Things are heating up in the mid-range phone arena.
Samsung recently unveiled in the Philippines its latest addition to its lineup, the Galaxy J7 Pro. While Oppo also released its newest mid-range device, the Oppo F3. With this, we tested both devices to find out which is the better choice.
We compared the Galaxy J7 Pro and Oppo F3 in terms of design, specs, camera, and value to help you decide where to spend your money.
Which Phone Looks Better: Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro vs. Oppo F3 Design
In the past, gold-colored smartphones were somewhat reserved for expensive, luxury phones. However, nowadays, even mid-range smartphones that are lighter on the wallet have struck gold. This is really an amazing thing because even with a smaller budget, a person can own a “gold” phone.
From the untrained eye, the Galaxy J7 Pro and Oppo F3 may look the same. The ones we tested both came in gold color, with the Galaxy J7 Pro in full metal unibody, and the Oppo F3 with a metal back panel.
In terms of size, the Oppo F3 (153.3 x 75.2 x 7.3mm) is slightly bigger than the Galaxy J7 Pro (152.4 x 74.7 x 7.9mm). However, both phones feature 5.5-inch displays. This means the Galaxy J7 Pro has a bigger screen-to-body ratio of 73.3% compared to F3’s 72.3%.
There is a minimal difference on the rear – both have bands on top and bottom, though the Galaxy J7 Pro’s bands curved towards the edge, the Oppo F3’s bands are more like a straight line. The big difference is on the front side – the Galaxy J7 Pro maintained a splash of gold around its bezels while the F3 came in white. Hence, the Galaxy J7 Pro gave a more premium appeal.
Which is More Powerful: Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro vs. Oppo F3 Specs
Let’s take a look how the two smartphones’ hardware stack up against each other.
Samsung has already made a name for providing the most stunning smartphone displays with its Super AMOLED panel. This continues on the Galaxy J7 Pro. This phone maintains its vivid Full HD display, following its siblings. Meanwhile, the Oppo F3 also offers a Full HD display. However, with the Super AMOLED display, the Galaxy J7 Pro is sharper and more detailed. Hence, it is expected to have better contrast and more vibrant colors compared to the LED-backlit Oppo F3 display. The Galaxy J7 Pro’s display is far more impressive. Moreover, the Samsung phone comes with a feature called “Always On Display,” which guarantees to keep you informed even when the screen is off. This feature was first introduced by Samsung to its flagship smartphones, as seen in the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S8, but now the South Korean tech company’s opted to bring this in to its mid-range smartphones as well, starting off with the new Galaxy J7 Pro.
Looking at the computing power of both devices, the Galaxy J7 Pro runs on 1.6GHz octa-core Exynos 7870 Octa while the F3 runs on 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6750T. Although both phones have octa-core processors, the Galaxy J7 Pro has a higher clock speed, which is about 6.25% faster considering all cores. Moreover, the Exynos 7870 is built using 14nm manufacturing process, which in theory, also makes it more powerful and less power-hungry than the MediaTek MT6750T that is built on the older and less efficient 28nm manufacturing process. Furthermore, Samsung’s processor uses Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP), which means it can use all cores at the same time or just a single core for low-intensity tasks, allowing it to have powerful performance or increased battery life, respectively.
Still, real-world performance of the processors can be affected by many factors, including how optimized the OS and software are on each smartphone. The Galaxy J7 Pro comes out-of-box with the latest Android Nougat 7.0 while the F3 arrives with 6.0 Marshmallow.
Lastly, the Galaxy J7 Pro arrives with a bigger battery capacity of 3600mAh compared to the F3’s 3200mAh.
Which Shoots Better: Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro vs. Oppo F3 Camera
Both smartphones claim that they are awesome at photography. The Galaxy J7 Pro has a great camera even at night while the F3 is also capable especially when it comes to taking selfies.
The Galaxy J7 Pro features a 13MP rear camera with a F/1.7 aperture – the same aperture introduced in the low-light camera of the Galaxy S7 last year. Its front-facing camera is also 13MP with an F/1.9 aperture, and is dubbed as a High-Resolution Selfie Camera with LED flash. The Oppo F3 has a 13 MP rear camera with a F/2.2 aperture. Its selfie camera is a system of Dual 16MP + 8MP for wider selfie shots.
We tested them both and here some test shots.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Taking outdoor shots, the difference between the two phones are already noticeable. This was taken at around 5PM in Pampanga. Samsung has a brighter output while Oppo is a little dim despite this one being taken before dusk in an open area. Still, Samsung is able to maintain the natural color. Take a look at the clouds.
Here is another outdoor shot comparison.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Although the photo taken using the Galaxy J7 Pro is a little darker, the colors are kept as natural as possible. On the Oppo F3, the photo appears to be a little overexposed to compensate and make it brighter, which is why the sky looked a bit washed out.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Trying both for indoor shots, the scene has limited natural light coming from the left side. Hence, the photo tends to be dark moving from left to right. The Oppo F3 compensated again by adding exposure, which kind’a worked this time around.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Another indoor shot in low light, Samsung was able to capture it as close to reality. However, this time, Oppo seemed to try to underexpose the photo since there are lamps in it, making the photo appear a bit darker than wanted.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
The night shot is where the big difference between the two phones surfaced. Despite the very limited light, the Galaxy J7 Pro was able to capture the shot taken in low light to make my face visible. On the other hand, the Oppo F3 struggled and the photo was very dark.
We took more night photography samples. See them below:
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Photo taken using the J7 Pro was warmer. Although there is noise on both, the one taken using the J7 Pro was less noisy than the F3.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Photo taken using the F3 was darker. The J7 Pro was able to compensate to the limited light at night without altering the colors on the photo.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
We also tried night photography on both phones where the J7 Pro is in Night Mode while the Oppo F3 is in Expert Mode.
As you can see in these photos, the color on the F3 is a bit washed out compared to the J7 Pro. Both devices tend to capture photos more slower when on Night or Expert Modes.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
The photo taken using J7 Pro has a streak of light maybe because it tries to get as much illumination as it can since it is dark out. Although that streak of light is not found on the F3, the photo taken using it is very noisy.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Colors are more vibrant on the J7 Pro despite being taken at night.
Top: Galaxy J7 Pro, Bottom: F3
Lastly, we tried the front-facing camera on both phones at night. The Oppo F3’s shot has warmer colors but it was a tad noisy. Meanwhile, Galaxy J7 Pro’s photo has again kept the colors as natural as possible. However, it flipped the output photo unlike the F3’s mirror image.
What did we find out? It seems that the Oppo F3 knows how to compensate in low light, but it is a hit or miss because there is that risk of the photo coming out overexposed and washed out. Moreover, it struggles when there is very limited light. On the other hand, the Galaxy J7 Pro knows how to preserve colors but at times, photos appear to be dark than we want them to be. Still, it was able to come out on top in terms of night-time shooting.
Which Offers Better Value for Your Money: Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro vs. Oppo F3
The price of the Oppo F3 was revealed at P15,990 during its launch. The Galaxy J7 Pro was launched recently with the same price at P15,990.
Since the two have the same price tag, it boils down to what they offer. The Galaxy J7 Pro looks better with its dash of gold even on the front side, it appears to have better power and performance on paper, and it offers a respectable camera at par the “Selfie Expert” and sometimes better with low-light shots, which makes it a more appealing choice.
What do you think of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro? Let us know in the comments!
