Samsung Galaxy J6+ (2018) Unboxing and First Impressions

Samsung is releasing phones at an accelerated pace after the release of the A7 and A9 several weeks ago. Now they've announced the Galaxy J6+ (2018)!

The Galaxy J6+ (2018)!

After the release of the 2018 versions of the popular A-series Galaxy phones, Samsung continues the momentum with the release of the more affordable Galaxy J6+ (2018) with a Snapdragon 425, Adreno 308, 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM that is expandable to 512GB.

Does it offer the same value for its price that the Galaxy A7 (2018) has started?

Let's find out! This the first part of our review.

Unboxing/Accessories

Inside the box!

It comes in a light blue box. Inside are the phone, documentation, sim ejector tool, power brick, USB to microUSB port, earphones and jelly case!

The Jelly case is a surprise because this is one of the few times Samsung includes one inside the box. 

The J6+ comes with a 5V/1A charger that charges the large 3,300mAh battery. This could potentially take more than 2 hours of charging.

Build Quality/Design

Pretty reflections!

The Galaxy J6+ is one of the prettiest phones in its price range. It is made of a front and back 2.5D glass-like panels that sandwich a lightweight polycarbonate frame. The only phone that beats it in design and materials is the Honor 8X and the Mi A2 Lite.

It is a step down from the Galaxy A7 but given that it is at a significantly lesser price, it is to be expected.

It wasn't specified if the glass panels were protected.

Empty top part

Micro USB port, mic, and 3.5 mm jack slot

Volume buttons, SIM tray 1 and 2

Speaker and power button/fingerprint scanner

In front is the large 6-inch 2.5D curved IPS HD+ display with 274 ppi with thin side bezels and with thick top and bottom bezels. The top bezels contain the cameras and the sensors.

The Galaxy J6+ is one of the prettiest phones in its price range!

To bring down the cost even further Samsung has decided to use an IPS display instead of their Super AMOLED display. 

On top frame is empty while the bottom contains a microphone, micro USB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The right side has the speaker and the power button that doubles as the fingerprint sensor while the left has the volume buttons and the two sim card trays.

One tray houses a single nano sim while the second houses a nano sim and the microSD card.

Overall ergonomics is great.

Initial findings

Polarising benchmark scores!

1. The Galaxy J6+ is one of the better designed phones in its price range. Though the frame is a mix of polycarbonate and metal, it still feels sturdy but lightweight. The 2.5D glass in front and at the back feels and look premium but are huge fingerprint magnets.

The display is a large 6-inch IPS HD+ display with 1480 x 720 resolution at 274 ppi with good viewing angles and decent brightness.

2. Inside are the Snapdragon 425 and Adreno 308 which when compared to similarly priced phones is disappointing. The PHP 10,000 Zenfone Max Pro M1 had a Snapdragon 636 which performed better than the 425.

For storage, it has 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM that is expandable to 512GB while the battery is a large 3300mAh battery without Adaptive fast charging.

3. It is running on Android 8.0 Oreo with the latest Samsung Experience UI. It is a heavily modified version of Android with Samsung's unique features and services. It is however one of the lightest and fastest version of Samsung's UI in recent memory. Our only gripe is that the Settings menu is hard to navigate and we had some apps like Lazada pre-installed.

4. The dual rear cameras are made of 13MP f/1.9 and 5MP f/2.2 with autofocus and LED flash while the front facing camera is a 8MP f/1.9. It wasn't specified if the cameras had OIS or EIS built in.

It's nice to see that both the main rear and the main selfie camera have a F1.9 maximum aperture that allows for good low light performance.

5. Like the Galaxy A7 (2018), the power button on the right side doubles as the fingerprint scanner. It has an accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor and proximity sensor. It supports OTG but doesn't have an LED notification light.

Samsung Galaxy J6+ (2018) Specs

Display: 6-inch 2.5D curved IPS screen w/ HD+ 1480 x 720 resolution at 274 ppi
CPU: 1.4GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor
GPU: Adreno 308
RAM: 3GB
ROM: 32GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB (dedicated)
Back Camera: 13MP f/1.9 + 5MP f/2.2 w/ AF and LED flash
Selfie Camera: 8MP f/1.9
Battery: 3,300mAh
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz), 4G LTE Cat 4, Bluetooth 4.2 ANT+, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, Colors: Red, Gray, Black
Dimensions: 161.4 x 76.9 x 7.9 mm
Weight: 178 g
Price: PHP 9,990

As of the moment

The Galaxy J6+ is easily one of the prettiest and premium looking phone in its price range with a large 6-inch IPS display!

Though it doesn't have a full metal frame (mix of metal and polycarboate) like the Honor 8X it will easily turn heads. It is loaded with Samsung's unique features and services and the benefits of Android 8.0 with cameras that on paper  have the potential to be one of the better in its price range. 

Our only reservations rest on the choice of Snapdragon 425 instead of the Snapdragon 636 that similarly priced smartphones carry.

For our review: Samsung Galaxy J6+ (2018) Review - Worth the PHP 9,990 price tag?