Hands-On

Samsung Galaxy J6 Hands-on: When you want a trusted budget phone

Lives up to expectations, but also lacks in certain aspects

Published

June 26, 2018

Daniel Morial

The popular J-series from Samsung has a new member, and for loyal fans looking for a new budget-midrange phone, the Galaxy J6 is a viable option. It’s got everything users need in an everyday phone, plus premium features.

A well-crafted phone

Despite having a plastic body, the Galaxy J6 doesn’t feel cheap at all. It lacks the metal unibody of the Galaxy J7 phones but, thanks to the matte paint of the back panel, has a good feel in the hand. It doesn’t attract fingerprints much which avoids the need to constantly wipe the phone.

In front is the tall display along with the earpiece, front sensors, and selfie camera. There’s no branding here making the phone look clean and stylish, especially when placed flat on a table. Keeping up with the trend, the bezels of the Galaxy J6 are minimal, but still there just like most budget phones with tall aspect ratios.

There’s no display notch on the Galaxy J6 — something Samsung dislikes on their phones. I guess that’s a good thing, right?

Samsung made the left side of the Galaxy J6 really busy by putting most of the phone’s physical features on this side. There’s a couple of buttons for adjusting the volume and two card slots are placed right below them. The first slot accepts a nano-SIM card labeled as SIM1, while the other slot is for the second SIM card and the microSD card. It’s good to see a dedicated card slot for expanding storage.

On the right side are the loudspeaker and the power button. Ever since the Galaxy J7 Prime was introduced, Samsung’s midrange and budget phones have always had their loudspeakers on the side. It’s fantastic compared to a bottom-firing speaker, to be honest, since you won’t muffle the speaker when holding the phone in landscape orientation with two hands.

Sitting at the bottom of the Galaxy J6 is the micro-USB port, microphone, and 3.5 audio port. Samsung is yet to introduce USB-C ports for their budget phones just like OPPO and Vivo. It’s about time to make USB-C truly universal though, and there are already a number of USB-C cables available for cheap.

The rear is pretty basic with just the main camera positioned above the fingerprint reader. There’s also a single LED flash beside the camera while the Samsung logo is debossed onto the plastic black.

Overall, the Galaxy J6 is a simple-looking phone that gives a bit of value for money by copying the design of more expensive Samsung phones. If you’re already spoiled by the cold and solid feel of aluminum, you could check out the Galaxy A6 which is only a little more expensive.

Amazing display, decent camera, old processor

Being a Samsung phone, the Galaxy J6 has a vibrant Super AMOLED display — not just another LCD panel. The phone’s display measures 5.6 inches with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and a tall 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The Infinity Display usually found on premium Samsung phones is now made available to its budget devices, sans the curved edges and high pixel count.

It features most of display features too, but it doesn’t have Always On which is a bummer since it’s already an AMOLED display. Other display features include an outdoor mode for increased brightness, blue light filter to reduce eye strain, and multiple screen color modes including adaptive display.

The cameras on board the phone are single shooters, but with large aperture openings that help to see more in low-light environments. On the back is a 13-megapixel sensor with an f/1.9 opening while the front has an 8-megapixel sensor with an f/1.9 opening, as well. Here are some samples for reference:

Samsung’s familiar camera launcher is present here, along with a few camera modes including Pro (manual mode with very few controls), Night, and HDR. Both the front and rear shooters support AR stickers, while only the front shoots portrait photos.

: Without bokeh

: With bokeh

: With AR sticker

In terms of performance, the good old Exynos 7870 processor takes care of things along with 3GB of memory and 32GB of expandable storage. A 3000mAh battery keeps the lights on and it runs Android 8.0 Oreo skinned with Samsung Experience.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

For PhP 13,990 in the Philippines, there are more powerful options available in the market, but they don’t have certain Samsung traits when it comes to build and design. The best-selling feature of the Galaxy J6 is its Super AMOLED display which is a rare sight in this price segment. The display alone could convince people to purchase one, even though the phone sports a pretty old processor.

For everyday usage, the Galaxy J6 is a capable phone. It’s not a gaming smartphone, but it was never meant to be one. You’ll get the Galaxy J6 for its looks, display, camera, and Samsung label.

Related Topics:Galaxy J6 Samsung Samsung Galaxy J6

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.