Samsung yesterday launched two affordable smartphones, namely Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7. Both the phones offers 4G connectivity and 5 Megapixel front camera that too with a flash light. Of the two, the Galaxy J5 is the cheaper one with a price tag of Rs 11,999 and is thus directly competing with the Xiaomi Mi 4i that is currently selling for Rs 12,999.
So let’s check out which one of them is a better buy.
Design
The Xiaomi Mi 4i has a polycarbonate body but does not look cheap. Due to the matte finish treatment of the back panel, it feels smooth and is easy to grip. As its dimension suggests, 138.1 x 69.6 x 7.8 mm, the Mi 4i is quite a slim smartphone and it is quite light weight as well weighing just 130 grams.
The Galaxy J5 has all the traditional Samsung design cues which could be identified from miles away. To start with it has the traditional metal frame but with a plastic back. The Samsung’s trademark home key is there in the front panel too. Infact, if not named, anyone could take it for an older Samsung phones, say the Galaxy Grand. The Galaxy J5 measures 142 x 73 x 8.5 mm, and tips the scales at 149 grams, making it slightly larger, thicker and heavier than the Xiaomi Mi4i.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy J5 has a 5 inch TFT display with a Resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, thus offering Pixel density of 282 ppi. Xiaomi Mi4i too has a 5 inch IPS display but with much better 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution, hence offering huge 441 ppi pixel density.
Processor & Memory
The Xiaomi Mi4i has an octa-core processing unit clocked at 1.7 GHz which runs with 2 GB of RAM. The Internal Memory stands at a non-expandable 16 GB.
The Samsung Galaxy J5 has a quad-core 1.2 GHz Processor with 1.5 GB of RAM. The internal memory stands at 16 GB, to which another 128 GB can be added via a microSD card.
The Mi4i has significantly better processing ability, but if the lack of expandable storage is a concern, then the Samsung Galaxy J5 is a better bet.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy J5 runs on Android Lollipop and has Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which adds many additional features; the Xiaomi Mi4i runs on Android Lollipop, with MiUI 6.0, making it just as good. Both UIs are great to use in their own right, and we cannot call a winner in this round.
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy J5 has a 2600 mAh battery, and as per the company it can provide up to 14 hours of Talk time or 340 hours of standby.
The Mi 4i has a bigger 3120 mAh battery. During our review it impressed us with more than a day’s back up even with heavy usage. Also it has quick charge feature.
Camera
The Xiaomi Mi4i has a 13 megapixel primary camera, which is equipped with flash, auto-focus, face recognition, smile detection, HDR, burst mode, face beauty, and video recording at 1080p at 30 fps. The front of the Mi4i is occupied by a 5 megapixel selfie taker.
The Samsung Galaxy J5 too has a 13 megapixel camera with flash, auto-focus, geo-tagging, face detection, and video recording at 1080p at 30 fps, while the front has a 5 megapixel camera for video calls and selfies.
Overall, spec for spec, both the phones are equal to each other. You can check Mi 4i’s camera pictures here but for a real world test of Galaxy J5’s cameras, you will have to wait a bit longer.
Connectivity
The Samsung Galaxy J5 is a 4G phone with WiFi, WiFi direct, WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1.1, GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, and NFC. While the Xiaomi Mi4i also has 4G, with all the regular connectivity options such as GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, WiFi, WiFi hotspot, and Bluetooth 4.0.
There isn’t much to separate these two in this round. However, the Galaxy J5 is marginally better due to its NFC capabilities, and the newer version of Bluetooth.
Wrapping up
The Xiaomi Mi4i is ahead of the Samsung Galaxy J5 when it comes to design, display, and processing ability. But if you require expandable storage, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.1.1 (instead of 4.0), the Galaxy J5 is the one to go for.
We will try to review the Galaxy J5 as soon as possible but meanwhile you can read our review of Xiaomi Mi 4i here.