The Samsung Galaxy J7 is powered by a Snapdragon 615 chipset or a new-generation mid-range Exynos chipset. Both have 1.5GB of RAM. The Exynos chipset is a 7-series chip built on Cortex-A53 cores but with Mali-T720 graphics instead of Adreno 405. We have the Exynos version inside our review unit.
On paper, the A53 processor is clocked higher inside the Exynos chipset compared to the Snapdragon. In the Exynos chipset all 8 cores run at 1.5GHz, while the S615 version has them in a 2x1.4GHz + 2x1.0GHz setup.
On the GPU front, the Mali GPU should be faster, but both the Mali and the Adreno support OpenGL ES 3.1 for the latest graphics effects.
Our first benchmark, the AnTuTu 5, gives the Galaxy A8 a slight edge in performance. The Helio X10-based Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 also places higher, though not as high as its 2GHz octa-core A53 processor implies.
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is based on the Snapdragon 615 chipset and has a 720p screen, but is slightly behind the Galaxy J7 in this test. Basemark OS II 2.0 has the J7 and M4 Aqua swapping places - the speed advantage depends on the workload, apparently.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
In raw CPU performance, the Galaxy J7 proved quite impressive, getting close to the multi-core speed of the Galaxy A8. That one has Cortex-A15 cores though, so it easily snatched the single-core test away from the A53 cores, which are geared towards power efficiency.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
We had high hopes for the Mali-T720 MP2 graphics, but the scores were disappointing. It turns out that Qualcomm's entry-level 4th generation GPU is slightly faster - getting nearly 6fps more at the native 720p resolution than the Mali.
The advantage grows to nearly 50% when a newer engine is used (GFX 3.0). Basemark X concurs with these findings.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
For the web tests we used the Samsung-tuned Internet app. It narrowly beats out the Xperia M4 Aqua in Javascript performance, but comes nowhere near the Galaxy A8. The Galaxy J7 handedly beats some affordable 5.5-or-so-inch devices like the Meizu m2 note and Lumia 640 XL and matches the mid-range Redmi Note 2.
Lower is better
Higher is better
After the Galaxy A8 tests we went into this review thinking that the Exynos chipset in the Galaxy J7 will outperform the Snapdragon 615. After all, the Exynos 5430 in the A8 made short work of it and this one is a 7-series Exynos but that's not the case. The Galaxy A8, apparently, has faster CPU cores and a beefier GPU.
So when it comes to the Galaxy J7, if you have a choice, get the Snapdragon 615 version - you're quite likely to see a difference in gaming performance, depending on the game it could be a significant one.
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