Samsung Galaxy J3 review

Not every phone can be the Samsung Galaxy S7. For one thing, not everyone can afford a Galaxy S7 – but for a while Samsung went dark on budget phones, to the disappointment of fans of the brand who lacked capacious wallets.

However, it's fired out loads of cheapies and mid-rangers over the last year or so – and its latest effort in this department, the Samsung Galaxy J3, is roughly what you'd get if you took the Moto G and injected it with a good shot of Galaxy S7 DNA.

But, while that sounds promising, in reality the Galaxy J3 misses out on a couple of near-essential basic features, making it a worse buy than some of the usual-suspect budget picks – it doesn't unseat the Motorola Moto G, and the Oppo F1is superior too.

It's worth considering how big an issue those niggles are for you, though, as at £149 (US$199, AU$260) the J3's price is pretty keen for a Samsung.

You do need to be doubly careful about which model you buy though, as there are several differently-specced versions of the Samsung Galaxy J3 floating about across the world, some with worse cameras than others; we're reviewing the UK version.

Design

A few years ago even Samsung's top-end phones were plastic. Remember theSamsung Galaxy S5? Great phone, dodgy styling.

The Samsung Galaxy J3 looks quite a lot like the latest Samsung flagships, but the feel is more like that of the old guard. It's an all-plastic phone aside from the glass used on the front, and the central select button, which is metal.

This is no surprise given that the phone is super-affordable, but there's that hint of classic Samsung deception involved, with the sides of the Samsung Galaxy J3 intended to look like fancy frosted aluminum.

Friends will probably assume it's just 'the latest Samsung' at first glance, though, thanks to the unmistakeable button layout below the screen. It's not Apple-grade iconic, but you'd be surprised at how recognisable this configuration is, even among people who aren't obsessed with tech.

Aside from the cheaper plastic feel, the Samsung Galaxy J3's handling is fairly similar to that of the S7. Cheap phones are no longer smaller than expensive ones by default, and Samsung has done its best to make the J3 look and feel like the S7's cheaper brother. Like that phone it's 7.9mm thick, and its footprint is just a couple of millimeters longer.

It's a clever bit of design: while the J3 has thicker bezels and a less taut design, those are offset by the ever-so-slightly smaller screen. This phone has a 5-inch display, the S7 a 5.1-inch one.

SOURCE : TECHRADAR

iPhone 7 Release Date And Leaks

iPhone 7 Release Date And Leaks

Update: The iPhone 7 back panel may have been pictured and the phone could be the same size and shape as the iPhone 6S, though it's still unclear whether it will have a Smart Connector or not. iPhone 7 Plus is rumored to have the big upgrade for 2016: a dual rear camera and 3GB of RAM.

Looking for the iPhone SE? Then you'll want our everything you need to knowarticle.

With the iPhone 6S, Apple delivered its best handset yet, but aside from sporting some fancy new 3D Touch technology, it was also very similar to the iPhone 6.

That was to be expected – after all, Apple typically only overhauls its handsets once every two years, but that overhaul is due with the iPhone 7, so we're expecting and hoping for big changes: think a whole new design, piles of power and a bunch of new features.

The leaks, rumors and reports are already ramping up, although the iPhone 7 probably won't arrive until late 2016. We've collected all the latest from around the web and beyond for you below, to give you the clearest picture possible of what you can expect from the new iPhone.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Apple's next all-new iPhone
• When is it out? Likely September 2016
• What will it cost? Probably the same as the iPhone 6S

iPhone 7 release date

If we were betting people, we'd say the iPhone 7 will probably arrive in September 2016. Apple tends to stick to a schedule, and the last few iPhones have all been launched in the month of September.

But according to a 'reliable source' Apple might actually bring it to market earlier. Sadly, how much earlier is unclear, but it will take a while to even finish development and manufacture of the phone, so we wouldn't expect to see it before the summer. September is still the best bet for now.

iPhone 7 design

Hottest leaks:

• A super slim build
• Water resistance
• No more antenna lines

The iPhone 6S looked a lot like the iPhone 6, but it's likely to be all-change with the iPhone 7. Exactly what form that change will take remains to be seen, but there are some rumors.

