INTRODUCTION
Samsung Galaxy J6+ is a budget smartphone by Samsung, and now it is our turn to see what Samsung has packed inside this new phone. On the first glance, it looks like a really nice phone. Both its front and back panel are built of glass, which gives the phone a premium feel.
Samsung ships this phone in a nice blue box, inside of which we can find the phone itself, USB-A to microUSB charging and data transfer cable, a charging adapter, a SIM tray tool, 3.5mm in-ear headphones as well as user manuals. This is quite a rich packaging taking into account how cheap this phone actually is. Our version came in Black color, but also available are Gray, Red and Blue.
Once again, this is a budget smartphone, so we shouldn’t expect crazy flagship features from it. That being said, let’s take a closer look together at what this phone is capable of.
DISPLAY
Modern smartphones tend to be, essentially, all screen. This phone doesn’t have the Samsung’s fancy Infinity display, or a notch of any sort. It is the good old rectangular display, and we must say that it’s a nice refreshment to have a glance at one such display once again.
The 6” IPS LCD display has the resolution of 720 x 1480 pixels, and with 18.5:9 aspect ratio, pixel density comes up to 274 PPI. This is not a crazy high density, however, it’s enough for pleasant use of the phone. Pixelization is somewhat visible, but only if you really look for it. Using the phone normally, from and arm’s length distance, shouldn’t be an issue at all. The display is protected by Asahi Dragontrail glass, which means that it will not scratch or break that easily.
When it comes to screen options, they are not that abundant. There is a blue light filter there that reduces the stress on the eyes, and that you can turn on either manually when you want or even make a schedule when you want it to turn on automatically. There are also brightness options, which are pretty much the same. Automatic brightness adjusts the brightness of the display depending on your environment, while you can manually adjust the brightness of your display if you want it brighter or dimmer. Color temperature is sadly not adjustable.
It’s also important to say that direct sunlight use isn’t the best experience. There are some issues in terms of legibility, but if you push the brightness to the max, these issues are somewhat mitigated and it becomes easy to read and view all contents. All in all, the display of the J6+ is just fine. It’s not the best, but in this price range it’s more than you can ask for.
HARDWARE AND OS
Samsung Galaxy J6+ uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset, and, to be perfectly honest, this is the only real problem with this phone. This chipset, built on a 28nm process, was released in February 2016, and even then it targeted the budget class. Three years later, it’s simply too slow. The phone takes a lot of time loading the apps and performing your everyday tasks. The quad-core CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz simply isn’t built to be used by a heavy, demanding user. It is however quite ok for someone who has time, so we believe that our fellow senior citizens won’t mind this performance. When it comes to the GPU, here we have the Adreno 308. Once again, it’s good enough, but far from the best. On the AnTuTu benchmark test, the phone didn’t shine, and it only scored slightly above 42000 points. This just goes to show how slow the chipset is in 2019.
Even though the chipset it a bit too old, this is clearly a 2018 budget phone. The chipset comes paired with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM, depending on the version, which is plenty of RAM. Obviously the phone comes in two memory configurations, 3/32GB and 4/64GB. As you can see, there’s plenty of storage memory, but if you find yourself needing more, that’s a nonissue since there is a dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansions.
In terms of software, we have just the regular Samsung experience – pun intended. Samsung Experience UI on this phone is built over Android version 8.1 Oreo. The OS is snappy, it’s fluid, transitions are nice, but the reaction time is a bit slow. This is the byproduct of the chipset and it can’t really be helped. Aside from this, using the phone is pretty nice, no problems here at all.
On the right side, the phone has a fingerprint scanner that doubles as the power button. This technology has up to now been perfected, so the scanner is really good, it does its job well. It is located at the same place as in the Galaxy A7, and we once again believe that, for right handed people, this scanner is on just the right place, however left handed users might find this a problem.
Samsung Galaxy J6+ reproduces mono sound, and this is one more peculiar thing about it. The speaker is not where we’re used to having it. It’s located on the right edge, above the power button. It is loud enough but it doesn’t produce the best quality sound. Basses are too shallow and overall the sound is thin, but nonetheless, it’s all fine. Inside the box we also had headphones, and they also provide just ok sound. Nothing special, but they will do the job. Sound is enhanced with Dolby Atmos sound technology, which is also a great addition.
CAMERA
On its back, the Samsung Galaxy J6+ has a double camera setup. The main sensor is a 13MP, f/1.9 sensor, while the secondary 5MP sensor serves to take depth of field information. Photos captured by the main camera are decent if taken in daylight. There is a slight loss of details, but the colors look natural and quite nice. The same cannot be said for night time shots. In low light shooting conditions the camera can provide OK shots but only if you have a very steady hand because it takes some time to focus. Even then the noise is noticeable, but the images are good enough.
The front facing camera has the resolution of 8 megapixels, and it takes selfies nicely. Pretty much the same thing goes, daytime photos are nice whereas night time shots are not as good. Still, video calls and an occasional selfie should both look good enough.
When it comes to video, it’s pretty much the same. Videos are captured in maximum 1080p resolution at 30fps, on both cameras. They are fine, but not the best since no sort of image stabilization is available.
All in all, the cameras are average, and will do a good job for an average user. You shouldn’t expect any sort of professional level photo or video, but they will be more than ok to capture your precious moments or a photo or two for social media purposes.
CONNECTIVITY
This phone has all connection options you may need. There is the WiFi 802.11 with WiFi Direct and HotSpot mode, there is the Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, even NFC in certain version. Something we didn’t really like is the use of the microUSB port at the bottom, however it’s not a big issue – once again, this is a budget smartphone, and as such it doesn’t need to have all the best of features.
It’s nice to see that the company has decided to stick to the use of a 3.5mm audio port, so if you don’t like the factory headphones you can still use your favorite pair.
The Galaxy J6+ comes in two SIM versions, as a single SIM or a dual SIM device. Both versions use nanoSIM cards, and the dual SIM version has two dedicated SIM slots which means that you’ll be able to use a microSD card together with 2 SIM cards.
BATTERY
The J6+ has a 3300 mAh battery, and with it it can easily last a full day of average use. The phone however, takes quite some time to charge up. Because it only comes with a basic 5W charger, the charging time is anywhere between 3 and 4 hours. This shouldn’t be an issue though, since most people charge up their phones overnight anyway.
FINAL WORDS
Samsung Galaxy J6+ is a good budget level smartphone! We couldn’t help ourselves to all the time keep senior people in mind, and for them, this is a perfect smartphone. WiFi connection and a front facing camera for communication purposes are both here, they don’t need their phone to be a beast since they are not power users, and all in all the phone is fine. If you’re not a senior but also don’t use your phone for gaming, as your main work station or something similar, we honestly recommend this phone to you. One more thing that this phone has got going on for it is that it only costs around 150 euros, and the quality, in our opinion, justifies the price perfectly.
Samsung Galaxy J6+ Full Specifications
Do you like the Samsung Galaxy J6+? We’d like to hear your opinion in the comment section below. If you have any suggestions or you would like to see some new devices being reviewed, let us know either here or on our Facebook page. If you liked this review, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, sit back and relax as we’re working hard on new material for you.