Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) vs Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3: Price, specifications, features compared

Samsung launched the affordable Galaxy J3 (2016) yesterday, and here’s how it compares with other popular smartphones in this price range.

The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) was launched yesterday with a price tag of Rs 8,990. The highlight of this new smartphone is what Samsung calls the ‘S bike mode’. This feature is essentially aimed at helping bikers concentrate on the road without getting disturbed by phone calls or notifications. At this price range though, it will face competition from the likes of the Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 among others. We pit the three smartphones against each other comparing them on the basis of their price, specifications and features.

Price: The Galaxy J3 (2016) is priced at Rs 8,990 and it has gone on sale, exclusively via Snapdeal. The Vibe K5 Plus is on sale exclusively via Flipkart, with a price tag of Rs 8,499. The Redmi Note 3, on the other hand, is only available via weekly flash sale models on Amazon India and mi.com. It is available in two variants — 16GB variant for Rs 9,999 and 32GB variant for Rs 11,999.

Specifications: Where both the Vibe K5 Plus and Redmi Note 3 flaunt full HD (1080p) displays, the Galaxy J3 (2016) has to be contend with an HD (720p) resolution display. Xiaomi’s smartphone is the biggest of the three with a 5.5-inch screen. It also has a dedicated sunlight and reading mode.

Under the hood, Samsung’s smartphone is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor paired with 1.5GB of RAM. Lenovo’s smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 616 octa-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM, while the Redmi Note 3 is powered by a Snapdragon 650 hexa-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM. On the storage front, all three come with microSD card slots to expand the internal storage.

For selfie lovers, all three smartphones come with 5-megapixel snappers. The Redmi Note 3 also comes with a Beautify mode. As for primary snappers, the Redmi Note 3 seems to have the best on paper with a 16-megapixel f/2.0 camera, followed by Vibe K5 Plus’ 13-megapixel camera, and the Galaxy J3 (2016)’s 8-megapixel snapper. The megapixel counts however are not the only criteria determining a camera’s performance, and we found the Redmi Note 3′s camera to be less than impressive in our review.

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 3 has the biggest battery of the lot — 4,000mAh — and we were mighty impressed with the battery life. Lenovo and Samsung’s smartphones have similar sized batteries, 2,750mAh and 2,600mAh respectively.

Features: All three smartphones come with a similar set of connectivity options and also run on Android Lollipop 5.1 wrapped under their respective UI. Samsung’s Galaxy J3 (2016) though also boasts NFC connectivity, which also brings us to one of its highlight features — S bike mode.

Buyers essentially get a NFC tag that they can stick on their bike, and tapping the smartphone on the tag will activate the S bike mode. In this mode, when the biker gets a call, the caller actually hears a pre-recorded message saying that the person is currently riding a bike. Only if the caller presses 1, will the call actually go through. The mode also supports gestures, and the biker can reject the call using a gesture. The bike mode also includes motion lock, which prevents the biker from answering the call when the bike is moving. It can also monitor the bike ride and share statistics with the rider.

Verdict: Samsung’s Galaxy J3 (2016) smartphone may have a unique feature, but it will have its work cut out when competing against the likes of the Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Xiaomi’s phablet maybe Rs 1,000 dearer, but it offers a lot more value for money. We will however wait till we have reviewed all three smartphones before we say, which is the best of the lot.

Detailed comparison table follows.

Source: bgr.in

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