For one thing, it could be even slimmer than the 7.1mm-thick iPhone 6S; Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities reckons it'll be dropping to between 6mm and 6.5mm thick. That sounds unnecessarily slim to us, especially as it could cause the battery life to take a hit, but the Samsung Galaxy S6 is only marginally thicker at 6.8mm, so it's possible.

If TSMC makes the chips, as has been rumored, then some space could be saved, which might help Apple slim it down without making sacrifices in other areas, while another report claims Apple will use fan-out technology to save space and reduce the thickness of the iPhone 7.

Slimming down the iPhone 7 could mean Apple will have to ditch the bulky 3.5mm headphone jack. That could lead to a great dependence on Bluetooth headphones, but another leak also suggests there will also be a pair of specialApple earbuds included in the iPhone 7 box.

Don't ditch your headphones just yet though, as an image supposedly showing iPhone 7 circuitry has emerged and the 3.5mm jack is intact in it. Removing the jack could do more harm than good, especially in the short term, so we doubt it will happen.

Another rumor suggests the iPhone 7 will have an all-metal design with a bezel-less display. It would be a big change for the iPhone design, but bringing in a new kind of screen technology would be a sensible move for Apple.

The iPhone 7 could be built to last too, as according to Mac Otakara there are a number of iPhone prototypes with "ruggedized" features, which could mean a water and dust-resistant phone is on the way.

In fact, that's exactly what we'll get according to a supply chain source. Yet another suggestion of a waterproof iPhone 7 comes from the Apple supplier Japan Display. The supplier has come up with a new technology called "Pixel Eyes", that is now in its second generation and makes it easier to use the screen while you have wet fingers.

That's always an issue with waterproof phones such as the Sony Xperia Z line, so the fact Apple's main supplier is looking to stop the problem may be a big hint at what the iPhone 7 will do.

However, another report has suggested Apple will opt for a slimmer phone rather than a waterproof iPhone 7. Apple will likely get a new LCD display technology as well, which could allow the iPhone 7 to be 1mm thinner than before.

A design tweak rumor which will likely please many is that Apple will ditch the camera bump which has been present since the iPhone 6/6Plus - with the firm going for a sleeker finish on the iPhone 7. As well as being totally flat the back could also be uninterrupted, as the same report points towards the removal of the antenna bands.

That tallies with an image leak picked up by Nowhereelse.fr, which claims its snapshot shows the iPhone 7 to have no antenna bands and a larger camera.

SOURCE : TECHRADAR

iPhoen SE Review - Features And Specifications

IPHONE SE REVIEW

There's a part of me that doesn't understand why Apple gets the amount of interest it does with something like the iPhone SE. It's a phone that's in an identical chassis to the one released three years ago, and beyond a new color it's impossible to know which model is which. It's the iPhone 'Special Edition'.

Then I look around the train carriage on the way to work and count the amount of iPhone 5S and 5 devices that are being prodded quietly all around. The number is staggering, and it easily dwarfs the amount of iPhone 6 or 6S handsets on show.

Has Apple been smart here? Looked at the way people are using phones and realised there's a massive market for a certain form factor - one that's not only not being serviced in the iWorld, but in the smartphone arena in general?

The iPhone SE is a phone that many might not have expected - in truth, we thought the iPhone 5C would get a reboot, with the plastic chassis coming in a more rounded, 6S-a-like shape and allowing Apple to offer a lower-cost phone that could be pushed to other territories where flagship phones don't sell as well.

But instead we got a hark back to a long-forgotten era in smartphones, like Apple slit time in two and pulled a phone back through, and charged US$399 (£359, AU$679) for the 16GB model, and US$499 (£439 / $AU829) for the 64GB option for the privilege.

The question of price is more important here than ever before. By launching a 4-inch phone, no matter how fancy the internals are, consumers will expect it to be a little cheaper - and thankfully that's what Apple has done.

It's actually rather impressive - in the UK at least, the price of the contract for this phone is cheaper than many flagships from 2015, and considering the high-end internals used here, it's pretty good. The SIM-free price isn't cheap, but it's more affordable than a 'new' iPhone has ever been.

But enough about the price - usually, people that are embedded into the iOS ecosystem struggle to leave it, and are willing to pay whatever's necessary to get a decent new phone.

