Galaxy J1 to launch in India tomorrow, $115 for entry-level specs

The Samsung Galaxy J1 has been leaked and talked about for many weeks now, but finally official evidence of its existence has surfaced, along with a launch date and price for the entry-level class creation: it will be released on February 11th on Amazon India, for the low price of Rs.7,199 (roughly $115US).

The Galaxy J1 comes with a 4.3 inch (800X480) screen, a 1.2GHz Dual-Core Cortex A7 CPU,Mali-400 graphics, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front camera, and a 1,580 mAh battery. The phone supports microSD to augment the limited on-board storage, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, FM Radio and Dual-SIM support. It is also running Android 4.4.4 and supports up to HSPA+ connectivity (sorry, no LTE here).

While the specs are not going to satiate those waiting for say, the Galaxy S6, they are still relatively decent for an entry-level phone. This is perhaps one of the cheapest products released by Samsung in recent memory, although the fact that competitors have products available at similar prices, but with souped-up specs, means South Korea’s darling is once again banking on its brand-name recognition and definitive TouchWiz software skin to justify the cost. In some regards, the device even competes with another recent release, Samsung’s own Z1 Tizen-based smartphone.

On the whole, it is curious to see the company make use of the J branding for such an underwhelming product given that the original Galaxy J was a product designed with Japanese consumers at heart and was essentially a slightly-modified Galaxy S4 with all the same top-notch specs to boot. That the J1 is the complete opposite and designed with a totally different market in mind is an interesting turn of events to say the least.

For all those interested, keep your eyes peeled for the various special offers Amazon India is going to be bundling with the device come tomorrow.