, the shell resembles that used in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, but the number of built-in functions is less. For example, there are no optimizers for using a curved screen, there is no Bixby assistant.

Smartphone owners have access to some Samsung applications and Microsoft programs. The missing programs can be downloaded from the Samsung App Store and Google Play.

Camera. Photo and video capabilities

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Galaxy J3 2017 has a 13 megapixel camera with f/2.2, autofocus and LED flash. The camera takes good quality pictures in daylight outdoors and indoors. It doesn't work very well in the dark, but that's a problem with all mid-range cameras. The main camera focuses slowly. In many ways, the module is comparable to those used in Huawei, Xiaomi, and Meizu devices. Overall, we can give it a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

The camera interface is made in the traditional Samsung style. You can start shooting by double-clicking the central button below the screen. There are many settings and preset modes, including self-portrait, panorama, night, continuous shooting, HDR and GIF creation. Video capabilities are limited to shooting in 1080p 30 frames per second. Shooting modes include: Single Shot, Smile Detection, Continuous, Panorama, Vintage, Portrait, Landscape, Night Mode, Sports, Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dawn, Fall Colors, Fireworks, Text, Twilight, Backlight.

The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels. It is quite photosensitive (f/1.9), but does not have autofocus. However, there is an outbreak. When taking a selfie, you can adjust your skin tone, face shape, and eye size.

Results

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Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) is a pretty nice mobile phone. But there is a problem! Most competitors can do more and cost less. For example, for the same money that they ask for Samsung, you can buy Huawei P9 Lite, Meizu M5s, Xiaomi Redmi 4X. The above models have the best set of characteristics. Well, models with similar characteristics to the Galaxy J3 2017 (Xiaomi Redmi 4A, Huawei Honor 6A) are 30% cheaper. As a result, buying a Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) is devoid of practicality. Samsung has once again lost the battle to the Chinese.

Advantages

High quality build

Dual SIM support

Long battery life

You can use two SIM cards and a memory card at the same time

Flaws

High price

Low screen quality

Slow interface

You cannot install some programs available on more expensive Samsung smartphones

In mid-May 2017, the Korean manufacturer Samsung introduced a new gadget designed to complement the family of J series devices. The new product is called Galaxy J3 (2017) and seriously claims to soon receive the title of best-selling phone. Why users should love this smartphone much more than last year's J3, you will find out by reading our review.

Technical characteristics of Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017):

• Standard: 2 SIM Nano, GSM/HSPA/LTE
• Dimensions (length / thickness / height): 142.3 mm / 71.3 mm / 8 mm
• Weight: 138 grams
• Processor: Exynos 7 (7570), 4 cores, clock frequency 1.4 GHz
• Display: SuperAMOLED, 5 inches, resolution 720×1280
• Battery capacity: 2400 mAh
• RAM / ROM: 2 GB / 16 GB (expandable up to 256 GB)
• Cameras (main, front): 13 megapixels / 5 megapixels
• Operating system: Android 7.0
• Design: Down with plastic?

The 2016 Samsung Galaxy J3 model has an unusually nondescript appearance. The body is completely made of plastic. Although the back panel imitates a matte metal finish, and the edging looks like aluminum. The body of the device does not contain a single gram of metal.

Samsung Galaxy J 3 (2017) looks much more presentable. The device has a metal case with plastic inserts and is non-separable. SIM cards and flash cards are installed in trays, which are removed from the case using a special needle. Like other Samsung models, this one has two trays: the first is designed for one nano-SIM, the second is a combined one - you can put a second SIM card and MicroSD in it.

Compared to last year’s analogue, the Galaxy J3 (2017) has made significant progress in terms of design. However, compared to other devices in the 2017 J line, it looks rather unassuming. The thing is that the J5 (2017) and J7 (2017) smartphones have all-metal bodies - without any hint of plastic. Because of this, on the back panels of older gadgets there are inserts for antennas, but their presence can hardly be considered a disadvantage - they do not spoil the appearance, and to some they even seem like a good decorative element.

The note. The combination of metal and plastic inserts in the body of the Galaxy J3 (2017) is not the best solution. Dirt gets clogged in the cracks at the joints, so the user will have to periodically clean the gadget.

Screen: no miracles!

The gadget is equipped with a display made using SuperAMOLED technology - the same as the J5 (2017) and J7 (2017) models. However, if the presence of such “sophisticated” displays on older models is quite logical, then the presence of a SuperAMOLED screen on the J3 is a big surprise. There are simply no other smartphones on the market with such displays that would cost the same as a new budget device.