Key new features

Besides price (the iPhone SE is the cheapest Apple handset on the market, after all) the key selling point with this new phone is the design. The chassis, as I've mentioned above, is precisely the same as on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, and beyond coming in rose gold, doesn't offer anything new at all.

That said, so many people are looking at the iPhone's evolution to the 4.7-inch display of the 6 and 6S and scrunched their noses up a bit, not wanting to make the leap to the larger size of screen (and that's before we even get into the iPhone 6S Plus' mega size).

The new phone is designed to be easily operated with one hand, the 4-inch screen sitting just at the edge of a thumb stretch, and Apple is banking on this fact keeping the handset current.

However, internally things are genuinely supercharged, a world away from the innards stuffed into the handset from a few years back. The camera has had one of the biggest overhauls, now coming with the 12MP iSight sensor found in the current flagship phones, and offering the same array of tricks.

That means Focus Pixels to offer clearer and faster autofocus, the improved two-tone flash and Live Photos, where a small amount of video is captured with every photo taken. 4K video recording and ultra-slo-mo movie modes really help sweeten the deal too.

The power of the iPhone SE is something to behold too - it's as powerful as the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus thanks to having the new A9 chip, the M9 co-processor and 2GB of RAM.

Compare that to the A7 chip with a measly 1GB of RAM from the iPhone 5S and side by side they're absolutely night and day in terms of speed and battery life management.

The M9 co-processor is an important element too, telling the phone when it should be heading into a dormant mode thanks to being sat quietly on a desk or in a pocket, which prevents the battery-hungry pings that lead to the red line of doom and needing you to reach for the charger at 6PM.

Battery life is impressive on the phone, especially when you consider there are only a few mAh added in here, from 1560mAh to 1624mAh, and with no increase to the size of the chassis at all, this is a really impressive feat and addresses one of the key concerns I had with the iPhone 5S.

SOURCE : TECHRADAR

Samsung Galaxy S7 - Full Specifications And Features

Full Specifications OF Galaxy S7

NETWORK	Technology	GSM / HSPA / LTE

LAUNCH	Announced	2016, February
	Status	Available. Released 2016, March

BODY	Dimensions	142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm (5.61 x 2.74 x 0.31 in)
	Weight	152 g (5.36 oz)
	Build	Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel
	SIM	Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
		- Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified) - IP68 certified - dust proof and water resistant over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes

DISPLAY	Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	5.1 inches (~72.1% screen-to-body ratio)
	Resolution	1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 4
		- Always-on display - TouchWiz UI

PLATFORM	OS	Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 Exynos 8890 Octa
	CPU	Dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo Quad-core 2.3 GHz Mongoose + quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53
	GPU	Adreno 530 Mali-T880 MP12

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 200 GB (dedicated slot) - single-SIM model microSD, up to 200 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) - dual-SIM model
	Internal	32/64 GB, 4 GB RAM

CAMERA	Primary	12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash, check quality
	Features	1/2.6" sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, simultaneous 4K video and 9MP image recording, touch focus, face/smile detection, Auto HDR, panorama
	Video	2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, HDR, dual-video rec., check quality
	Secondary	5 MP, f/1.7, 22mm, dual video call, Auto HDR

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- 24-bit/192kHz audio

COMMS	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.2, A2DP, LE, aptX
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
	NFC	Yes
	Radio	No
	USB	microUSB v2.0, USB Host

FEATURES	Sensors	Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Java	No
		- Fast battery charging: 60% in 30 min (Quick Charge 2.0) - Wireless charging (Qi/PMA) - market dependent - ANT+ support - S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - OneDrive (115 GB cloud storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264 player - MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+/FLAC player - Photo/video editor - Document editor

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
	Talk time	Up to 22 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 62 h

MISC	Colors	Black, White, Gold, Silver, Pink Gold
	SAR US	1.40 W/kg (head)     1.59 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.41 W/kg (head)     0.62 W/kg (body)
	Price group	9/10

TESTS	Performance	Basemark OS II: 2004 / Basemark OS II 2.0: 2128 Basemark X: 32345
	Display	Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal), 4.376 (sunlight)
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Loudspeaker	Voice 66dB / Noise 62dB / Ring 66dB
	Audio quality	Noise -92.5dB / Crosstalk -92.7dB
	Battery life	Endurance rating 80h

SOURCE : GSM ARENA