Samsung is renewing its entry-level with a Galaxy J6 which relies on its excellent screen and champion autonomy to compete with the best in its category. Is the rest of the painting as good looking?
Presentation
After unveiling its Galaxy A6 and A6+ a few weeks ago, Samsung continues with its J range, synonymous with entry-level smartphones. After a good quality J7 in 2017, the Korean firm is back with the J6. A smartphone substantially identical to the Galaxy A6, except for one letter. Another notable difference is the price. Positioned at €249 – i.e. €60 less than its "twin" -, this newcomer will oppose the Moto G6, the Nokia 6 2018, but also the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, cheaper but capable of titillating competitors. of the upper price range.
The Galaxy J6 offers an impeccable grip and weighs 154 g.
Ergonomics and design
The Galaxy J6 will not disorient Samsung enthusiasts. Overall, and as often with the Korean firm, it has a nice finish. The smartphone is covered with a plastic shell and has a home-made 5,6-inch Super Amoled screen that takes up 77,6% of the front face.
The Galaxy J6 and its 5,6-inch Oled screen.
Getting started with the Galaxy J6 is no problem. The side buttons fall naturally under the fingers, whether the unlocking one on the right or the volume ones on the other side. The fingerprint reader, surrounded by a small rim to locate it, is just as accessible. On the lower edge, the 3,5 mm mini-jack output is accompanied by the micro-USB charging port.
The Galaxy J6 is able to accommodate two nano-SIMs as well as a microSD card with a capacity of up to 256 GB. Enough to inflate the 32 or 64 GB of internal memory (depending on the version). Especially since the Android operating system takes up just over 8 GB of all storage. Finally, the Galaxy J6 has no waterproof certification. A feature almost non-existent at this price level.
The rear module of the J6 with its fingerprint sensor.
Screen
Like the members of its big brother, the Galaxy J6 is equipped with a Super Amoled panel built by the Korean firm. It offers a diagonal of 5,6 inches in the ratio 18,5: 9 and displays in 1 x 440 px. If its resolution is still too low (720 dpi), the colorimetry of the screen is excellent.
However, it will be necessary to make a quick detour through the parameters to get the best out of it. Several display profiles are indeed offered (Adaptive, Cinema, Photo and Basic). The best rendering remains that offered by the Basic profile, the others tending to rely on colors that are too flashy and therefore far from reality. The same observation is valid with the "blue light filter", which lowers the temperature, up to exaggerated values and will be reserved for specific conditions.
After setting the screen, the Galaxy J6 panel therefore has exemplary colorimetry. Oled obliges, its contrast ratio is infinite. The average delta E is kept very low (2,6) while the color temperature is set at 6 K, very close to the ideal of 753 K. The only shadow in the table, some shades that are a little less faithful, such as green and turquoise.
By pushing the brightness bar to its maximum, the Galaxy J6 rises to 339 cd / m², a fairly limited value, but well helped by a good reflectance rate (7,41%). It is however possible to propel it to 483 cd/m² by switching to “Outdoor” mode, very useful in direct sunlight, in return for a color temperature that rises and therefore a rendering that becomes much too cold to be realistic. At its minimum, the panel emits only 4,5 cd / m², enough to spare the eyes of night users.
The Galaxy J6 panel is capable of going up to 483 cd / m² thanks to the "Outdoor" mode.
Finally, in terms of performance, the Galaxy J6 continues its good momentum with zero afterglow time and an above-average touch delay (105 ms).
performances
For day-to-day business, the Galaxy J6 houses an Exynos 7870 8-core Cortex A-53 chip accompanied by 3 or 4 GB of RAM, depending on the version. Good enough to run Android and juggle between applications without encountering a problem. The smartphone is not the hottest either since it only rises to 36°C on its surface, even pushed to its limits.
Galaxy J6 thermal images after intensive use of the rear camera module.
It's a Mali-T830 chip that takes over when playing. Enough to run 3D titles without really having any performance ambitions. Graphics and smoothness are the first to suffer from hardware limitations. A predictable result when looking at this range of terminals.
Audio
The 3,5 mm mini-jack output, located on the lower edge, is of good quality. Its distortion is minimal, its dynamic range is wide enough to allow sound to be clear, and its level is large enough to stand up to most headphones. Only downside in this beautiful score, the crosstalk which betrays a mediocre reproduction of the stereo image.
The loudspeaker located on the right edge of the terminal is far from perfect. If the output power is decent, the sound is muffled, with a tight dynamic range and too much distortion, which sometimes gives an irritating result.
Photo
Samsung's A and J lines don't shine in photos, and the Galaxy J6 is no exception. Its performance is below average, even if we only compare it to models in its range. This is the real downside of the terminal.
On its back, the Galaxy J6 is equipped with a 13 Mpx sensor accompanied by a lens opening at f / 1,9. Even in daylight shots, the smartphone quickly reveals its limits. The captures are poor in detail, the dynamic range is rather low and the image suffers from excessive smoothing processing. The periphery is not spared either and is gradually drowning in vagueness.
As often, the rendering is spoiled on shots in low light. The electronic noise invades the photo, the colors fade and the whole remains difficult to use.
In video, the Galaxy J6 films in 1080p and 30 fps. The final rendering remains rather average and a bit bland. However, the light transitions as well as the focus are managed quietly by the smartphone.
Finally, the 8 Mpx front sensor is accompanied by a lens opening at f / 1.9. He takes acceptable shots, very bright, but with a lot of automatic retouching.
The photo application, of quality, makes it easy to disengage certain automations of the device. It turns out to be very fluid and allows you to chain shots quickly without suffering from slowdowns.
Autonomy
It was armed with its 3 mAh battery that the Galaxy J000 crossed swords with our in-house battery life test. And the fight was, to say the least, heroic. SmartViser, which connects SMS, standby, video playback and calls, still took 6:18 p.m. to put Samsung's latest addition to the mat. An honorable score, which places it among the very best in its category, close to the J19 (7:18 p.m.), far ahead of the A45 (6:14 p.m.), but still a few lengths from the featherweight champion, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 01 and its spectacular 5:21 p.m. .
Concretely, this corresponds to two and a half days of normal use. Enough to allow yourself short escapades far from your charging block. A luxury that comes with an ugly flaw: it takes nearly 3 hours to fully charge it with the charger provided.
Highlights
A flawless screen.
Solid autonomy.
A 3,5 mm mini-jack output.
A smartphone that does not heat up.
Weak points
A catastrophic rear photo module.
Conclusion
Note globale
Samsung is once again making its know-how speak. With the Galaxy J6, the Korean manufacturer offers an almost perfect smartphone in its price range, with one flaw: its photo module, which is far too limited to be acceptable, even comparing it to models of the same price. However, it raises the question of the legitimacy of the existence of the Galaxy A6, more expensive for an almost identical result.
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