At the same time, the younger model of the 2017 Samsung line is clearly no match for the older one in terms of the number of screen settings. In particular, the J3 lacks a function called “Blue Filter,” which can be used to completely remove blue from the color palette of the gadget’s display. This is done in order to preserve the user’s vision - as you know, it is the blue color that negatively affects the eyes. Also, on the J3 you cannot change the screen mode and set up automatic brightness adjustment - although on older models all this is easy to do.

A visual comparison of the screens of the J5 (2017) and J3 (2017) models will clearly not be in favor of the latter gadget. Its display is quite dim and noticeably blue. Jay 5 (2017) has no such problems - its screen is white and very bright. Despite the sAMOLED technology, the display of the Galaxy J3 (2017) seems to be its weak point.

Performance: no claims to records!

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) “under the hood” has a chipset of Samsung’s own production – Exynos 7570. This is a 4-core solution with a Mali T720 video accelerator. The processor can be described as outdated - using the Exynos 7870 chipset would be a better solution, but it would inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of the mobile device.

The note. The result of the fact that the gadget has a budget-level chipset is periodic freezes and lags, which especially often make themselves felt during gameplay.

The smartphone has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory. The ROM volume can be increased to 256 GB using a flash card - as in any gadget of the 2017 J line. In terms of user memory for the J3 (2017), Samsung does not strictly limit it.

Galaxy J3 (2017) cameras: photographers pass by

If the Galaxy Jay 5 has already been nicknamed a “selfie smartphone” on social networks because of its front camera with a resolution of 13 megapixels, then this nickname cannot be applied to the Jay 3 model. Here the front camera has a much lower resolution - only 5 megapixels. This resolution might have impressed users a couple of years ago, but now, in the era of “selfie mania,” it looks rather modest.

Selfies taken with the Galaxy J3 (2017) camera turn out to be mediocre, to put it mildly. The color rendition is unreliable - there is too much blue in the photographs. If you compare selfies from the J3 and J5 models - “heaven and earth”. In the photo taken with the Samsung J5 (2017) gadget, the colors are bright and the contrast is at the highest level. Selfie lovers should avoid purchasing the Galaxy J3 (2017) - the quality of the photos will hardly please them.

As for the rear camera, its resolution is 13 megapixels. The camera module is equipped with an LED flash. The quality of the shooting will not amaze the user, but the photos are quite suitable for publishing on social networks.

The note. Initially, it was stated that the resolution of the J3 (2017) cameras would be even lower: 5 megapixels on the rear camera, 2 megapixels on the front camera. Fortunately, Samsung developers decided not to embarrass themselves with such characteristics.

How long will the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) live without a power outlet?

The battery capacity of the smartphone is 2400 mAh. Quantitatively, this is not much, but in practice, with such a battery, the device can easily work with active use for two days, with moderate load - 3 - 4 days. The battery capacity is enough for 20 hours of continuous viewing of movies or videos.

What ensures such an impressive battery life of the gadget? Just due to the fact that the smartphone “under the hood” has an old Exynos 7570 chipset, which does not seriously load the battery.

How else does the J3 differ from the older models in the line?

Unfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy J 3 (2017) lacks many of the features and bells and whistles that the J5 and J7 can boast of. In particular, the device does not have:

1. Fingerprint scanner.
2. NFC. The lack of support for NFC technology makes contactless payment using Samsung Pay and Android Pay impossible.
3. LED indicator. It will not be possible to set the flash to a call or other event.
4. Adaptive display features. With this function, the gadget is able to independently adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen to suit external conditions.

Samsung J3 differs from older models in price - and quite significantly. In Russia, the youngest smartphone in the line is sold for 9,990 rubles, while for the J5 they ask for as much as 17,990 rubles. Why the difference in price is so significant is obvious: Samsung marketers understand that many consumers look at the price of 10,000 rubles as a critical mark - that is, they are looking for a model for which this amount will be enough to purchase. Paradoxically, by selling the Galaxy J3 (2017) for 9,990 rubles, Samsung will be able to make much better revenue than if it had put a price tag on the gadget, say, 10,500 rubles.

The note. Compared to the European price, the price of the gadget is more than affordable - for this, domestic Samsung fans should thank the Russian office of the manufacturer. In European countries, the device is sold for about $220, which is almost 14,000 rubles when converted at the current exchange rate.

conclusions

The main advantages of the Galaxy J3 (2017) model are:

1. Attractive design with metal elements. The appearance of the device seems completely premium when compared with last year’s analogue.
2. Long battery life. The gadget can easily survive without power for a couple of days.
3. Decent rear camera with a resolution of 13 megapixels and LED flash.
4. Availability of an LTE module providing ultra-fast Internet.
5. Low cost. For people looking for a high-quality mobile device from a well-known manufacturer at a price of up to 11 thousand rubles, the Galaxy J3 (2017) is perfect.

