Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) review: Jump start

Jump start

GSMArena team, 20 June 2016.

Gallery

The TouchWiz gallery orders photos by time, but you can switch to folder-based Album view. Sharing options include wireless printing, Android Beam and Wi-Fi Direct, but no DLNA (or other way to send an image to your TV).

TouchWiz Gallery - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review TouchWiz Gallery - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review TouchWiz Gallery - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review
TouchWiz Gallery

Several image editing tools are available - from basic cropping, to collage making, to a more capable editor (which supports image correction, effects and drawing).

An additional option lets you pick several photos and stitch them into an animated GIF.

Music player with advanced EQ features, FM radio

The Galaxy J5 (2016) features just the Google Play Music app. It gets the job done by allowing you to sync your music across devices and gives you some control over sound via an Equalizer.

Google Play Music - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review Google Play Music - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review Google Play Music - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review Google Play Music - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review
Google Play Music

The player itself has a straightforward UI with most functions available as shortcuts on the Now Playing screen.

The Galaxy J7 (2016) also has an FM radio built in (something many Galaxy flagships do not). It can record radio broadcasts (though this may be disabled in some regions). There's no RDS though so the app won't show the name of the station.

FM radio - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review FM radio - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review
FM radio

Video player

The video player is the only app that works in pop-up window, a feature dating back to the Galaxy S III.

You also get full subtitle support with advanced features to modify their appearance.

Video player is business as usual - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review Video player is business as usual - Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 review
Video player is business as usual

The app lets you play only the audio (if you just want to listen to a music video) and to play the audio via Bluetooth (if you have a BT-enabled speaker handy).

Audio output is good

The Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) impressed us in the first part of our audio test. The handset showed nicely high volume and excellently clean output for a great showing.

Plugging in our standard headphones caused a moderate amount of damage. The volume dropped from very high to average, and stereo crosstalk rose notably. There was some intermodulation distortion, too, although that wasn’t too bad. Overall a decent, if unspectacular showing by the mid-ranger.

Here go the results so you can do your comparisons.

TestFrequency responseNoise levelDynamic rangeTHDIMD + NoiseStereo crosstalk
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)+0.09, -0.30-92.490.20.0051 0.034-92.3
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) (headphones)+0.30, -0.08-92.289.80.0092 0.226-54.8
Meizu m3 note+0.13, -0.00-91.991.90.0021 0.0082-91.3
Meizu m3 note (headphones)+0.02, -0.20-90.791.20.0028 0.050-53.4
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus+0.02, -0.08-93.892.80.0037 0.034-91.3
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus (headphones)+0.09, -0.03-93.592.60.070 0.075-49.0
Huawei Honor 5X+0.02, -0.08-93.490.10.0028 0.012-93.4
Huawei Honor 5X (headphones)+0.10, -0.03-92.989.80.0048 0.071-78.2
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)+0.02, -0.07-94.392.20.0065 0.010-95.0
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) (headphones)+0.42, -0.01-93.487.10.029 0.254-53.0

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) frequency response
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) frequency response

You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.

Reader comments

  • Suraj
  • 27 Jan 2024
  • Dkr

It's been a long time since I used this phone it's a very good phone

  • JR
  • 10 May 2023
  • mZx

I use this phone since June 2016. There is nothing wrong about this phone believe it or not. Never replace the battery. The only disadvantage is the limitation of its 16GB. Very happy but unfortunatelly I have to change it due to the 16GB.

  • geo
  • 01 May 2023
  • mTa

its one of the best phone.i am using it for the last 7 years.