Samsung Galaxy J2 2018 Review: Mediocre Performer

In a competitive low-budget segment where Chinese brands have started to leave a mark, Samsung has launched the 2018 edition of Galaxy J2, a smartphone with some interesting specs in a not so expensive price tag. So let's find out if the Galaxy J2 stand tall against the competition. Latest Price: Rs. 14,290 [Last updated on: December 6, 2018]

and Design

The Galaxy J2 is a well-built device which is sturdy to a certain extent. It feels really good in the hand, a feature none of its competitors can really brag about. It does have a removable back, where you can find the removable battery as well as 2 SIMs & a memory card slot.

The back is plastic, but there were virtually zero creeks and squeaks. The front features a 16:9 display and the traditional Samsung home button which does not double as a fingerprint. Apart from that, it's the usual volume keys at the left and power button at the right.

Display

This device is compact, and the 5-inch display is pretty good. It is a lower resolution panel (qHD, 540X960p), but the AMOLED nature means colors pop and brightness isn't a problem.

The one issue I came up with was YouTube videos cap out at just 480p, which is watchable, but we really missed the crispiness.

Performance

The Snapdragon 425 here is a solid choice that can handle basic tasks running social media apps with a couple of lags here and there. Mid to low-end games were playable, with clash royal, tank stars running without any frame drops. However, default apps like phone, message, and settings take a second to load up.

Software

The J2 2018 currently runs on a relatively old version of Android (7.1.1 Nougat), with Samsung Experience Version 8.5 on top. The Android security patch level is on March 1, 2018, which is nice. But expecting future updates are a bit of a stretch here.

The UI is pretty minimal with very less bloatware. It has improved a lot over time and I feel Samsung is going towards the right direction, at least in the software department.

Camera

The J2 has an 8MP sensor at the back, and it's barely usable. The camera produced dull pictures and it lacked saturation and colors. It also suffers in low light conditions and overall, the sharpness and details were average. The front camera also follows the same story. Samsung has included an LED flash here, but I don't think it is of much help since the camera itself is subpar.

Battery

The 2600mAh battery delivers adequate usage of around 3-4 hours of on screen time, which translates to a full day of usage with 4G enabled all the time. The charging time is around 2 hours, and we can’t really expect more in this price range.

Conclusion

The Galaxy J2 is a good phone, and we couldn't agree more. It has a good build quality, AMOLED display, satisfactory performance and good battery life. I don't know why Samsung thought it was a good idea to compromise on the display resolution and camera performance.

For those same reasons, it's hard to recommend the J2 2018 as you can get better hardware at the same price. You can also add a bit more money and get something like the Huawei Y7 or even the Xperia XA which are on another level compared to the Samsung Galaxy J2 2018. With that out of the way, if you are a true Samsung fan, then maybe try it out yourself once.

Pros	Cons
Performance	Display resolution
Battery	Cameras
Build Quality	Software Support