Why Does My J7 Notification Ring Over and Over Again

abril 22, 2022 Postar um comentário

It was around the same time last year that Samsung announced its virtually premium and feature-packed Milky way J series smartphone. The Milky way J7 Prime launched in India as the showtime budget Samsung phone with a metal unibody, Full Hard disk drive display, and other features that have go commonplace in the segment thank you to the influx of Chinese manufacturers to Indian shores. Nosotros reviewed the Milky way On Nxt, the J7 Prime'southward online cousin (with the only deviation betwixt the two being double the storage on the On Nxt), and institute it to be a well-executed device, even if it was outmatched by many alternatives on the market place.

A twelvemonth later, Samsung has released the Milky way J7 Max, an unofficial successor to the J7 Prime. Samsung says the J7 Max has a "flagship camera", attributable to the rear camera's f/1.7 aperture, which is equally low every bit Samsung's flagship Galaxy S8 and should translate to meliorate low-light performance. The J7 Max also brings dorsum Smart Glow, a rear-mounted notification ring that tin be customized for various notifications and was first seen on last year'southward Milky way J2 (2016). There's also 4GB of RAM, which is a first for a budget Samsung telephone.

What the company doesn't highlight is that the phone's 4 gigs of RAM are paired with a MediaTek processor. MediaTek chipsets aren't known to be the best performers, and when you couple information technology with Samsung'southward software, which tin start to slow downward after a while, information technology puts a big question mark over how the device will perform over time in day-to-day usage.

Merely it's never wise to give a verdict on a smartphone based on its specs, so I used the Galaxy J7 Max as my primary device for a couple of weeks to see what it offers. The spec sail is certainly interesting and meliorate than anything else Samsung has launched under ₹20,000, and then allow's see whether the Milky way J7 Max is worth your hard-earned money.

Galaxy J7 Max review: Pattern

Samsung Galaxy J7 Max review: The tortoise doesn't win this round

For a telephone that is priced at ₹18,499, the Galaxy J7 Max holds no surprises when it comes to design. Information technology looks like whatever other Samsung telephone from the front, and it's well built and feels skillful in hand owing to the metallic unibody. At the rear, the Smart Glow ring around the camera stands out. The back is as well a fingerprint magnet. On the black variant, which looks more than like dark blue at the dorsum, these fingerprints make the telephone wait rather muddy and are hard to scuff off, owing to the plastic-similar end (information technology's not actually plastic, but neither does information technology feel every bit metallic equally cheaper devices like the Redmi Note four or fifty-fifty Samsung's Milky way J7 Prime).

It's quite disappointing that the back can pick upward fingerprints quite hands, because that Smart Glow band requires you lot to proceed the telephone upside downwardly to be useful. Overall, let's just say the Milky way J7 Max feels premium and well built and, dare I say, even handsome at times attributable to the all-blackness forepart. Not every bit handsome or cute equally the Galaxy S8, only information technology's even so a notable achievement for a sub-₹twenty,000 phone from the Korean behemothic's camp.

Samsung Galaxy J7 Max review: The tortoise doesn't win this round

Now, about Smart Glow. Well, allow's say it'due south a groovy thought, with Samsung allowing you to choose random colors through a 10-footstep RGB scale. You tin assign different colors to contacts and apps, and as well for alerts such as low battery and high information usage. The thing is, Smart Glow is squeamish, simply information technology is only useful if you tend to keep your phone upside downwardly — something you shouldn't be doing given how easily smartphone displays scratch these days. I don't, then Smart Glow was useless for me. Thankfully, y'all can enable or disable Smart Glow with a single tap from the quick toggles in the notifications menu.

Galaxy J7 Max review: Display

Samsung Galaxy J7 Max review: The tortoise doesn't win this round

The Galaxy J7 Max comes with a 5.7-inch Full Hard disk display, and it'south an LCD console instead of the AMOLED panels Samsung has employed on the more than mainstream Galaxy J series devices since 2015. The display isn't bad. It'due south got enough colour saturation for an LCD panel, the blacks are equally blackness as you could go on an LCD screen, and the effulgence levels, while not the highest, never had me straining my eyes to make out the content on-screen.

But an AMOLED display would have made the J7 Max considerably more attractive, and I can't help but feel information technology's a missed opportunity for Samsung, specially at this toll point. Not a lot of competing phones come with AMOLED displays in this segment, though, so I guess it'southward not a complete loss. Not unless yous consider that Samsung's yesteryear mid-rangers like the Galaxy A7 (2016) can at present be purchased for a like price.

Galaxy J7 Max review: Camera

Samsung Galaxy J7 Max review: The tortoise doesn't win this round

Imaging is one area where the Galaxy J7 Max manages to impress, at least when you consider that Samsung'due south budget phones have always had mediocre cameras. The J7 Max'due south 13-megapixel rear camera has f/one.7 aperture, which is the largest seen on smartphones today and usually exclusive to flagship handsets. The large aperture is put to practiced utilise here, as the Galaxy J7 Max tin can capture a good amount of light in nighttime environments, even though it loses out on detail. Merely detail is impressive in daylight shots and those taken indoors in ample lighting. The one result with the rear photographic camera is that the colours can come out a flake drab in some cases.

