Budget smartphones from Samsung are a very popular category of devices on the market. This can be evidenced by customer reviews that they leave on various sites and forums. A huge number of people regularly use such devices.
And this is not at all surprising, given their cost, quality and purpose. At a price, many of the smartphones of the Korean company do not exceed a hundred dollars, but the assembly and functionality distinguish them from many other devices.
In this article we will talk about another phone that is produced under the brand name of the Korean tech giant. This is Samsung J1. Customer reviews, information from all sorts of reviews and tests, criticism and praise - we used everything that we could find interesting about this device. And put it in one article, which we recommend you read.
Overall concept
If you look at the smartphone, you won't be able to notice anything unusual in it. The device is a classic for Samsung - standard design, body design,similar feature set as many other models. You can safely call it typical of the corporation that released it.
However, despite this, the phone is in demand. They really buy it for themselves and as a gift, they buy it for children and as a spare device. Moreover, we managed to find a lot of positive comments and good recommendations from buyers who advise to buy a gadget because it is really worth the money.
At the same time, reviews of some mobile experts describing the Samsung J1 mark the device as, on the contrary, a device that is too simple for its price, on which Koreans just want to make money. There are a lot of such opinions on the Internet: the J1 series smartphone is simply beautifully presented, although its characteristics clearly lag behind similar gadgets with the same cost.
Such a discrepancy, a difference in positions regarding the smartphone gives us grounds for analysis. Let's see for ourselves what this device can do and how it was equipped in order to say more precisely what it is.
Design
Let's start, of course, with the appearance. As noted above, "Samsung J1 Ace" has a design typical for a Korean manufacturer - it is a “smoothed brick”, in which more than one generation of phones under this brand has been released.
There are three color variations on sale: white, black and mother-of-pearl (with a blue tint). Such a variety is obviously provided for a wider coverage of the potential audience.buyers. The material from which the phone case is made is a simple plastic. True, its outer layer, apparently, was covered with some other substance, since it is quite pleasant to the touch: this is not typical for budget devices of this type.
There is a standard edging for Korean phones along the perimeter of the device, which allows you to conveniently put the device screen down on a flat surface, without fear for the integrity of the display.
Navigation elements here are similar to those that we can see on other Samsungs: the “home” key is in the center, at the bottom of the screen; the screen unlock button on the right side and the volume control button on the left side.
In general, we can say that the appearance of the device is typical - this can be confirmed by customer reviews describing the "Samsung J1".
Screen
The following would like to describe the display of the device, its quality and technical parameters. Given the budget nature of the model, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the manufacturer has installed here a simple TFT screen with a resolution of 480 x 800. In general, adjusted for the price, the picture on the screen can be called suitable for a phone of this class.
With brightness in daylight, as user comments show, there are also no problems. The only (but rather serious) drawback is the lack of a light sensor on the smartphone. Without it, the screen cannot adjust to the level of light around the device, which is why, as noted about the "Samsung J1"reviews, working with it can be uncomfortable at night, if the screen literally hits the eyes, as well as in a well-lit place where the display seems excessively dim.
Processor
What Samsung seriously decided to save on when releasing this model is the processor and the hardware component in general. As the official specifications for the Samsung J1 show, a very simple (in terms of its capabilities and performance) Spreadtrum SC8830, consisting of 2 cores, is installed here. Clock speeds of each hover around 1.2GHz, however those numbers don't say enough about how slow this phone is.
As users describe their problems, the phone needs to be reset to factory settings after several months of use. Only in this way, at least, with him it is possible to somehow contribute. Otherwise, the device starts to freeze a lot, shows slow operation even with simple applications, and the software performance test through AnTuTu cannot pass at all due to a permanent error.
RAM
So, let's continue about the performance of "Samsung J1". Specifications note that only 512 megabytes of RAM are installed on the device. In practice, this is expressed by constant twitches, slowdowns and other instabilities. Moreover, this is all even without launching any complex programs with high operating parameters. It is enough just to flip through the “Menu” - and you will see a lot of unpleasant moments in the form of someerrors.