The model also has disadvantages – and there are many of them:

1. Dim display. The SuperAMOLED matrix does not help here.
2. Weak front camera with a resolution of only 5 megapixels.
3. Lack of fingerprint sensor.
4. Weak outdated processor with 4 cores.

Market experts are inclined to believe that, despite many shortcomings, Galaxy Jay 3 (2017) will be very popular in Russia. For a number of reasons: firstly, because Samsung, and secondly, because the company’s marketers this time very intelligently distributed the new gadgets by price categories. However, if you don’t succumb to the “magic of the brand” and fairly compare the budget Samsung device with models from Chinese “second-tier” manufacturers, you can come to the conclusion that the price of the smartphone is even too high. The same Xiaomi Redmi 4X is able to offer the user more functionality for less money.

20.05.2016

And it all started quite harmlessly... My wife’s niece’s birthday party (I’m not good at family ties)... A month before the event, suddenly, an old phone (I don’t know what time Samsung) is lost/forgotten/stolen, respectively. parents have one less thing to worry about - a gift, of course, is a new phone... The price limit is 15,000 rubles... And then the classic “nutyzhprogrammer” (I’m never a programmer - I’m, in general, a pure humanist, stupidly phone people I asked it once and that’s it...).

After a couple of hours of intense thinking, I gave up this disastrous occupation due to its complete futility - for 15 thousand you can buy completely different models, both pure Chinese and brands. And I simply asked the future birthday girl (well, there will be no surprise, but I won’t miss the choice). The answer sincerely pleased me: anything but white - emo, or whoever they are now (they still call themselves goths, but they haven’t watched “The Crow”), they don’t wear white, you see; and not Samsung - the impressions from the old phone are too “unforgettable”.

The selection process was also not particularly difficult, but then the adventures began.

My morning began with a call from this very gift giver: “Which phone should I take?! Urgently! There is no time! I’m in Russia at the store! Call me back!” (I myself am located a little in a neighboring country, and in principle I had no intention of calling anyone back). I only managed to say: “Not white, and not Samsung - look at Lenov and Azusa.” In general, I looked at other Chinese, but I don’t know how to call Xiaomi on the phone.

With a clear conscience, I forgot all this. But a couple of weeks later, I was a little surprised when I saw a white Samsung in the birthday girl’s hands (as it turned out, after a call during which he heard neither Nokia, nor LV, nor Samsung, but only some “little-known Chinese” the question was asked to a consultant at MVideo. The rest, I think, is clear), who came to me for an indefinite period of time with the goal of picking up a black case (not in stores - order on Ali), installing programs and doing something with it in general - “you know how to do it” ".

The phone turned out to be quite new Samsung J3 (2016). The model is unknown and incomprehensible to me. I’ve loved Samsung since the days of the R210 - the blue backlight was very different from the others, and after that there was the “I” series - also a good popularization of smartphones, but in the whole house there was never even a microwave or refrigerator from the Koreans. Insofar as I came across Wave and Nexus, and I tried it for a couple of days and that’s it (okay, I confess, I spent almost a year with the X100). And here is a whole new smartphone from an industry leader. And there is a holiday on my street. Hurray, comrades.

So, phone. White, neat. The case is made of dense high-quality plastic, there is even a certain mother-of-pearl effect. Samsung is still Samsung - even the back cover (battery compartment) fits very tightly - not the slightest gap. I definitely liked the assembly of the case.

Traditionally, nothing creaks or plays. The mechanical “Home” button does not dangle and does not cause any negative feelings (there are devices where these same buttons are smaller than the grooves by a couple of millimeters or “play” as they want - everything is clear and neat here).

For a couple of minutes I, as usual, looked for the LED - in vain. I have already come to terms with its absence in a phone costing 5-7 thousand (a sort of lower reasonable limit for a normally working phone), but it would be possible to solder it into a device costing 12 thousand.

At that moment, I wasn’t particularly worried - I already have experience in making smartphones notify with buttons, but at some point I suddenly realized that the buttons weren’t even backlit!

At first glance, this is not so noticeable - the outlines of the symbols are clear and clearly visible during the day, but in the dark you will have to type from memory. Again, there will be no notifications... Although it would be possible to attach a flash, but somehow I didn’t think about it.

In general, it turned out to be a good case with brand recognition and excellent assembly. And somehow the dimensions were chosen, which I initially thought was even 4.7 inches. This is despite the fact that the main phone - Sony ZL - is probably the smallest five-inch device in size. And here is some... No, it is not smaller (7.9 * 71.0 * 142.3 mm), but the weight/proportion ratio makes the phone feel smaller than it actually is.

