When talking about affordable smartphones, Redmi 3S from Xiaomi comes to mind as one of the first choices. Another relatively affordable model is last year’s iteration of Galaxy J7 from Samsung. Let’s see how these two models compare one to another.
Dimensions, Design
Since two models come with different sized screens, there are noticeable differences when looking at their size. The Galaxy J7 is a prominently larger device (152.2 x 78.7 x 7.5 mm) compared to the Redmi 3S (139.3 x 69.6 x 8.5 mm). It is a bit thinner, but that’s all. Looking at screen size both the Galaxy J7 (5.5-inch) and Redmi 3S (5-inch) are relatively compact devices.
The design of both devices can be described as “classical,” Galaxy J7 features design seen on many Samsung’s models, and the same thing can be said about Redmi 3S. All in all, Redmi 3S looks a bit more attractive, with its minimalistic design; Galaxy J7 looks like just another model made by Samsung.
Hardware, Display
Xiaomi Redmi 3S packs a 5-inch 720p IPS LCD display (294ppi pixel density); Snapdragon 430 (Octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 combined with Adreno 505) is used as the main engine, backed up with 2 gigs of RAM and 16 GB of expandable (SD card uses SIM 2 slot) memory.
A large, 5.5-inch 720p (267 ppi pixel density) Super AMOLED screen dominates the front of Samsung Galaxy J7. Chipset used in the device is Exynos 7580 Octa (x1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.0 GHz Cortex-A53 with Mali-T720MP2 GPU); there’s also a Snapdragon 615 (Octa-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 along with Adreno 405 GPU) version. Inside you’ll also find 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable (SD card has a dedicated slot) internal storage.
Antutu score of Redmi 3S is a bit above 42,000 points, while J7 equipped with Exynos 7580 scores almost 38,000 points.
Camera
The main snapper in Redmi 3S has 13 MP (f/2.0) and is capable of recording 1080p@30fps video. Selfie one has 5 MP (f/2.2).
Galaxy J7 is equipped with 13 MP (f/1.9) main camera capable of recording 1080p@30fps video; the front-facing camera has 5 MP (f/2.2).
Battery, Software
Samsung Galaxy J7 comes with an (almost) solid 3000mAh battery; the Redmi 3S has a huge 4100 mAh battery, much better than on the J7.
Xiaomi Redmi 3S comes with Android v6.0.1 Marshmallow along with MIUI 8; the Galaxy J7 ships with Android v5.1 Lollipop, but the phone can be updated to Marshmallow.
Price and Verdict
The Redmi 3S can be snagged for just Rs. 6999 (around $105) while the Galaxy J7 has a much steeper price tag of Rs. 13490 (around $200). Looking at the hardware-price ratio, Xiaomi Redmi 3S is much better all-arounder; solid 5-inch screen, more RAM, a bit faster CPU and almost half the price of Galaxy J7 are enough reasons to make Redmi 3S the winner of this clash.