You can, of course, refer to the fact that the Samsung J1 model has a price of only about $ 100 … But the same Xiaomi costs a little more - about $ 150; a lot of "Chinese" will cost 120-140 dollars, but they all have much higher performance, equipped with 1 GB of RAM and some kind of MediaTek processor. In the case of the Samsung J1, the price of which is slightly lower, things are really sad with the speed of work. It shows both our review and customer recommendations. Perhaps we can call this the main drawback of the model.
Memory
Turning to the issue of physical memory, let's say that the device has 4 GB of internal space allocated for data storage. Another 128 GB can be connected via a memory card. The slot for it is located under the back cover of the device.
There can be no problems in this matter, since there is support for memory cards, and already with one of these devices you can make a real multimedia center. True, again, you can’t play “cool” games on the device - the technical parameters of the gadget will not pull. The memory card fits the Samsung J1 device in the usual, most common microSD format.
Camera
Like all other "Samsung" devices of this and more expensive classes, the model we characterize has a main camera and a front one. The first has a matrix resolution of 5 megapixels, the second - 2Mp. The quality of the pictures of the first one is enough to take several neutral photos (for example, it will capture the text without problems); while the second is for working with selfie photos and allows you to organize a Skype conference.
In general, there are no complaints about the quality of this module. However, alas, it will not improve the opinion from working with such a slow smartphone.
Battery
An important issue in any device is its autonomy - the ability to work as long as possible without additional charging. Samsung J1 smartphones are equipped with a 1850 mAh battery, as the specifications show.
At first glance, this may seem like a small number, but don't think so. After all, we are talking about, do not forget, a budget model with a simple processor and a TFT screen. Therefore, the energy consumption here is relatively small, which allows you to keep the device in working condition for a sufficiently long period of time. At least, the reviews confirm the 9-10 hours of work on the Internet declared in the characteristics.
It is worth noting that the battery is removable here, so it can be replaced if necessary or removed if the device stops responding to commands.
Communication
As shown by the instruction supplied with the Samsung J1, the smartphone has two modifications that differ from each other, including communication abilities. So, both versions have GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB. In a more expensive one, you can also find an NFC module and 4G.
So although the smartphone does not show the highest speed, it can boast of the presence of the “gadgets” described above, designed to make working with it more comfortable. However, as the reviews show, they sometimes fail.
OS
As is clear and without referring to the technical documentation, the smartphone is based on the Android operating system, modification 4.4.4. Nothing is known about whether an update is available for this device and whether it will be able to work with it in principle.
Reviews indicate that the graphical shell is standard here - Samsung does not develop a separate interface for its devices. True, as the recommendations of buyers note, the base with the phone comes with standard programs from the manufacturer, which causes some discomfort and forces you to deal with their removal.
Reviews
No matter what the performance tests show, no matter what processor the model is endowed with, but the comments of the buyers that we managed to find testify to it only from the positive side. Many reviews note that at its cost, this device is an excellent solution for everyday tasks. Someone, in addition, likes the autonomy of the device, a high degree of battery saving on the gadget; others enjoy the build and design.
Of the negative comments, we managed to find only those few that describe the smartphone's RAM, complain about poor performance and frequent errors that occur during operation. Besides,the device may freeze for a while if some cumbersome (by its standards) program has been loaded. In such cases, it really becomes necessary to remove the battery and turn on the smartphone again.
Finally, there are comments on the appearance - they say, the gadget has an insufficiently reinforced body. However, this should not be considered a review, since it is enough to purchase a case for "Samsung J1" - and this “problem” will be solved.
Conclusions
What can we, the authors of the review, specifically say about this device? First of all, this is the fact that Samsung really knows how to produce high-quality devices. Experience has shown this on different models, so the fact continues to be a fact. True, this time they decided to save money on the Samsung J1. The review showed that the device really has a small amount of RAM, due to which all these braking and freezing on the screen occur. Perhaps the developers should have worked on this issue more carefully. We can also note the lack of a light sensor on the screen.
In all other respects the model is really good. It has a wide functionality that can no longer bribe. Add to this the high-quality elements of the case and an attractive design - and you get the "Samsung J1" (the review can prove it).
As the reviews show, this makes the purchase of this unit justified if you want to have GPS, camera, network access or a recording device at hand.