There is a silver edging along the perimeter of the phone. It's not metal - it's all plastic.

The appearance is great, there is no fault here, but how it works is something to be seen.

My vision is normal, without a built-in microscope, spectrum analyzer or litmus test. What I mean is that I can’t find fault with the screen.

Bright, colorful, rich - yes, that’s all (Super AMOLED). Pixels, of course, are not noticeable (the usual HD resolution in this case is only a plus: the battery is saved, the hardware is not strained, and the picture does not suffer much).

Viewing angles are said to be maximum. In practice, distortion and inversion are absent as a class. The screen sensitivity is excellent, the surface is moderately slippery.

I didn't notice any oleophobic coating, although prints are collected with some reluctance. There is no protective glass either. There is a small black border around the perimeter of the active part - this is what I always don’t like.

Completely by accident, I learned from reviews that only two touches are supported. I checked - it's true. Why from reviews? In real life, under traditional conditions, I have never needed more than two fingers on the screen. Therefore, I do not fully understand the users and their comments asking why not five.

Much more significant is that there is no automatic backlight control function. I know that many people turn it off (and I use it), but it’s one thing to turn it off, but its complete absence is quite another - at least it’s disrespect for the user, but for me it’s critical in principle.

What I don't like about Samsung is the blue curtain. I understand that it is convenient. That "quick" shortcuts are correct. That, unlike so many models, shortcuts can be easily configured without root or third-party programs. But I don't like it. Subjectively.

The rest is Android 5.1 in all its glory.

For some reason, the developer menu was opened out of the box - I don’t know, maybe it’s their custom, maybe in the store, maybe something else. By the way, the developer settings are complete - nothing has been cut down. What can not be said about the settings in general.

No, for a regular phone everything is fine, but not for Samsung. I judge by the same thing. I understand that this is not a flagship model and there may not be smart call functions here, but it’s possible to simply turn on answering a call with a mechanical button, and it was necessary. Likewise, there are no gesture controls and everything else. Those. if, under the influence of advertising, you suddenly want some branded interesting things for relatively little money, nothing will work out... at least with this model.

I was hoping to at least see the sound amplification in my pocket - a necessary and simple thing, but this is not the case. And if in older models the menu is organized structurally, here it is the most ordinary Android (a few items located at the beginning of the list don’t count - it’s just a small modification).

Although no, from the brand there is a “Simple desktop”.

Either for the elderly, or for very newbies, or for poor eyesight - everything is greatly increased and “simplified”.

There is something similar in Miui called “Senior Mode”. In this model, I don’t see any point in this at all - the model is clearly aimed at young people, but to distinguish it from the flagships, it would be better to remove the “simple mode” than “loudness in your pocket.”

Users are also pleased with the set of pre-installed non-uninstallable applications: CleanMaster, the proprietary SmartManager, and several lesser-known things.

Moreover, even a set of office applications from Microsoft is present, again uninstallable. And everything would be fine, but there is a very small amount of internal system memory available for installing an application from the Market, which becomes clogged after a couple of minor games, and the presence of Excel is great, but voluminous.

Of the declared 8 GB, just over four gigabytes are available.

Well, how accessible it is - you need to take away the pre-installed software... but I won’t do that - people tried, they pre-installed. But seriously, it doesn’t matter whose “office” is located - there will still be a place to work. By the way, with 471 MB available from the Market, nothing can be installed on this phone, which is a problem with many devices.

Thoughts on Google Play and memory

The reason is that before installing the program, the Market checks the availability of free space on the device. But! It checks not just the fact of its presence and sufficiency for the software, but, first of all, for compliance with certain established limits. So, depending on the device, the required minimum of free memory, depending on the version of the market (yes, each version has its own Wishlist), phone model and moon phases, should be from 280 to 500 MB.

The severity of the situation is added by the fact that it is not the entire space that is checked, but the free memory of the system partition (it is very clearly visible in Titanium Backup).

There is no adequate universal cure for the problem - only crutches in the form of transferring applications to a memory card, deleting old programs and cache, and here it all depends on the manufacturer - how much space he left free specifically for installing applications.

By the way, installing software from a memory card or third-party markets is done without checking any volume, and in this way you can reduce the memory to almost zero.

You can expand the space for video and music using a memory card, the slot of which is located in a rather original way - on the first try you won’t immediately understand what to insert where and why.

And it should be like this:

As you can see, two SIM cards are supported, the slots are separate, in the sense that they are not combined with a memory card.

