Samsung's Galaxy J7+ may be billed as a mid-range phone, but its specs and looks edge it towards the higher end of the mid-range spectrum.

The J7+ has a mix of high-end features, such as dual cameras and an AMOLED screen, seen on its flagship cousins, but these are encased in a less sexy package with noticeable bezels and a physical home button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

The J7+ is Samsung's second smartphone to sport dual rear cameras, after its flagship Galaxy Note8. Pictures taken on the J7+ have the punch expected of a Samsung phone, which that added dash of colour and saturation that makes photos pop.

Since it has two lenses, users can make use of Samsung's Live Focus feature to great effect. The feature allows one to take shots of subjects with a blurred background that can be adjusted to his liking. It works great on the J7+, although photos can look a bit unnatural when the effect is cranked up to the maximum. There is also a bit of shutter lag sometimes.

The J7+'s 5.5-inch AMOLED screen is bright and vibrant, even when viewed outdoors, and has an "Always On" display that conveniently displays the time and notifications while the screen is locked.

It lacks stereo speakers, but has a speaker grille on the right side of the phone above the power button. It's a clever place for it, as it is unlikely to be obstructed when watching videos in landscape mode.

There are, however, some features on the J7+ that scream mid-range phone. It comes with micro-USB port when other mid-range phones have started offering USB-C, and uses fixed capacitive keys where other phones have changed to on-screen keys.

Lester Hio