The large majority of Samsung’s smartphones are wrapped in polycarbonate, and this has been the case for several years. However, last year with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S6 series, the company’s philosophy changed and thus, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge were designed from the ground up as two brand new flagship phones wrapped in glass and metal. Now it looks like the Korean company might be ready to bring a touch of the premium market into its mid-range segment, as a new leak reveals that both the upcoming Samsung Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 (2016) could feature a metal frame.
The Samsung Galaxy J series debuted last year as the company’s new budget-conscious smartphone lineup, and after enjoying their fair share of success, both the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 will apparently be followed up by a couple of sequels rumored to debut by the end of the first quarter of the year. The Galaxy J5 (2016) and Galaxy J7 (2016) have been the subject of leaks and rumors for the past several months, and the latest leak actually originates from Samsung’s official website in China, where user manuals for the two aforementioned devices have been uploaded, possibly in anticipation of an imminent market release. More importantly, the user manuals contain sketches of the upcoming Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, which reveal that unlike the models launched last year, the two unreleased handsets might take advantage of a metal frame. To be clear, the user manuals don’t seem to mention the metal frame directly, but the aforementioned sketches show a series of antenna slits separating the frame at the top and bottom edges. Generally speaking, these slits allow the signal to travel and help reception, and this is a practical design feature normally seen on metal smartphones or devices with metal frames.
Aside from this particular design detail, the user manuals also mention NFC connectivity, a front-facing LED flash which should facilitate selfies, and Android 5.1 Lollipop OS out of the box. As yet there’s no official word on when the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) and Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) will be launched, but judging by these events it’s likely that the duo will first hit the shelves in China fairly soon.