The battery is removable, which is good. As much as 2600 mAh. Everything is fine with the charge, we are not aiming for leadership, we are not competing with Philips, but we will not leave without communication - daylight hours are provided in almost any use scenario (this does not mean constant games and videos, of course). And when using SmartManager and built-in software saving systems (in my opinion, it’s stupid to turn off Wi-Fi, and GPS too) you can achieve more.

Yes, for a second, we have an AMOLED screen, which means you can save quite a lot by using black. In this case, a monochrome screensaver, or even better, an operating mode can significantly extend working time.

As I already said, there is no light sensor, at least they didn’t deprive us of an accelerometer and a proximity sensor...

Everything works smoothly and smoothly. Considering that everything is built on the basis of the Spreadtrum SC8830 (today you probably won’t find a more budget-friendly base). Still the same four cores at 1200 MHz, still the same Mali 400 graphics. Everything is familiar, well, absolutely (only the name changes). RAM, however, is as much as one and a half gigabytes. A kind of compromise: on the one hand, it is not much more expensive in cost, on the other hand, it sets it apart from older models, and on the third, it should stand out favorably against the background of budget competitors.

In general, this combination fully copes with any everyday work, almost any games that can be crammed into such a volume of memory (of course, at minimum quality and with periodic “brakes”, sometimes significant, sometimes not. The phone clearly does not pretend to be a gaming phone, but running around at "Subway or whatever" will give you no problem), video, Internet and music. In synthetics there are not enough stars from the sky and is at the level of other budget phones.

As expected - a little faster than the painfully boring Qualcomm 200, MT6582 and the first “normal” chip from Spreadtrum - 7731 (let me refer to the review of Fly Cirrus, which compares these systems).

But what I really liked was the GPS: the first cold start in the life of the phone took about five seconds - fourteen satellites were easily identified, and the error was four meters, which by any modern standards is closer to very excellent (and yes, I know , that there are no such words).

The camera left a completely different feeling. The advertising brochure features some guy with a bunch of ladies - it looks like he gets a stunning 120-degree selfie. Judging by the photos I have already received, there is no fantasy - there are simply optics with a focal length of 2.8 mm (most likely). In this situation, at short distances (up to a couple of meters, in theory), a clear, seemingly expanded picture is obtained. But everything on it, except the object in the center at a short distance from the lens, will have slightly distorted proportions - it may look impressive, but not at all realistic (although, maybe it seems to me). It is impossible, as I understand it, to turn this off - the effect is achieved by truly physical means.

But in the evening, long before sunset, the situation changes in no way for the better (here, connoisseurs are sorry for the background - where I caught it, and it took about ten minutes to stop this miracle even for a second).

The rear camera measures 8 megapixels of dubious quality. So, under ideal conditions, the pictures come out very good.

But already indoors there is an immediate loss of colors - the photos are faded and limp. Even in normal lighting.

True, the flash corrects the situation, but the colors become somehow unrealistic (to put it mildly).

By the way, about blurriness - the camera is very fast, the time between pressing and photographing is much less than a second, but the price for this is poor focusing quality; when shooting objects that are not moving on a bright sunny day, and not very much, in most cases the background is blurry.

In the case of the front camera, this is generally a disease - to get a more or less normal selfie of the cat, I took at least a dozen pictures.

The sunset setting is not possible for both cameras in principle.

With “macro photography”, or rather the so-called. “blurring” the background when shooting dew drops and beetles, everything is a little worse than with self-photos - the depth of field is clearly not going to change depending on the advertisement...

In a word, I didn’t appreciate the camera - it’s fast, but frankly weak in terms of focusing and, as a result, a clear image.

But the phone needs to be called first. Everything is fine here - the sound is clear and loud enough. The speaker's ringing gives off some overly ringing notes. Of course, there is no noise reduction, and there are no already mentioned proprietary features - just a dialer.

Unless - like this, as a gift for a daughter or granddaughter on the recommendation of an MVideo consultant...

About competitors

Interestingly, the A-brand status imposes the need to comply in everything - including price. So, if for the same Fly a budget model is 5-6 thousand rubles, then for Samsung it is 10-12,000 rubles. This is fair, we buy not only goods, but also status, and the price includes not only the cost of hardware, but staff salaries, advertising costs, service and, again, status. I understand and welcome this, but this is with my mind... but my soul is loud - it’s a little expensive, but there are cheaper options...

So, oh cheaper. If you ask Yandex.Market about analogues for the same amount (even if it is a little more expensive - up to 14,000 rubles) and remove the entire Chinese terrarium (no offense to the owners of Chinese phones - I myself love, appreciate and respect, but there are still a lot of opponents) , it turns out that we don’t have many competitors: LG K10 LTE K430DS

So, the same 1.5 gigabytes of memory - from the time of Vitya Perestukin, I simply do not perceive such numbers. This amount of memory provides virtually no benefit in terms of gaming and plays virtually no role in everyday tasks. Of course, something happens somewhere, but not globally. And here it’s more about the public...

