Samsung Galaxy On7

Samsung Galaxy On7

Samsung Galaxy On7

Samsung Galaxy On7

Two days ago, word got out that Samsung is about to release two new handsets and simultaneously debut a new Galaxy brand. The devices in question are the Galaxy On5 and On7, a pair of affordable smartphones that don't have 'budget' written all over them. Well, Samsung just listed the On7 on its Chinese website, and its header image happens to show the On5 as well, thus making both smartphones' existence official!

Styled in Samsung's modern design language (while borrowing the faux leather from the Note 3 days) and featuring not too shabby hardware, the On5 and On7 show Samsung treats its low-end smartphone line-up with more respect, now that the market for premium Android devices has stalled. Strangely, only the Galaxy On7 has been fully detailed on the website, but there's a high probability that the smartphones share the bulk of their hardware features. Still, let's not speculate until we have the On5's actual spec sheet on our hands.

Now, moving onto the On7, the dual-SIM smartphone measures 5.97 x 3.05 x 0.32in (151.8 x 77.5 x 8.2mm) and weights 6.06oz (172g). It has a 5.5-inch 720p resolution TFT display and is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz CPU (possibly the Exynos 3745) with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage memory (with 4.9GB available to users). There's a 13MP main camera and 5MP front camera setup on it, and a 3000mAh battery powers the mains. Connectivity-wise, the device supports 2G and 3G (GSM, CDMA, UMTS), as well as 4G (TDD & FDD LTE) networks, along with Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, Glonass, and Beidou.

Also of note is that Samsung now details how much storage each factory pre-installed application occupies, and probably lets users uninstall so called 'bloatware' apps as needed. This happens after the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission sued Samsung and fellow smartphone maker Oppo over the presence of non user-removable software.

Release dates and prices for the On7 and On5 are yet to be revealed, but it is expected the phones will hover somewhere below the $200 mark, at least in China. Although it's certainly nice to see Samsung upgrade its low-end offerings in the design and hardware departments, we doubt the Koreans' move is bold enough to whisk away attention from the $125 Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 in China. Then again, that kind of value for money ratio is hard to match for most of Xiaomi's competitors.

Specifications Samsung Galaxy On7

Network Technology

GSM / HSPA / LTE

2G bands

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2

3G bands

HSDPA

4G bands

LTE

Speed

HSPA, LTE

GPRS

Yes

EDGE

Yes

Launch

Announced

2015, October

Status

Coming soon. Exp. release 2015, November

Body

Dimensions

151.8 x 77.5 x 8.2 mm (5.98 x 3.05 x 0.32 in)

Weight

172 g (6.07 oz)

SIM

Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)

Display

Type

TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size

5.5 inches (~70.9% screen-to-body ratio)

Resolution

720 x 1280 pixels (~267 ppi pixel density)

Multitouch

Yes

Platform

OS

Android OS, v5.1 (Lollipop)

CPU

Quad-core 1.2 GHz

Memory

Card slot

microSD, up to 128 GB

Internal

8 GB, 1.5 GB RAM

Camera

Primary

13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash

Features

Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection

Video

1080p@30fps

Secondary

5 MP

Sound

Alert types

Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones

Loudspeaker 

Yes

3.5mm jack

Yes

Comms

WLAN

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot

Bluetooth

v4.1, A2DP

GPS

Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS

Radio

To be confirmed

USB

microUSB v2.0

Features

Sensors

Accelerometer, proximity

Messaging

SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM

Browser

HTML5

Java

No

- MP4/H.264 player

- MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player

- Photo/video editor

- Document viewer

Battery

Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery

Stand-by

Talk time

Up to 11 h (3G)

Misc

Colors

White, Black

Price group

4/10 (About 180 EUR)