So it seems only fair that we pit these two devices against each other and see which one has a better worth for your money. Please note that in this post, we have compared the 4GB variant of the Moto G5 Plus.
Design
The Galaxy J7 sports a 5.7-inch display with an all-metal unibody design and squarish corners. Upfront you’ll find the fingerprint sensor which also functions both as the home button. The primary camera is at the rear circled by the LED powered SmartGlow. As opposed to the typical looks of the J7 Max, the Moto G5 Plus packs in a refreshing look. It comes with a 5.2-inch FHD display coupled with a full metal body with shiny edges. Akin to the J7 Max, the fingerprint sensor cum home button is also located at the chin. Here’s are a couple of points, where we can draw the line between both the phones.
1. Glass Protection
The Moto G5 Plus bundles in Corning Gorilla Glass 3, meaning that you’ll have something to fall back on if you accidentally drop it. However, the situation is completely different in the case of the Galaxy J7 Max for it doesn’t come with a built-in glass protector.
2. Dual Sim + External storage
Both the J7 Max and the G5 Plus gives you the option to rein in the power of both the sets of dual SIMs as well as the microSD card. Unlike most of the devices like the Galaxy C7 Pro, the Galaxy J7 Max has a dedicated slot for the microSD card. The same holds for the Moto G5 Plus, the SIM tray can hold both the SIMs and the memory card together. The only difference is in the form of placements — one combined tray vs two dedicated slots.
Hardware
The Samsung Galaxy J7 Max is powered by a MediaTek octa-core processor which clocks at 1.6 GHz. It packs in 4GB of RAM and 32 GB of built-in storage expandable through a microSD card up to 256 GB. The Antutu benchmarking tool clocked a score of 44103. Speaking of the hardware configuration of the Moto G5 Plus, it’s powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 625 which clocks at 2 GHz and comes with 3 and 4 GB of RAM (expandable up to 256 GB). And when it comes to the Antutu benchmarking tool, it scored a decent value of 63342. The 14-nanometer architecture of the SD 625 clocked at a higher speed surely gives Moto the upper hand when it comes to performance. The gaming performance is great and the user experience is snappy. And when it comes to gaming, even the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max isn’t far behind. Apart from some noticeable lag in Asphalt 8 in the highest graphics settings, we didn’t encounter any unnatural heating or stalling. The display resolution of both the devices is same at 1080x 1920. The differences stand out when it comes to the battery. While the Galaxy J7 Max is powered by a 3300mAh mAh battery unit, the Moto G5 Plus has slightly less power of 3000 mAh. Here too, the differences are the following segments,
1. Charging Type
The Moto G5 Plus comes bundled with a turbocharger which lets you charge the device quickly. The J7 Max isn’t equipped with any such things, thus, it takes its own sweet time in charging itself. So if you’re looking for charging on the fly, the G5 is the clear winner.
3. LED Lights vs Smart Glow
Here’s where it gets weirder, the Moto G5 Plus’s LED notification light will only work if and when the device is rooted. So, if you’re not a big fan of rooting, you can say bye bye to notification lights. On the contrary, the J7 Max behaves quite normally, just like any other phone. So, in this particular segment, I would say it’s a tie, as it’s up to you to decide which holds the most priority — charging type or notification lights.
Software and UI Optimization
From the software perspective, both the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max and Moto G5 Plus sport the latest Android version — Nougat. So the difference ultimately boils down to the J7 Max’s Features vs G5’s Stock Android.
Here too, the ball is in your court to decide what you really want. Surely you must be knowing that what the stock Android experience is like — no RAM hogging features means you get to experience the smoothest transitions. However, a notable distinction, at this point, is adoptable storage.
1. Adoptable Storage
Aforementioned, the Galaxy J7 Max comes with the Samsung TouchWiz and it’s teaming with add-ons. So from Galaxy Apps to Samsung Pay Mini — you have pretty much all the useful things under one roof. But then, similar to all Samsung phones, you don’t get the option of adoptable storage. On the other hand, with the Moto G5 Plus, you can easily increase the internal storage by adopting the external SDcard as part of the internal storage.
Camera
First things first, let’s talk about the camera specs. Both the Moto G5 Plus and the Galaxy J7 Max is one of the few budget smartphones to have the wide aperture value of f/1.7. Since more light reaches the lens, it means that the pictures will have a shallow depth of field which means you’ll get bright and vivid pictures. The following pictures will help you get a better understanding of how the both the cameras differ. While The J7 Max’s camera has additional features like Social Camera and Nearby Places, the camera is a tad delicate. You’ll need to be super stable when you shoot a picture. On the other hand, the G5 Plus camera can easily shoot great pictures even when it’s handled by a novice.
Battery
The battery unit of both the devices differ ever so slightly — 3300mAh vs 3000 mAh. But, the mere difference of 300mAh also plays a significant role. On a typical day of usage comprising of app tests, online browsing, gaming sessions the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max gave an impressive performance. Thanks to built-in battery optimizations, it can easily see you through an entire day — and more in case you’re a casual user. Coming to the charging time, since the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max doesn’t come with quick-charge you can expect the charging time to be around 3 hours. However, in the case of the Moto G5 Plus, it takes around 2 hours to charge fully. So, which lesser devil are you going to choose? If you ask me, a longer battery life sounds more fruitful.
Price
Price is the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to choosing which device will make its way to your hands. The Moto G5 Plus with 4GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage is priced at INR 16,999 in India, while the Galaxy J7 Max with 4GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory, is priced at INR 17,900.
So..Which is Worth Your Money
These were some of the major pros and cons of the Moto G5 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max. The decision is ultimately yours — whether you’ll prefer a juice guzzling device with a decent camera, jazzy design and the stock Android feel or a phone with an impressive battery life, better camera options, and baked-in Samsung features. Plus, don’t forget about the incredible Moto G5 Plus gestures. See Next: Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro Review: Worth the Big Bucks?
