Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro Pros and Cons: Should You Buy It?

The average Indian consumer is spoilt for choice when it comes to picking up a smartphone. From high-end flagships and mid-ranged smartphones to budget phones, the market is teeming with new devices. Joining this line of smartphones is the new Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro — a new budget offering from the house of Samsung.

Priced at Rs. 20,900, the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is bundled with Android Nougat and a sleek design. It’s also touted as a Make in India smartphone and was released along with the Galaxy J7 Max.

So, should you buy the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro? Here, we weigh its pros and cons and help you make an informed decision.

Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro Pros

1. Samsung Pay

The Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro comes bundled with the Samsung Pay — a safe and secure way to make transactions without physical cards. All you have to do is load your card details, secure it with your fingerprint and the details will be carefully hidden within an encrypted vault.

To make a payment, all you have to do tap the phone against a POS and enter the PIN. Unlike the other payments methods like Apple Pay or Android Pay, Samsung Pay works in both NFC and MST devices thus making it possible to make cardless transactions almost everywhere.

2. Good Battery Life

Battery life is one of the most important aspects of any phone and can make and break a smartphone. The 3600mAh battery of the Galaxy J7 Pro will easily see you through a whole day during regular usage.

Plus it also comes bundled with advanced battery saving mode which monitors the background battery usage. It also has the nifty option to put unused apps to sleep if it hasn’t been used for 3 days.

This battery life can be credited to the built-in battery optimization features. And just in case, the battery level falls below 20%, you can extend the life by a few hours through the Mid and Max battery saving modes.

3. Good Processor and AMOLED Screen Combo

The Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is powered by a 1.6GHz octa-core Exynos 7870 processor and 3 GB RAM. This chipset is similar to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset. With the 14nm FinFET design, it consumes up to 30% less power and easily pulls off both small and big tasks with ease.

Though gaming did see a few frame drops, however, that was only in the highest resolution settings.

And when it comes to the display, the Galaxy J7 Pro packs in a Full HD Super AMOLED screen and is equipped with Samsung’s classic Always on Display (AOD) feature.

Not only does an AMOLED screen helps in saving battery juice, you can also customize the AOD such that you don’t have to wake the screen each time a notification makes way to your phone.

4. Social Camera

Aforesaid, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is one of the first smartphones to come with the industry first Social Camera. With it not only can you click and send photos to your favorite contacts in a jiffy, but also share on the social media platforms like Facebook and Messenger in a jiffy.

Also, the 13-megapixel camera (with front flash) has a wide aperture of f/1.7 thus resulting in pictures which are bright and vivid with a shallow depth of field.

5. Dedicated Slots for Memory card and SIM

Another nifty feature of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is the dedicated slots for the SIM and memory card. This feature found even on the scaled-down Galaxy J7 Max, lets you use both the SIM cards and the microSD cards to their maximum capacity.

Also, the support for USB OTG (on the go) in the Galaxy J7 Pro means that you can easily connect and transfer data using USB flash drives directly.

Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro Cons

1. No USB Type-C Charging Port

Priced at Rs. 20,900, the Galaxy J7 Pro sadly lacks a USB Type-C charging port. It’s still stuck with the micro USB port.

Even the recent entrant from Xiaomi — the Mi Max 2 — came bundled with USB Type-C

At a time, when the tech world is shifting focus to USB Type-C ports, it’s high-time that Samsung replaces them at the earliest, for the upcoming budget phones.

2. No Fast or Quick Charge

Another disadvantage of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is in the form of charging type. It supports neither Fast Charge nor Quick Charge.

And while you can easily find a few adapters with the output of 5 Volts and 2.0 Ampere in the same price range, the J7 Pro’s adapter gives an output of 5 Volts and 1.55 Ampere, meaning that a few hours will be easily gone in charging it to its maximum capacity.

So, if you are looking for charging on the go, the J7 Pro is not the best option to start with.

3. No 4K Video Resolution

Though the built-in Social Camera is a revolutionary feature, when it comes to the video mode, the camera takes a plunge. The J7 Pro doesn’t have the support for 4k video recording. It only supports FHD, 1:1, HD and VGA.

Even the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 or the Moto G5 Plus proudly boasts of 4k recording even if they are lesser priced.

What’s more, even Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) in the Galaxy J7 Pro is missing.

4. No Glass Protection

Moving on, the J7 Pro doesn’t pack in Corning Gorilla Glass or any form of scratch resistant technology. So, you might want to wrap your Galaxy J7 Pro in a sturdy case or a tempered glass to protect it against accidental falls or drops.

Better to be safe than sorry, right?

5. A Bit on the Heavy Side

At 181 grams, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is a bit on the heavier side. Though it has a slimmer profile and an average 3600 mAh battery, it could have been great if Samsung worked on the weight factor a bit.

To back up my statement, let me compare it with the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (again). The Mi Max 2 with its huge 6.44-inch screen and 5300mAh battery weigh only 211 grams.

So, Will you Buy It?

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Pro is a decent phone with a great battery life, upgraded software, and the all new Social Camera integration. Plus, the full metal unibody design, flush fitted camera and stylishly cut corners give an extra edge to the Galaxy J7 Pro.

For a phone priced at Rs. 20,900, although it’s a tad steep considering that some of its competitors are offering the same features at a lower price, the only advantage is in the form of Samsung Pay.

So, is the Samsung Pay integration worth the extra thousand bucks? So drop us a line in the comments below.

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