As the selfie craze continues to grow, phone manufacturers are looking for any edge they can get on the competition to entice those who just can’t get enough of themselves. Higher resolution front-facing cameras are becoming the norm, but there is one other spec that has been missing from most phones — the front-facing LED flash.
Samsung announced the Galaxy J5 and the Galaxy J7 for China, which happen to be the company’s first smartphones featuring front-facing LED flashes. The front-facing flash compliments a 5-megapixel, wide-angle, front-facing camera on the two phones. Higher-resolution cameras have become the norm on the front of Samsung’s phones lately, and the flash will only enhance the quality of selfies taken with the J5 and J7.
Although more people are using their front-facing shooter, Samsung can’t forget about that rear shooter. Both models get a 13-megapixel rear camera with a very low aperture of f/1.9. That is exactly what the Galaxy S6 offers, and the camera should provide fantastic quality for low light shots.
The Galaxy J5 and J7 differ only in display size, processor, and battery. The J5 will feature a 5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) screen, a 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor, and a 2,600mAh battery. The J7 gets slightly better specs with its 5.5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) screen, 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, and 3,000mAh battery.
Rounding out the rest of the specs, both phones sport 1.5 GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a MicroSD slot for expandable storage, dual-SIM capability, and LTE connectivity. Samsung will offer both devices in white, black, and gold.
Pricing is pretty reasonable. The J5 comes in at 1,398 CNY ($225), while the J7 is slightly higher at 1,798 CNY ($289).
Both the J5 and J7 might be Samsung’s first phones with front-facing LED flash, but other manufacturers already offer handsets with the same feature. The HTC Desire EYE, Sony Xperia C4, and the Asus ZenFone Selfie all offer front-facing LED flashes. In the case of the Desire Eye and ZenFone Selfie, both offer dual-LED front-facing flash and higher resolution cameras.
It doesn’t appear that either phone will be offered outside of China, but selfie lovers shouldn’t fret. It’s likely that this is a new trend for Samsung, which means that we will probably to see this feature on future phones.
