Samsung Galaxy J2 Core First impressions:  Strictly for basic smartphone usage

After announcing the flagship Galaxy Note 9 phablet, Samsung has launched the super affordable Galaxy J2 Core smartphone in the Indian market. Interestingly, the budget smartphone is the company's first Android Go handset based on Android Oreo. Priced at Rs. 6,190.

The new smartphone is available for purchase via retail stores across the country in Gold, Blue, and Black color options.

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core is designed for first-time smartphone users or anyone who is looking for a secondary device to access just basic smartphone features such as web browsing, calling, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. It comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which can be expanded up to 256 GB via micro SD card.

The Galaxy J2 Core also has some preloaded features like optimized data control and ultra data savings.

We used the smartphone for a while to find out what Samsung is offering and here is what we have to say about the affordable Samsung smartphone in our first impressions.

Design and Display: Plastic Back with 5-inch display

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core is very comfortable to hold, thanks to its rounded corners and compact form factor.

The new smartphone comes with a plastic back along with an 8 MP rear camera, LED Flash and loudspeaker which is placed at the right side of the camera module.

On the right side of the smartphone, you will find the power button while volume rockers are positioned on the left side.

The headphone jack and micro USB port are located on the bottom side of the smartphone.

Samsung J2 Core sports a 5-inch qHD TFT display

Overall the smartphone looks good and feels comfortable to hold. It is very compact and can be comfortably used with one hand.

Talking about the 5-inch qHD TFT display it offers a resolution of 540x960 pixels. The display seemed quite responsive, decent and viewing angles were also good. It will serve just fine for YouTube video streaming and other basic day-to-day smartphone tasks.

However, we will evaluate the screen's outdoor performance while reviewing the handset in the coming week.

Camera: 8 MP rear and 5MP selfie camera

Galaxy J2 Core has an 8- megapixel rear camera plus the 5-megapixel front camera for selfie lovers. Both the cameras work on the darker f/2.2 aperture, which is quite understandable as it is a budget handset.

We tested both the cameras for a brief period and found that the shots showed acceptable image output on the 5-inch screen for a budget handset. It is not a handset for night photography. We will talk more about this entry-level handset's imaging abilities in the coming week during our detailed camera review of Galaxy J2 Core on GIZBOT.

Processor and RAM: Exynos 7570 SoC, with 1GB of RAM

The Galaxy J2 Core is powered by a quad-core Exynos 7570 SoC, coupled with 1GB of RAM. This can be a deal breaker for users as Micromax Bharat Go offers same RAM and internal storage at Rs. 4,399, While Lava Z61 provides 1GB RAM + 16 GB ROM at Rs. 5,959.

But Samsung certainly has a better brand recall in the Indian market where the new budget handset can win over its competitors.

The smartphone comes with 8GB storage space which can be further expanded up to 256GB through a microSD card.

During my short span with the smartphone, i did not face any delay while opening applications and navigating through the user interface.

Battery, Software, and Connectivity

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core comes with 2,600mAh removable battery unit which the company claims can deliver up to 11 hours of non-stop video streaming on YouTube Go.

We will evaluate such claims while reviewing the handset.

On the software front, Galaxy J2 Core runs a customized version of Android 8.1 Oreo-based Experience UI from the company. There are also some pre-installed apps like Google Go, YouTube Go, Maps Go, Facebook Lite, Samsung Max, and Samsung Members.

The user interface is very light, snappy and worked without a glitch.

The device performed quite well when used for basic tasks like surfing the internet.

On the connectivity front, it offers 4G LTE, dual-SIM card slots, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, and GPS.

Verdict

The Galaxy J2 Core seems like a decent budget smartphone for users who wants to experience light Android user interface on a smartphone from the trusted brand of Samsung. We didn't face any major issue with the smartphone in our brief usage. However, the smartphone is going to face tough competition from other budget handsets from Xiaomi, Infocus, and Micromax. Stay tuned on Gizbot.com for a complete performance evaluation of Samsung Galaxy J2 Core.