Again, the camera... a youth phone with a weak camera and a low-focus front lens is positioned as a “selfie phone”.

And the appearance of the flagship evokes associations with the same functionality, but in the end we get nothing at all.

Perhaps the culprit is an advertising campaign with an emphasis on non-existent things, as a result of which the facts do not coincide with expectations, but I did not understand the phone. In fact, we have before us an ordinary budget phone, which in no way (here let’s remember the Super AMOLED screen - it’s very good) does not differ from a host of cheaper, but less famous competitors, and the most offensive thing is that there are still new samples of S4 on sale, which can be bought for same money, but get much more...

My opinion is that before buying a Samsung J3 you need to think very carefully... buying it, in my opinion, is only possible if you are an ardent fan of the brand and an opponent of Chinese brands (although, as the hero of the disaster film about an asteroid and Bruce Willis said: “Russian technology, American technology - everything is still made in China"). In other cases, the market offers much more interesting models for the same price. (Again, the SoC is from the more than Chinese and cheap Spreadtrum - it seems like Samsung, but it seems like not very much. Yes, it’s fast and not energy-intensive, but Spreadtrum! Obviously, “status” is not enough.)

Score - 6 points (2 points each for excellent assembly, screen and navigation; well, points not received for the camera and Samsung functionality).

olegdn (Oleg Gordinsky)

The brand positions the J line as the entry level, even though the cost of the top models can reach 20 thousand rubles. The price difference could not but affect the technical characteristics of the devices. The most prominent representatives of the series are the J3, J5 and J7 gadgets.

The company presents the new models as an alternative to the more noble A-series. That is, J-devices are designed for those who do not need advanced or expensive functionality, but want to have a gadget from a famous brand in their pocket, and not some no-name device from China with an unclear warranty and incomprehensible service.

Nevertheless, the abundance of more than competitive “Chinese” makes the younger J-series (J3/J5) not so attractive. So here we are talking more about buying a venerable brand, rather than functionality and some remarkable features. Let's consider the most attractive option for domestic consumers - the J3 model, the youngest in the series.

So, the subject of today's review is a smartphone (2017). Characteristics, owner reviews, advantages and disadvantages of the gadget, as well as the advisability of the purchase will be discussed in our article.

Positioning

The first step is to clarify some price points that may After all the press releases, where the company presented journalists with a brand new model for 9,990 rubles, a device with slightly different characteristics should have gone on sale.

Here we are talking about the AMOLED screen that is equipped with the older models of the series. In fact, the gadget received a good, but still TFT matrix. Conveyor versions of the smartphone (J330F) began to differ not only in “filling”, but also in price. In total, the consumer received, in fact, an ordinary gadget for 12 thousand rubles.

Naturally, the “Chinese” from the budget segment look much more attractive. Huawei, Meizu and Xiaomi can offer almost the same thing, but for less money - 9, 8, or even 7 thousand rubles. But if you look at all Samsung models, the J3 device received the minimum price. That is, for 12 thousand rubles, the consumer has a branded smartphone with a unique design in a metal case.

Looking at the characteristics and reviews of the Samsung J3 (2017) in general, users are, in principle, willing to overpay for the name and a better quality body at the expense of the matrix. So everyone here has their own preferences and views on this situation.

Equipment

The smartphone is sold in a small box made of thick cardboard in a plain design. There are no beautiful landscapes, girls or cars on the packaging - only a blue background and the name of the series with an emphasis on the year of manufacture.

On the reverse side there is a very modest specification and manufacturer's markers. At the ends you can see accompanying labels and distributor stickers. The interior decoration is organized quite sensibly and the accessories do not “quarrel” with each other. Actually, there’s not much to fit there, because the equipment is budget-friendly.

Contents of delivery:

• the device itself;
• mains charger;
• USB cable for synchronization with PC and recharging;
• wired headphones;
• SIM card removal tool;
• documentation with warranty obligations.

The set is quite meager, but more is not needed here. Any additional accessory adds cost to the gadget, and the price is already high. Judging by the reviews of Samsung J3 (2017) owners, they are quite satisfied with the existing equipment. Today it is very difficult to please the consumer with standard cases or styluses, so users prefer to buy everything themselves, as they say, according to their taste and color.

