Review – Why You Should Buy Samsung Galaxy J1

Why should you spend over Sh50,000 to buy a high-end phone when a low-end phone has most of the high profile features available in expensive phones? I have been using Samsung Galaxy J1 for about two months and this is one of the best phones in the market that you should try. The phone ranks as number two in the top ten smartphones in Kenya.

Currently this is the most selling phone in the Kenyan market and people love it. Samsung introduced the J5 and J7 but I don’t think they will out compete the high demand set by J1 since it took the market by storm and everybody is still asking for it. We did the unboxing here and below is a rundown of the specs.

Design

The first thing that always clicks in my mind before I buy a phone is the design. Will the phone fit in my pocket or I will have to carry it the whole day on my hand? Samsung Galaxy J1 has the best premium design and shape that suits anybody who has a sense of style. The phone is 129 x 68.2 x 8.9mm and very light since it’s 122g. The first time I held the phone I thought it’s fake because of the light weight and you might even forget you are carrying a phone on your hand.

The slim stylish shape and the strategically placed home button makes it easy to hold and control.

                                                SM-J100HZBDXME-590464-0

Speed

Speed is very important because impatient people don’t like misbehaving phones that like hanging every time you multitask the phone. Samsung Galaxy J1 has a relatively good processor because it provides a good speed when it comes to functionality. The phone comes with a 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor Cortex A-7. 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor is quit good for a low-end phone.

Storage

Nowadays people store many things in their phones including photos, music, movies and important documents. With Galaxy J1 I didn’t see the need of buying an external hard disk. The phone comes with a 4GB in built storage and can be expanded to up to 128GB through MicroSD slot. The 4GB internal storage is good for any person who likes taking photos and storing music.

Screen

The phone comes with an ideal screen which is good for viewing images or videos. It has a 4.3-inch 480 x 800 display with a pixel density of 217 pixels per inch. The amazing size makes it a compact phone that’s able to provide a good experience when it comes to viewing videos.

Camera

Samsung is widely known for making devices that have amazing cameras. Samsung Galaxy S6 ranked first in Best Smartphone Cameras this year. Many people like taking good quality quick photos and Samsung devices have proved to be the best. So what makes a good smartphone camera? The ability of a phone to take good quality pictures lies in the Megapixels and the ability of the phone to gauge lighting conditions.

Samsung Galaxy J1 has a pretty good camera for the money with a 5 megapixel snapper on the back and a 2 megapixel one on the front. Besides taking photos the camera is able to shoot good videos. Video is capped at 720p and 30fps, but there’s a flash so you can shoot in darker environments and some low cost phones don’t even have front-facing cameras. I like taking random photos and here are some them.

 

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I was in a moving bus in the morning along Ngong Road

 

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Our playground at home

Battery

The most important feature is battery. Smartphones have the tendency of using too much power hence reducing battery life. Samsung Galaxy J1 can store power up to 10 hours of talk time and 40 hours of music playback. The phone comes with 1850 mAh battery which is good for a low end smartphone. The phone enables Ultra Power Saving Mode that adds more life. The mode can enable one to use the phone for a week without charging. How amazing is that?

                                                   kachwanya

Connectivity

This is the only low end phone with an effective 4G. Apparently, 4G enabled phones are above 40K in Kenya which is quite expensive. Other options include Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0 and supports HSPA+

Operating system

The phone runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat which is a disappointment to a number of people since the latest software is Android Lollipop. That is the only feature that I feel is a let down.

Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy J1 is a good phone with an amazing premium design, good battery life, reasonable camera and provides full access to apps from Google Play.

The major selling point of Samsung Galaxy J1 is the price. The phone goes for Shs 9,999 from Jumia Kenya.

Erick Vateta564 Posts

--- Erick Vateta is a lawyer by training, poet, script and creative writer by talent, a model, and tech enthusiast. He covers International tech trends, data security and cyber attacks.

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