Pros
Excellent Super AMOLED display; Lengthy battery life; Cheap
Cons
Camera has disappointing issues with exposure; Average performance
Verdict
The third-gen Moto G just retains its place in our budget smartphone affections thanks to its classier looks and build quality as well as its clean version of Android and waterproofing. Even so, the J5 has a lot going for it and is a very good alternative if you want a better looking screen and a replaceable battery.
The Samsung Galaxy J5 may not seem like the best budget smartphone around, especially when you pit it against the likes of the Huawei P Smart, Lenovo P2, Moto G4 and Vodafone's range of low-cost smartphones. One of the reasons for that is that it's been kept under wraps by Samsung, as the South Korean manufacturer prefers to flog its flagships.
But the Samsung Galaxy J5 is one of the most impressive low-cost smartphones to date, especially when you consider its price is just a smidgen above £100 - that's less than the majority of megre budget smartphones.
What makes the Samsung J5 even better is it's probably the first low-cost Samsung smartphone that's actually worth buying. And we'll tell you exactly why.
Appearance and casing
When you think budget, you probably think of a cheap, plasticky finish, uninspiring looks and general scrimping of anything that remotely resembles style. Low-cost smartphones are usually very flimsy too, threatening to snap in two should you apply too much pressure. Not the Samsung J5 though.
Many of the design choices have been lifted from previous Samsung flagship phones such as the Galaxy S5, from the pill-shaped home button to the curved edges and gold colour variant. It looks and feels premium, although a little outdated, but we won't hold that against it.
This gives it a rather luxurious style compared with some of the cheaper and aesthetically dull designs of rival devices in the budget bracket. Naturally there is some compromise, most notably in the use of plastic rather than metal, but this does mean the back plate is removable, granting access to a replaceable battery and micro SD slot.
It also lacks waterproofing, which has become somewhat of an industry standard in high-end devices. Yet this is a budget device after all, and the J5 still has a very attractive design with an equally impressive build quality.
Display
The J5's screen is also a marvel given the price of the device. While most budget phones use cheap LCD screens, the J5 is fitted with a much more expensive 5in Super AMOLED display.
That's the exact same technology used in the Galaxy S7 screen, delivering superb contrast ratios and vibrant colours. It's not as bright as the S7, but this should only be an issue on the most dazzling of sunny days.
Its resolution isn't quite as impressive either, at 1,280 x 720, but paired with that gorgeous AMOLED screen this still knocks its rivals out the park.
Performance and battery life
The Samsung J5 has a quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with 1.5GB of RAM. It's performance was sub-standard, which is what you would expect from a low-end smartphone, especially if you compare it to its mid-range competitors. We didn't think it was poor but did an OK job of the usual tasks you would expect to carry out on your device, such as video playback, browsing the internet and making phone calls.
That being said, it does struggle with more complex games and is more suitable for the standard timewaster ones. Web pages load fast enough to get by, but don't expect anything to be ground-breaking on this device.
The Samsung J5 did have a hard time loading more media-rich pages and PDFs with images. The device found scrolling in these pages challenging as there was a noticeable lag between swiping down and content loading. If you;re a designer, or work with pictures and heavy content, you're probably want to jump to another device before your contract is up.
However, one positive aspect of the device that we should mention is its battery life. It has a 2,600mAh capacity battery compared to the bigger 3,000mAh of its competitors, the low resolution screen and efficient processor means the Samsung J5 can survive for 18 hours. This is way above similar-specced devices and a definite advantage.
Camera
Unfortunately, the J5's camera is the main area in which it falls over. Although it has a 13 megapixel sensor and an f/1.9 aperture - which should in theory be perfectly adequate - the results were often decidedly mixed.
The problem stems from the J5's sensor. If a scene has too much light then it will bleed over and overexpose the photo. But if it's too dark, then most of the detail will be obscured.
Better image processing and a good HDR mode would likely go a long way in fixing this problem, but for now taking photos on the J5 is basically a gamble. When you do get the right conditions, however, pictures can be packed with crisp detail and vibrant colours.
Conclusions
The Moto G series has been the gold standard in budget smartphones, but the Samsung Galaxy J5 is a great alternative thanks to its superlative screen and long lasting battery. It's an excellent choice for anyone who's looking for quality on a budget.
Having said all that, it’s worth waiting for the new 2016 Moto G4 (the fourth generation Moto G) which is due any day now. Unless you need a cheap phone right away, it’s worth waiting to see if the now Lenovo-owned Motorola can continue its success streak.
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