Samsung Galaxy On5
EDITOR RATING: GOOD 1 COMMENTDECEMBER 29, 2016
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Samsung Galaxy On5
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MSRP
$59.00
LOWEST PRICE
$79.99
Best Buy $79.99
PROS
Affordable. Compact and sturdy build. Bright 720p display. Good battery life. Expandable storage and removable battery.
CONS
Subpar camera. Limited internal storage. Some sluggishness.
BOTTOM LINE
The 5-inch Samsung Galaxy On5 is a relatively compact MetroPCS phone that gets you solid overall performance at an affordable price.
BY AJAY KUMAR
The trend of gargantuan phones has died down a bit this year, but many handsets are still plus-size. The Samsung Galaxy On5 provides an alternative to MetroPCS customers who aren’t keen on giant screens. This relatively compact phone has a bright 5-inch 720p display, a sturdy build, and solid performance. At $129 it’s a good affordable alternative to hand-busting phablets and underpowered entry-level competitors.
Design, Features, and Display
The On5 features the classic stylings of the Samsung Galaxy S5 with a black polycarbonate build and somewhat more rectangular sides. Measuring 5.6 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches ( HWD) and weighing 5.3 ounces, the On5 has nearly identical dimensions to the HTC Desire 530 ( 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches, 5.6 ounces) but is slightly heavier than the LG K7$94.95 at Amazon ( 5.7 by 2.9 by 0.4 inches, 4.9 ounces) . It’s easy to use with one hand, and no trouble to pocket. If a 5-inch screen is still too big for you, there’s a One-Handed Operation mode you can enable, to shrink the display.
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The phone has a strip of metallic-looking plastic along its sides. There’s a volume rocker on the left, a power button on the right, and a 3.5mm audio jack and micro USB charging port on the bottom. The back cover is made of sturdy polycarbonate with no flex. It peels off to give you access to a removable battery, a SIM card slot, and a microSD card slot that worked fine with a 256GB microSD card in my testing.
Galaxy On5
On the front bottom, you’ll find Samsung’s traditional physical home button with a set of capacitive buttons on either side. Above, there’s a bright 5-inch, 1, 280-by-720 TFT LCD with great viewing angles and solid color reproduction. The 720p display is crisp with 288 pixels per inch, making it as sharp as Desire 538, but significantly brighter and with better viewing angles. It’s much sharper than the 5-inch 480p display you get on the K7 ( 196ppi) . The On5 also benefits from an Outdoor mode, which up screen brightness beyond maximum to improve sunlight visibility.
Network Performance and Connectivity
A MetroPCS phone that supports LTE bands 2/4/12, the On5 work on T-Mobile’s network. It has fewer LTE bands than the Desire 530, giving it a comparatively low download speed of 2.6Mbps. By comparison, we recorded 14Mbps down on the Desire 530 in the same areas of midtown Manhattan. The On5 was still fast enough to browse the Web, but you may not be able to stream high-resolution video. Wi-Fi is on the 2.4GHz band, but not the 5GHz band, and the phone has Bluetooth 4.1.
Call quality is solid. Transmissions are clear and have natural tones, though noise cancellation could be better at blotting out background sounds. Wind caused occasional crackling, and a distant siren broke through the call. Fortunately, earpiece volume is loud enough to allow you to carry on a conversation in a noisy environment.