Hands-On

Samsung Galaxy J7 Core Hands-on Review

Published

September 13, 2017

Daniel Morial

If Samsung is playing favorites when it comes to phone names, the J7 moniker would be its first choice. Just about a week ago, the South Korean company brought us its newest budget phone — and you guessed it — it sports the J7 title.

Let’s take a look at the Galaxy J7 Core.

The front is a familiar Samsung face

Pretty thick bezels, though

There’s a front-facing LED flash up top

Shiny plastic chrome frame surrounds the phone

A physical button and two capacitive keys on its chin

It doesn’t have a fingerprint reader!

It has micro-USB and 3.5mm ports at the bottom

Standard ports for budget phones

Even the rear is a traditional layout from Samsung

The rear cover has a rubbery surface

Removable 3000mAh battery and dedicated microSD card slot!

You get two slots for SIM cards plus another for storage expansion!

Performs great, gaming is okay

The Galaxy J7 Core is currently the lowest-end and cheapest offering in the J7 series, although it sports similar specs like its siblings. It’s still powered by the aging Exynos 7870 processor paired with an ample 2GB of memory. Unlike the Galaxy J7 Prime from last year, Samsung blessed the phone with its gorgeous Super AMOLED display; however, the panel only has a 720p resolution. The display might not be the sharpest around (even for its price), but the color quality is top-notch. It perfectly shows the vibrant Samsung Experience UI on top of Android Nougat.

During its launch, Samsung said they positioned the phone to be a budget gaming device. The Philippine retail version comes with 10,000 battle points and three hero trial cards from Mobile Legends, plus a free 16GB microSD card to store your files and apps, because the 16GB internal storage will never be enough. Pre-loaded on the phone is Samsung’s Game Launcher app, which we first saw on flagship models. Basically, this gives users some tools for better gaming like silent alerts, option to disable the capacitive keys (we need this since we always tap the back key accidentally), screen recording, and more.

Performance-wise, the J7 Core is no slouch. The system runs smoothly and it has a comparable gaming performance to its siblings (they sport the same processor and graphics units), without the higher price tag. The lower memory is a bottleneck, but it’s necessary to keep its price low for a Samsung. Our favorite titles like Asphalt Extreme and NBA 2K17 run fine as long as you keep the settings in check. We manage to get smooth frame rates in low to medium graphics level.

Camera is okay and straightforward

If its Galaxy J7 Pro sibling is marketed to “capture the night” with its f/1.7 rear camera, the J7 Core is a runner-up with a 13-megapixel f/1.9 main camera. Those numbers are just on paper though, as we find the daylight images to be just okay. Low-light performance is pretty good, but the camera doesn’t compensate for the shake and slow shutter speed. Here are a few samples:

: Front

The selfie photo was captured with the front LED flash on. This helps fill up light directly onto the subject’s face, especially when taking a photo indoors. Not exactly a quality selfie phone, but the front flash is handy.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

For the phone’s retail price of PhP 9,990, there are a number of options you can choose from. But, we get how some consumers like to stick to Samsung as a trusted brand. The Galaxy J7 Core has some unique offerings, including its Super AMOLED display, removable 3000mAh battery, and a triple-card slot. The budget segment has tough competition, but with a number of models you can choose from (and it continues to grow), you’ll never run out of options.

[irp posts=”16150″ name=”Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro Review: Looks good, feels good”]

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.