Pictures taken against the light likewise suffer unless you turn to the dedicated HDR fashion, which does a expert job of bringing out the detail in both bright and dark areas. Equally for videos, there's not much to say. The phone shoots in Full Hard disk drive as the maximum resolution, captures plenty of detail in skillful lighting, and reduces jitter equally much as is possible without optical paradigm stabilization (naturally, also much movement isn't recommended).

The selfie camera, which is a 13-megapixel sensor with f/1.9 aperture, isn't every bit adept as the rear camera, but information technology does manage to take clean selfies without a lot of noise. Detail is lost whatsoever fourth dimension you shift to indoor lighting, just again, the effect is a clean paradigm. There's a selfie wink adjacent to the earpiece that helps in depression lite conditions. Instead of washing out the scene, the flash works subtly to assist take a balanced prototype, although like whatever other front-facing camera flash, it can blind yous for a moment if you're property the phone too close.

The camera app is the same ane that is found on Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. You can swipe left, right, or up/down on the viewfinder to access the shooting modes, wait at filters, or switch between the forepart and rear cameras. The app itself can be launched with a double printing of the home button, a feature mutual to all Samsung devices released in the last year or and then. Shooting modes are plenty for the rear photographic camera, including a mirror selfie manner that lights up the Smart Glow ring to tell you that your face up has been detected, followed by a timed capture.

There'due south likewise an Anti-fog mode, although I'grand not sure how this works and Samsung doesn't offering a description, either. As for the Pro mode, it'south a basic one that allows adjustment of exposure, white residual, and ISO. For the front photographic camera, you become a broad selfie mode that works like a panorama fashion for selfies. In practice, this doesn't work so well as the phone is normally quite shut to you lot when you have a selfie, but at least one gets the option. Oh, and you can also add a secondary floating shutter button to the camera app, one that tin be moved anywhere on the screen. Information technology's incredibly handy when yous're trying to take a selfie as it removes the need to wrestle with the default shutter push.

The J7 Max also comes with an Instant Sharing feature for the cameras. With Instant Sharing, y'all can chop-chop ship photos captured in a single film-taking session to contacts on WhatsApp or put them on Facebook by selecting these contacts/the Facebook app in the photographic camera app beforehand. Then, once you lot're done taking pictures, you can tap on a contact's proper noun, and the phone will automatically take y'all to the paradigm sharing screen of the particular app. It'south a few steps less for sending or uploading photos, and while I never found myself using it, I tin can see it coming in handy for others.

While Samsung's claims of a "flagship camera" are based on the photographic camera aperture and not finer aspects like the camera sensor, the J7 Max does take the all-time cameras I've seen on a Samsung phone priced under ₹20,000. The cameras are amend than even this twelvemonth's Galaxy A (2017) phones, which cost virtually double the J7 Max in the example of the Milky way A7 (2017). Kudos to Samsung for finally getting down to business and fixing its non-flagship phone cameras.

Galaxy J7 Max review: Software

The Milky way J7 Max runs Android vii.0 Nougat out of the box, with the Samsung Feel 8.one user interface that debuted on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Information technology's the most modern-looking version of Samsung'due south custom Android skin yet, and yous get many of the same features equally found on the Galaxy S8. There'due south full back up for third-party themes and icon packs, Multi Window multitasking, and besides the Secure Manner characteristic, which allows users to create a secure space for apps and information that is separate from the rest of the phone.

Samsung has also implemented a characteristic called Dual Messenger (found in Settings » Advanced features). What does it do? Well, it lets you install 2 copies of social networking apps on the phone, so you can log in to two different accounts. Popular apps similar Facebook, WhatsApp, and Snapchat that do non accept multi-user support are supported by Dual Messenger. Information technology'southward similar to the Dual Apps feature introduced by Xiaomi, and you tin fifty-fifty run both copies of the app at the aforementioned time in Multi Window fashion.

Since the Milky way J7 Max has the Galaxy S8's interface, the home screen works differently than how it used to on previous devices. At that place is no longer an app drawer button by default, and the drawer is accessed by swiping up and downwards on the home screen (the button can be enabled from the dwelling house screen settings should you want it). There's too an selection for putting all app shortcuts on the home screen pages and disable the app drawer altogether, to emulate how home screen launchers work on Chinese skins similar MIUI.

The J7 Max is also the first Samsung telephone to come with Samsung Pay Mini. It'southward a basic version of the payment service that supports only wallets and UPI; the full version of Samsung Pay is bachelor on the Milky way J7 Pro, so that's the device you need to look at if you want Samsung Pay outside of Samsung's mid-range and flagship phones. As for Samsung Pay Mini, it's great if you're a regular UPI or Paytm user, as it lets you lot handle all your accounts in a single location. Without support for actual debit and credit cards, though, I institute myself ignoring Samsung Pay Mini.

