Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy On series of budget smartphones in India, and kept the series exclusive to the country. It then launched the Galaxy On5 Pro and Galaxy On7 Pro as minor upgrades over the original devices, once again keeping them exclusive to the Indian market. But the On5 Pro and On7 Pro seemed to just be placeholders for Samsung’s plans to launch a proper 2016 iteration of the On5 and On7; the Galaxy On7 (2016) has been spotted online on multiple occasions, and the device has now gone official in China in addition to the Galaxy On5 (2016).
The Galaxy On (2016) devices are a complete overhaul compared to what Samsung launched last year – both devices have metal bodies and mid-range specs. The On5 (2016) doesn’t have a dedicated page on the Samsung China website just yet, but it is mentioned along with the On7 (2016), meaning it will also go on sale in the country soon. The Galaxy On7 (2016) has a 5.5-inch Full HD LCD display, an octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2GHz, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front camera (both cameras have an aperture of f/1.9).
There’s 4G LTE connectivity, a 3,300 mAh battery, and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box. The On5 (2016) will have a Snapdragon 617 processor, but Samsung hasn’t mentioned any of its other specs. If we were to guess, it could feature a 5-inch HD display, 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras, 16GB of internal storage, and a 2,600 mAh battery, encased in a similarly metallic body.
With the Galaxy On7 (2016), Samsung seems to be aiming for those who don’t want to spend more on getting the company’s new Galaxy C handsets, which also feature metal bodies and have slightly better specs (like 4GB of RAM and a Super AMOLED display). The On7 (2016) is available for purchase in China in gold, pink gold, and black colors, with a price tag of 1,599 yuan (roughly $240). The On5 (2016)’s pricing and availability are unknown, and there’s no word on whether these handsets will come to other markets.
Update: As one of our readers pointed out, the Galaxy On5 (2016) and Galaxy On7 (2016) are basically the Galaxy J5 Prime and Galaxy J7 Prime, which recently launched in the Indian market. The J7 Prime has only 16GB of internal storage instead of 32GB, but these are otherwise the same handsets.
