Dated:26-Feb-2017 Time 16:40 hrs IST [GMT+ 0530 Hrs]
Location:New Delhi Country:India [Bharatha]
Location:New Delhi Country:India [Bharatha]
Samsung Galaxy J1 4G VoLTE [January 2017] Smartphone is the best upgrade for Mujhadeena Horse Women[Dr Ms S Bhanumati] type Maha Kanjams & Maha Mooduchoghee [Misers & thrifts], no frills, long term, mature, non camera, non music,non video,non internet, pure Emperor Aurangazeb type 2G feature phone Vedantist/Leftist/Less is more philosophy type users/upgraders !
Usage History & Background of 1 Senior Lion aged 70 & 1 Senior Lioness 70 years & Myself a Brahman Jnani, Sanyaasi, Bhakti Vedantist <40 Yrs !
Myself & Lioness were using a Basic Samsung Guru GT-E 1200Y/Z 2G Feature Fone [FF] since May 2015 & the Senior Lion a 2006 Motorola C-168 FF with MTNL Dolphin SIM for just receiving Net Banking OTP's, SMS Alerts, as call drops & poor Voice connectivity was a huge problem on MTNL 2G Dolphin NW in Prime Central Delhi, Karol Bagh Locality with 2G Signal penetration inside rooms=0. For Voice calls we were relying on the Good Old Wireline/Landline.
Since June 2016 even receiving & sending SMS became a problem from Room for which we had to place the phone outside the window. This delayed our bill payment, funds transfer work & Tower Signal would vanish the moment a OTP was 2 come. For hours we never knew that phone had lost tower signal on standby & had to be switched to manual search mode or restarted ! We were disgusted with the network even though the Exchange BTS tower was just 0.50 kms away & even thought of porting to AVOID Networks but then that has it's own set of problems !
In June 2016, A BTS Engineer from our Local Telephone Exchange BTS visited our house & was shocked to see zero signals in one room, wrote some report, forwarded it to Wireless Section @ CGO Complex Lodhi Road, New Delhi & was duly forgotten by both establishments. Nothing changed from June till Dec 2016.
After much twitter complaints, MTNL BTS Engineer one Sri T P Singh clarified that we should upgrade to a 3G phone as the Tower in our locality was only 3G & 2G network was problematic due to illegal signal boosters installed by people. So we were forced by technology & decided to upgrade even though our simple FF were as good as new & hardly used since 2015 ! Of course Lion's Motorola C-168, 2006 phone, was at the end of life as it's battery was not holding the charge & a spare battery was also not available being a very old model !
After much twitter complaints, MTNL BTS Engineer one Sri T P Singh clarified that we should upgrade to a 3G phone as the Tower in our locality was only 3G & 2G network was problematic due to illegal signal boosters installed by people. So we were forced by technology & decided to upgrade even though our simple FF were as good as new & hardly used since 2015 ! Of course Lion's Motorola C-168, 2006 phone, was at the end of life as it's battery was not holding the charge & a spare battery was also not available being a very old model !
So I got 3 Pcs of Samsung Galaxy J1 4G VoLTE smartphone in White,Golden, Black Colors for Myself, The Lion & Lioness on 23-Feb-2017 for Rs 6,900/- [US $ 100] per piece Offline from one Kamal Stores, Saraswati Marg,12A/11 WEA Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005. Online the price was Rs 7,200 on Flipkart & Amazon.
The Experience, at the shop, was splendid, as the shop owner, had well behaved, well trained & customer friendly staff ! He also agreed to reduce the price on each piece by Rs 100 from Rs 7 K. The shop also had a PoS Card Swipe Machine without MDR ! So all synced very well & was pre-destined !
Our Full Size FF SIM's were cut using SIM Cutter Tool & upgraded to Micro for the 1st time in 12 years since purchase and we used the J1 4G & Lo & Behold Like Allaudin Baba Jin solving our problem all our Call, SMS problems disappeared once the 3G WDCDMA only, setting was enabled. We are talking crystal clear from the same room, in fact much better than Airtel or Vodafone NW ! Now OTP's SMS's even BHIM Mobile Banking App Regn took less than 5 seconds when before a simple SIM Balance Check via *444# would take 15 seconds & out of 10 attempts 9 would reduce tower to 0.
This J1 4G VoLTE is the best option for those who R facing the problem of poor 2G connectivity of MTNL Dolphin Network ! Our requirements are very basic minimal, Just occasional Voice calls, SMS, OTP's Whatsapp, BHIM App, Bank mPassbook Check, & NIL Camera usage, NIL Gaming, NIL Video, NIL Audio and very little net surfing for which this model is perfectly suited and is also future proof !
It has Opera Max Ultra Data Saving & Power Saving Mode which is a blessing & phone battery on standby with B/W Screen will last for 4 days. Touch Wiz Interface, Call Quality, 3G Signal Intensity are much better than high end phones like Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus which has a problem of Signal Strength inside the room. The SS J1 4G shows full 4 bars 3G Signal & in the same room on 3G the Lenovo shows 1 bar only.
The Pro's & Cons are as below !
1 Compact Size of 4.5" Screen 4" too small 5" too big & heavy
2 Dedicated twin Micro SIM card slots which claims to support VoLTE 4G+3G [I have not tested this as I have 3G SIM] My Lenovo Vibe K5+ supports only 4/3G+2G not 4G+4G or 4G+3G
3 Dedicated Micro SD card slot, away from both SIM slots,Not on top/below of 1 SIM slot supports upto 128 Gb, I used Sandisk Ultra Class 10, 16 Gb Micro SD Card which costed Rs 400 US $ 5.80 ! Normal Class 4 Sandisk costs Rs 370.00
4 User removable 2050 mAh Battery & USB OTG supported [Tested with Kingston USB 2.0 16 Gb OTG Pen Drive & Logitech K235 Wireless Keyboard & M235 Wireless Mouse with Nano Receiver Both Worked]
5 Opera Max Ultra Data & Power Saving Mode which converts screen to B/W with basic features for calls, SMS, Whatsapp, Internet, Facebook,Calculator, increasing standby time to 4 days !