Now, what about an upgrade to Android 8.0? Samsung has offered i major upgrade to every Galaxy J5 and J7, then there'south hope for the J7 Max. Of course, it could be almost a yr earlier the update is released, at least if we get past how slow Samsung unremarkably is with updating non-flagship phones, simply it should arrive at some signal down the line.

Galaxy J7 Max review: Operation

Samsung Galaxy J7 Max review: The tortoise doesn't win this round

This is where information technology all comes crashing down for the J7 Max. I was sceptical when I started using the phone, and my fears weren't unfounded: The J7 Max is the laggiest phone I've used in contempo retention. It doesn't lag all the time. In fact, its smoothness and speed are all the more notable considering of the functioning issues information technology faces at other times, even during regular usage. Going to the home screen from an app that you've been using for an extended period, trying to switch betwixt two apps, or simply waking upwardly the telephone using the ability push; the Galaxy J7 Max tin lag and stutter like it'due south nobody'due south business.

It no dubiousness comes down to the fact that Samsung'due south Android skin is ane of the least optimised out there, and with a MediaTek chip nether the hood, the J7 Max cannot agree a candle to devices that cost much less when it comes to software functioning. Thankfully, gaming isn't affected, and the Mali-T880 GPU within the phone can run graphically intensive games like Modern Combat v and Asphalt 8 quite well at the default graphical settings. The iv gigs of RAM besides help go along a considerable amount of apps in memory, and the 32GB of internal storage is skilful enough to store all your apps as long as you keep your media on an SD card.

Samsung's fingerprint sensor, meanwhile, is as practiced equally the ane plant on the visitor'south flagships. It'southward still decumbent to failure at times, merely it's fast when information technology works. It's always active, so you tin simply keep your finger on the home push button to wake upwards the device, although this isn't every bit quick as devices with rear-facing fingerprint sensors. Samsung has also built in facial recognition for unlocking the device, and in sufficiently lit environments, facial recognition works well, if a trivial tedious at times.

What about audio quality? Samsung continues to offering the same upkeep-form headphones as it has on every other sub-₹20,000 phone, but the loudspeaker on the J7 Max is loud and distortion-free at fifty-fifty the highest book level. In that location isn't a lot of bass to be heard, high frequencies (treble) have been turned up to xi, and the mid-range is pretty much non-existent, but the speaker is still a good i and does the job for a bit of YouTube viewing and making sure you discover every incoming call.

Phone call quality is also great, and I had no issues with either Jio or Airtel fifty-fifty in my building'south basement machine parking. Bluetooth connectivity, nonetheless, wasn't perfect. Streaming to my car'due south stereo had intermittent stutters at times, even when the phone was inside the car. The telephone also tends to stop playing audio on the car's speakers and switch to the loudspeaker now then, prompting me to re-enable media audio playback on Bluetooth via the settings bill of fare. Probably something an update tin can set in the futurity, although it remained an outcome even after two software updates.

Milky way J7 Max review: Bombardment Life

The Galaxy J7 Max doesn't match up to the battery life standards ready in place past other phones in the segment, including Samsung's regular Galaxy J5 and J7. Battery life isn't bad. The phone can terminal a full twenty-four hour period, but you volition demand to connect it to the charger the next morn. I'm not sure if using the phone with a unmarried SIM would aid, just with ii SIMs inside and a fair bit of 4G LTE usage over the solar day, the J7 Max can only guarantee a day's battery life and a few hours on the second day before needing a charge.

Samsung builds in a couple of ability saving modes, and you might see your mileage with battery life increment with those power saving modes enabled. Sadly, the J7 Max doesn't come with any form of fast charging, and the three,300 mAh bombardment inside takes nearly 2 and a half hours to go from 0 to 100, even with a 2A charger (Samsung provides a 1.55A charger in the box). That'south not acceptable in this day and age, non when even the Redmi 4A has fast charging. Hopefully, Samsung isn't going to be keeping such features away from its budget devices for long.

Galaxy J7 Max review: Determination

The Galaxy J7 Max would have been the first upkeep Samsung phone that I would take recommended wholeheartedly, if Samsung hadn't negated all the positives with the mediocre software operation. In that location's just no alibi for the kind of lag and stutter that the J7 Max suffers from, not in the Indian marketplace, where the sub-₹20,000 scene is filled with powerful alternatives similar the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, the Xiaomi Mi Max 2, and the Moto G5 Plus. The J7 Max does well in every other section (peculiarly the camera), and that'southward what makes it fifty-fifty more disappointing that the phone tin can slow down so often even during full general usage.

Once again, it'southward Samsung's wider availability and better afterwards sales service that stand as the reasons for opting for the company's latest budget phone. If you don't intendance nigh those, nevertheless, y'all'd exercise well to spend money on one of the many better alternatives on the market.