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Welcome to the 2016 Samsung Galaxy J1 review mobile phone review.
Don't you just hate it when your expensive top range mobile phone dies and you can access anything especially if you're on holidays? Regardless of whether you are on a monthly plan or pre-paid in 2016 a mobile phone with data is mostly an essential device and when it breaks...drama. We'll that's happened to one of us and it was quite painful. Although we have plenty of spare phones at various homes it happened on holidays so no spares on hand. It is important to have at least one line of communication open when you are away. Hence the quickest way to get a back in touch with civilization is to purchase a inexpensive outright smartphone and that is how we found the Samsung Galaxy J1. Priced under $180 in most retail outlets it's one of the best spec entry level 4G/LTE capable smartphones you can buy at the moment. So is the Galaxy J1 any good?
In terms of construction the Samsung Galaxy J1 is a very well made phone. Admittedly it only has one detachable rear panel and is similar to the design used on the Galaxy Note 4 so well integrated and tight. The rest of the Galaxy J1 includes a metal like edge and a glass screen! If there is anything a little down market is the un-coated plastic buttons on the side. The under the back cover there is a double decker microSD slot above the SIM card slot is an interesting solution to saving space. Overall the Galaxy J1 construction is perfectly acceptable and no complaints.
In terms of specifications the Galaxy J1 is OK for the price. It has a quad-core 1.2 Ghz CPU but no dedicated GPU mentioned. Since the processor is the latest 'System On a Chip' design we assume it has one built in and the main CPU it can be clocked up to 1.5Ghz apparently...! The Galaxy J1 also has a 4G or LTE radio so it is quite speedy when downloading data. The screen resolution appears low at 480 x 800 but you don't really notice it which is the best point to make. The screen is also much brighter than other similar phones and not noticeably recessed from the surface - which means its a modern design. In the end there is nothing to really boast about just the basics really.
In terms of use the Samsung Galaxy J1 is surprising quick running Andriod 4.4 KitKat. You'd expect a phone is this price range to be a little sluggish but so far the J1 is acceptable. Sure the J1 does not rival the speed of the older models like the Galaxy S4 but it is faster then the iPhone 4GS in terms of use and those are much more expensive. That said once you start installing Apps so forth you may experience a little slow down but still more than acceptable for the price.
Overall the Samsung Galaxy J1 is a very decent cost effective smartphone. We didn't research the phone before hand only checking out the Samsung website for specification, so it was a lucky purchase! It was a surprise as we didn't expect much. The only real problem with the Galaxy J1 is the tiny 4G free memory so you need an extra memory card to take advantage of the power. The Galaxy J1 will work very well as a main phone for undemanding daily users and perfectly as a spare phone especially if your expensive Galaxy Edge 6+ for example, gets even thinner when trying to act as a door stop.
Specifications
- Samsung Galaxy J1
- Network
Quad-band GSM
Dual-band 3G
Dual Band 4G LTE
- Design
Touch screen
- L129 x W68 x D8.9 mm
Weight 122 grams
- Display/s
External 4.3 Inch TFT 400 x 800
- Camera
5MP LED Flash
Video Camera HD 720p @ 30fps
2MP front camera
- Connectivity
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth V4
- CPU
Quad-core 1.2 Mhz with 768RAM
- Memory
Up to 4Gig available to user
MicroSD up to 64Gig
- Ring tones
MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
- Features
A-GPS
Proximity, Accelerometer (G-Sensor)
FM Radio with RDS and recording
- Power
Li-Po 1850mAh battery
Up to 12 Days Standby
Up to 9 hours Talk Time
- Price history
Under $180 AUD 2016
