Samsung J6+ review: Sturdy phone that can weather falls like Nokias of yore

Samsung, a South Korean electronics major, is one of the few premium smartphone brands that have an established line-up of smartphones across different segments. The flagship S-series and budget J-series smartphones have garnered the most interest among all of them. The company launched a refreshed line-up of the Galaxy J-series, with premium features such as 18.5:9 aspect ratio screen, durable polycarbonate cameras. The latest addition to the line-up is the Galaxy J6+.

Priced at Rs 14,490, the Galaxy J6+ is aimed at price-conscious smartphone buyers. The J6+ has a big 6-inch screen, a dual camera set (13 megapixels + 5 MP ) on the rear and a 3,300 mAh battery. Although a budget smartphone, it comes packed with a lot of features such as infinity screen (18.5:9 aspect ratio), Dolby Atmos for surround sound experience through wired headsets and ’emotify” that turns your face into cartoon avatars.

Though the phone has a lot to offer in terms of features, can it contest with Chinese rivals in the budget smartphone segment? Let’s take a look:

Design and display

The device’s look is sleek for a budget smartphone. Its glass finish lends it a certain sharpness, but is marred by a glaring flashlight on the back which is too big compared to the cameras.

The Galaxy J6+ has a compact form factor for a 6-inch screen smartphone, thanks to 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

The Galaxy J6+ has an Infinity screen instead of an AMOLED unit that has been there in most of the recent Samsung’s budget offerings. The screen has HD+ (720 x 1480 pixels) resolution, which helps it render sharp colour contrasts.

However, the auto brightness feature could have been better.

Performance

The Samsung J6+ is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 system-on-chip (SoC) and 4 GB of RAM. It has 64 GB of internal storage that is expandable up to a half terabyte of external memory. The phone boots Android Oreo-based Samsung’s Experience user interface, which comes loaded with a lot of bloatware.

Its flaw of having an entry level processor is exposed when used for intensive gaming purposes. However, there is hardly any lag while shuffling between apps.

The phone packs a fingerprint sensor with its power button on the right side. It is a bit small for someone with large fingers and takes a lot of getting used to. The face recognition is slow and misbehaves in low light.

Camera

The J6+ has dual 13 megapixel + 5 MP cameras on the back and an 8 MP camera on the front. Both the camera modules have a dedicated LED flash. For the budget range the device is situated in, the images are pretty good. However, we get grainy pictures in low light conditions. The autofocus in the rear camera set is swift at picking up focus. The selfie focus feature on the front camera is rudimentary as it blurs the rest of your face if held at a little distance.

Battery

Although powered by a 3300 mAh battery, the phone runs for two days on normal usage and heavy duty use for day. It takes an hour to charge from zero to cent per cent.

Verdict

If you are pathetic at handling phones and drop them once in a while, this device could be trusted to weather the falls well like Nokia phones used to once upon a time. This reviewer was involved in an accident while using the device and can vouch for it.

The Samsung Galaxy J6+ has a mammoth 6-inch screen, swift operating system and tons of value added features. The fact that the phone seldom gets hanged or experiences lag is a big plus for the J6+. However, it could have been an all-rounder in the budget segment with a better camera module and AMOLED display.