Samsung has always had budget-oriented phones alongside its flagship products, but they've rarely been sold widely as unlocked phones in the US. Today, it's doing just that. The Galaxy J3 (right) and J7 (left) are being released in the US as unlocked phones on July 28th.
Both phones have an older Samsung aesthetic—no fancy edge-to-edge display here. The only difference visually between the two phones is the smaller screen on the J3. The Galaxy J3 is the cheaper of the two phones at $150. Here's what you get.
Samsung Galaxy J3
SPECS
|
SoC |
Quad Core 1.4 GHz |
|
RAM |
1.5GB |
|
Storage |
16GB with microSD |
|
Display |
5-inch 720p LCD |
|
Battery |
2600mAh |
|
Camera |
5MP, 2MP |
|
Software |
Android 7.0 |
|
Measurements |
5.51” x 2.7” x 0.34”, 5.2oz |
The Galaxy J7 clocks in at $220, and it offers noticeably better hardware. However, it's not going to rival Samsung's more expensive phones.
Samsung Galaxy J7
SPECS
|
SoC |
Octa Core 1.6 GHz |
|
RAM |
2GB |
|
Storage |
16GB with microSD |
|
Display |
5.5-inch 720p LCD |
|
Battery |
3300mAh |
|
Camera |
8MP, 5MP |
|
Software |
Android 7.0 |
|
Measurements |
5.97" x 3.00" x 0.34", 5.99oz |
It's nice to see both phones shipping with Nougat, but the displays are only 720p. A lot of phones in this price range ship with 1080p panels. I guess that's Samsung counting on its brand to drive sales more than the specs. If you want to pick up Samsung's new unlocked devices, they'll be on sale at major retailers on July 28th. Samsung didn't specify network compatibility beyond "3G, 4G, LTE," but I'd expect these to be GSM-only phones with a host of common LTE bands.
Source: Samsung