Samsung has been revamping a lot of its older successful models that sold well and were popular among buyers. We saw the Galaxy A-series getting better specs and design, and the company has also made changes to the J-series. The Samsung Galaxy J7 was a popular choice when it launched, so it isn’t surprising that it was improved and launched this year as the Galaxy J7 (2016).
But is the new phone worth an upgrade over the older one? Let’s see what differences do the two phones have.
Galaxy J7 (2016) vs. Galaxy J7
Design and Display
On the outside, the new Galaxy J7 (2016) gets a new full-metal body as opposed to the plastic shell of the older Galaxy J7. Of course, that makes a lot of difference, as the newer model now looks more premium and stylish. Other than that, there’s hardly any difference in the design. The display in both the devices is the same 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen.
Processor, RAM, Storage
The older Galaxy J7 was powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor clocked at a maximum of 1.5GHz and got 1.5 GB of RAM with 16 GB of internal storage. The newer Galaxy J7 (2016) is powered by a slightly faster 1.6GHz CPU, but it also gets 2 GB of RAM with 16 GB onboard storage. Both the phones get microSD card slots for expansion. Some variants of the Galaxy J7 (2016) come with 3 GB RAM.
Camera and Battery
As for the camera, both the phones get the same rear camera, which is a 16MP snapper with f/1.9 aperture. But the Galaxy J7 (2016) gets dual-tone dual LED flash while the older model gets single LED flash. The front camera also remains the same 5MP snapper, but the aperture on the newer model is lesser at f/1.9, thus giving slightly better output in low light.
As for the battery, the original J7 came with a 3000mAh battery. The new Galaxy J7 (2016) offers a bit larger 3300mAh battery.
Verdict, Price, and Availability
So the new Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) offers more RAM with a slightly faster processor, and it looks better than the older model with the new all-metal cladding. That’s enough reason to not buy the old J7 and go for the 2016 Galaxy J7 instead.
The Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) is available in Europe for €299, but in that region it gets only 2GB RAM. The 3GB RAM variant is available only in China right now for around $292. The company has announced that the phone will be launched in India next month, and we guess the price will be around INR 15,000.
Update (29/04/2016): The Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) has been announced in South Korea, the home country of the company. The phone is priced at KRW 363,000 (approximately $320) and will be available in Gold and Black colors. It will be sold by the local carrier KT.
Update (18th June 2016): If you are a resident of India, you can now buy the Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 for INR 15,990 (around $238). Meanwhile, the older Galaxy J7 2015 version is still on sale and is currently priced at INR 14,230 ($212). We had expected a little bit lower price tag for the older variant considering that the new Galaxy J7 (2016) is now available. But then again, such a small price difference will make the buyers buy the 2016 variant instead of the older one, thus bringing in more sales. You can buy the new version on online retailer site Flipkart.