6 Superb Amoled display and buttery Touch screen with Touch Wiz Interface!
7 Minimum Bloat ware installed
8 As Samsung has been in India for very long, genuine battery, charger, accessories are easily available for a long time like Good Old Nokia !
8 As Samsung has been in India for very long, genuine battery, charger, accessories are easily available for a long time like Good Old Nokia !
Cons:
1 Ram Could have been at least 1.5 Gb instead of 1 Gb
2 No Auto Power Switch On & Off Feature Given
3 Ringtone customizable but SMS tune not ! On the Top of the Phone near clock & Touch Wiz Icon Menu there is no Icon for Screen Shot. Screen Shot has to be taken using Power+Home Key Combo in quick press which is a Pain !
4 No Internal Silver Button Cell to keep clock & settings intact when battery is removed to change SIM's
5 Installed softwares can only be disabled not uninstalled !
6 A peculiar quirk observed is when Ultra Battery Saver Mode [UBSM] is enabled & Screen turns to Black & White, one cannot set the ringtone to silent/mute if one wishes to sleep. It can only be set to Vibrate or very low volume. To set it to silent one has to enable the Touch Wiz Full color Interface ! All other Media, Notifications, System Volume can be set to Silent in UBSM !
5 Installed softwares can only be disabled not uninstalled !
6 A peculiar quirk observed is when Ultra Battery Saver Mode [UBSM] is enabled & Screen turns to Black & White, one cannot set the ringtone to silent/mute if one wishes to sleep. It can only be set to Vibrate or very low volume. To set it to silent one has to enable the Touch Wiz Full color Interface ! All other Media, Notifications, System Volume can be set to Silent in UBSM !
Advice:
Buy a good quality Goosperry Mercury Diary Type Fancy Case for the SS J1 4G VoLTE Phone. Before buying take the Phone Box with you as Old J1 Model Covers are also available which don't fit the J1 4G Variant. It costed me Rs 150 for one cover in Karol Bagh Wholesale Mobile Market. Buy a spare case if you wish to keep the J1 4G for a very Long time like Lion did with his Motorola C-168 for 11 years !
I tried for simple Plastic Screen protectors for the J1 4G but could not find them as all shops had only tempered glass. So I did not remove the installed screen film till I find one !
Install a branded Sandisk micro sd card the white red class 10 and not a cheap open type 3rd rate one as it can damage your SS J1 4G.
I tried for simple Plastic Screen protectors for the J1 4G but could not find them as all shops had only tempered glass. So I did not remove the installed screen film till I find one !
Install a branded Sandisk micro sd card the white red class 10 and not a cheap open type 3rd rate one as it can damage your SS J1 4G.
So Basic [Voice & SMS Only] 2G Feature Phone Users/Upgraders Senior Lions, Lionesses, Vedantists, who keep phone for longer periods buy it straight away !
Demanding users, Phone specs boasters to Friends & Family @ Get togethers, Gamers, Music, Video, Selfie Lovers, Super Maha IyeeeeVaaaaaLeeees [In Tamil Language Persons Born to Ruin & Squander via Easy Money] Look Else where !
This SS J1 4G VoLTE is not for You !
Demanding users, Phone specs boasters to Friends & Family @ Get togethers, Gamers, Music, Video, Selfie Lovers, Super Maha IyeeeeVaaaaaLeeees [In Tamil Language Persons Born to Ruin & Squander via Easy Money] Look Else where !
This SS J1 4G VoLTE is not for You !
Understand the philosophy of Samsung & then Buy ! Samsung has a certain uniqueness in all it's models beyond Camera MP, Processor Specs, RAM, Gaming Scores which others fail to appreciate & notice.
I like the J1 4G VoLTE much better than my Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus 3+16 Gb as it's standby battery life & Signal Voice Call Quality is it's biggest strength.
But I got the Vibe K5 + for Rs 6,750 so cannot complain during FKart BB Oct-2016 Festival Shopping Days ! I will not buy it for Rs 8,500. A fully prepaid order for Rs 7,200 during Dec-2016 Christmas New Year Sale for the same Golden Lenovo Vibe K5 + [3+16 Gb] was cancelled by Flipkart & Refunded stating technical glitch !
So I'm wary of buying anything online as prices have also increased on the higher side as compared to off line & best to stick to the old adage "While buying Ware ! Beware !
I like the J1 4G VoLTE much better than my Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus 3+16 Gb as it's standby battery life & Signal Voice Call Quality is it's biggest strength.
But I got the Vibe K5 + for Rs 6,750 so cannot complain during FKart BB Oct-2016 Festival Shopping Days ! I will not buy it for Rs 8,500. A fully prepaid order for Rs 7,200 during Dec-2016 Christmas New Year Sale for the same Golden Lenovo Vibe K5 + [3+16 Gb] was cancelled by Flipkart & Refunded stating technical glitch !
So I'm wary of buying anything online as prices have also increased on the higher side as compared to off line & best to stick to the old adage "While buying Ware ! Beware !
Swami Aniruddha !
PS=Currency Indian Rupee Conversion Rate 69 Rs=1 US $ as on 28-Feb-2017.
The Flag & Symbol of SS Self Reliance, Work Efficiency & Perfections !