The accessories themselves look reliable and not cheap: the charger is well assembled, the cords are elastic and protected, and the SIM card clip is made of a good alloy. In general, it feels like the device was equipped with a venerable brand. This is also confirmed by numerous reviews of the Samsung J3 (2017) in a positive way.

Appearance

The manufacturer didn’t bother with color schemes and released the J-series in the usual classic colors. In stores you can find blue, gold, pink and black gadgets. Judging by the reviews of the Black smartphone (2017), buyers are tired of the black color, and a good half of users prefer blue or gold colors. Pink devices are extremely rare, but due to the specificity of the shade, it is almost not in demand, so it’s difficult to write this down as a minus.

The dimensions of the device can be called acceptable for its diagonal - 143 x 70 x 8 mm. Weighing 142 grams, the model fits well in the hand and does not cause any discomfort even after prolonged use. Reviews of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) smartphone are entirely positive in terms of ergonomics: the device is really comfortable and fits perfectly in the palm of your hand.

The device has a metal body, but with extensive inserts in the upper and lower parts. Comparing the older models with the J3, you can see that the brand has saved on design: visually the device looks like a budget phone, and only an expensive case can hide this. Judging by the reviews of (2017) Gold, the “golden” solution slightly saves the appearance, helping to merge the plastic inserts with the metal body. But upon careful examination, the budget segment of the gadget is still felt.

The next thing the manufacturer saved on was sensors. The smartphone does not have a fingerprint module, nor does it have an automatic light sensor. The latter costs a penny, and such savings are not entirely clear. Users in their reviews of (2017) have repeatedly criticized the brand for such a decision. Even frankly cheap Chinese models have a light sensor, and some have a fingerprint scanner. So here the manufacturer clearly went too far with cutting out unnecessary things.

Interfaces

On the front panel there is a familiar Samsung physical button, and on the sides there are two touch keys. They work great and respond well, but they are completely devoid of backlighting - again, saving money.

In the upper front part there is a peephole for the front camera with a flash. On the left side is the volume rocker, and on the right is the power key. The speaker is also located on the end just above the power button. This decision caused a mixed reaction in reviews of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) smartphone.

On the one hand, the speaker does not cause any problems and even looks original. But on the other hand, his vociferousness has noticeably decreased. And if other gadgets from Samsung were distinguished not only by high-quality sound, but also by a good volume level, here we have only a solid average.

The bottom end is reserved for a standard 3.5 mm mini-jack and a micro-USB interface for synchronizing with a computer, peripherals and recharging. Slots for SIM and SD cards are located on the left side: one for the nano format, the other for an external drive or the same SIM card.

Assembly

As for the build quality, there are no complaints here. Users in their reviews of the Samsung J330F Galaxy J3 (2017) smartphone did not note any creaks, backlashes, gaps and other shortcomings that are typical for gadgets in the budget segment.

All parts fit tightly together and the device looks monolithic. So here we have a solid five: the gadget’s belonging to a noble brand is still felt.

Display

The device received an ordinary screen on the same unremarkable TFT matrix. The maximum that it is capable of is HD scanning. Judging by the reviews of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017), almost the only thing that pleased the matrix was its good readability of data in the sun, and that’s all.

There is no automatic adjustment of brightness and contrast, but there are several presets for different operating scenarios. For example, when the “Outdoor” mode is turned on, the brightness is turned up to the maximum value and the screen becomes easy to read even in direct sunlight.

The screen does not have any specific settings. In general, users in their reviews of the Samsung J3 (2017) are perplexed about this. Yes, the smartphone does not have the best TFT matrix, but it is also capable of some “tricks”. And why the manufacturers did not include the appropriate tools in the firmware is not entirely clear.

There are some minor complaints about the viewing angles, and only the mediocre TFT matrix is ​​to blame for this. Therefore, you won’t be able to scroll through photos or watch videos in the company of friends: when you change the angle, the picture begins to distort, losing saturation and color.

Performance

The proprietary Exynos 7570 chipset running on four cores with a frequency of 1.4 GHz is responsible for the performance. 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory are enough for ordinary needs. The interface does not slow down and responds quickly, and all tables and icons scroll through and work as intended. If the internal storage is not enough, then it is possible to increase the volume using external SD cards, up to 256 GB.

Judging by the reviews of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) SM J330F, users are generally satisfied with the performance of the gadget. Essentially, what you pay for is what you get. There are no issues with the operation of standard applications, but some problems may arise with serious third-party programs. For “heavy” and modern toys, 2 GB of RAM is no longer enough, so sometimes you have to reset the graphic presets to the average, or even the minimum value (if the application starts at all).

Cameras

The main camera has a 13-megapixel matrix with autofocus and some kind of flash. The resulting photos are quite good, but only in good lighting. The camera's capabilities can be compared with the same "Chinese" ones - nothing outstanding, but nothing particularly to reproach.

Users, judging by reviews of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) Black, are generally satisfied with the capabilities of the matrix. Yes, in the dark the camera is practically useless, but the budget gadget was bought for the most part as a phone, and not as a camera.

The front camera has more modest capabilities with a 5-megapixel matrix. There is no autofocus here, but there is a flash and a variety of modes. The camera is perfect for taking selfies and further processing the latter right on the spot. Fortunately, there are enough tools for this, as well as decorations in the stock firmware. If you analyze the reviews of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) J330F, you can see that the main consumer of the gadget is young people. So the brand made the right decision by adding similar functionality for selfies to its device.

Communications

For the same savings, the manufacturer equipped the gadget with a single-band Wi-Fi module. Users in their reviews of the Samsung J3 (2017), especially city residents, have repeatedly complained about this decision. In large cities, the airwaves are crowded to the maximum, and normal operation will not work with one band.

In addition, the device does not have ANT+, and even today it does not have the necessary NFC module. There are no complaints about the Bluetooth wireless protocol: version 4.2 works as it should and transfers data quite quickly. The GPS module, one might say, functions as standard, and there are no questions about it either. The only thing worth noting is that it eats up a fair amount of battery, so you shouldn’t get carried away with it.

As for regular cellular communications, judging by user reviews of the Samsung J3 (2017), there are no problems: reception is stable, no interruptions or sagging were noticed. The Internet also works well, including LTE, and packets are not lost. So, if the connection starts to glitch or behave strangely, then the cellular operator is to blame, not the device.

Platform

The smartphone runs on the Android operating system version 7.0.1. In addition to the standard set of applications, the manufacturer has finally included a sensible FM radio in the firmware. Previous versions of the latter were so buggy that they caused a whole storm of negative emotions among users. In the latest versions of the platform, the holes have been patched up, and now everything works as it should.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the KNOX function, where the user has the opportunity to install any application in two copies at once. This is very convenient if you actively use instant messengers like WhatsApp on your work and home SIM cards.

But, as usual, the brand has stuffed its device with proprietary software. A good half of the applications are either entirely advertising-based or simply useless. It is quite difficult to remove all these “useful” programs from the stock firmware, so you have to resort to the help of third-party utilities that completely cut out all unnecessary software. As one of the options, you can immediately take care of changing the firmware to an amateur one. Fortunately, there are a lot of them on specialized forums, and some are even marked by the manufacturer as recommended or approved.

Autonomous operating time

The gadget received a 2400 mAh lithium-ion battery. For the gluttonous “android” brethren, this is clearly not enough. The unspoken minimum in the budget segment ranges from 3000 mAh, but here we have a very modest battery.

If you use your smartphone specifically as a phone or messenger and, with rare exceptions, allow yourself to play games or watch videos in high quality, then the charge will last for two or even three days with a reserve.

For fans of games and other multimedia entertainment, battery life will be sorely lacking. The device in this mode is barely enough for daylight hours, and already closer to dinner it begins to “ask” for a power outlet. So autonomy is one of the weakest features of the model.

There is no wireless charging, like the older generation, but for most users this is not critical. But what I wanted to get was fast recharging. Owners in their reviews more than once complained about the manufacturer due to the lack of it. With such a modest indicator of autonomy, such a necessary thing as instant recharging is simply necessary. In normal mode, the battery is recharged in 2.5-3 hours.

Summarizing

As for the telephone, our respondent has no complaints: the connection is good, the vibration alert is noticeable, the subscriber can be heard very well, as well as you. The speaker volume is at an average level, but the device cannot be called quiet.

The smartphone is suitable for those who need a telephone gadget. For those who often surf the Internet and like to play games or watch movies, the J3 is far from the best option. Here we have a mediocre TFT matrix and the same performance. All this is perfectly optimized for standard tools, but, alas, it won’t handle anything really serious. And even if it does, it will last no more than an hour with such a modest battery.

J3 is the youngest model in its series and costs about 12 thousand rubles. The next generation (J5/J7) has more serious components and costs 15 and 18 thousand rubles, respectively. If you are looking for a normal gadget in the mid-price segment, then the J5 and J7 models are very good options, which cannot be said about the J3. It is difficult to classify it in the budget category because of the price, but in terms of its characteristics it does not reach the average level.

If you are not an ardent fan of the Samsung brand, and you need a smart device under 10 thousand rubles, then it is better to pay attention to the reputable “Chinese” from Meizu, Huawei and Xiaomi. They dominate the budget segment and offer really high-quality and inexpensive gadgets.