The Samsung J1 had us excited for a moment when we came to know about it, admittedly a conscious effort at mid-range segment by Samsung where, in my opinion, no knowledgeable would look forward to buy its offerings. The competition from the likes of Micromax, Spice and Karbonn was already suffocating Samsung’s lineup and when Xiaomi and Asus entered that price-range, Samsung’s game was almost over, unlike top-end segment, where although Galaxy S series is turning out badly, the Note series is keeping Samsung’s revenues streams flowing.
So, certainly we had big expectations from Samsung, especially in 2015, when it’s revamping its hardware design for Galaxy S6, cutting the cruft out of its software, and looking to build its brand image once again with premium offerings, for example, a pricey but state-of-art smartwatch.
And Samsung J1 looked like its first effort of the year, so when we hear Samsung is looking to price it for 10,990 Russian rubles, approx $170, we were both surprised and disappointed. For what Samsung J1 packs in, it’s in each and every spec behind the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G (our review), Asus Zenfone 5 (see comparison) and Micromax Yu Yureka, while all these 3 devices cut J1’s price by $20 or more, despite being almost double or more in specifications.
Right, it’s too early to comment too much on price as it’s not yet official, but experience says that price leaking out of a retailer’s listing — as is the case here — more-than-often turns out true.
Let’s have a look at Samsung J1 specifications.
- 4.3″ display with resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 217 PPI
- 1GB RAM
- Quad-core 64-bit 1.2GHz Marvell PXA1908 processor
- Android 4.4, KitKat
- 5MP rear camera and 2MP front facing camera
- LTE and w/o LTE variant
- 1850 mAh battery
For the price of $170, there’s literally nothing to like about Samsung J1. And I bet even Samsung fans would agree to it. Going forward there are countless device that offer much more in specs than Samsung J1 and at better price.
Samsung J1 Release
Only a few days later, Samsung J1 is expected to hit the market on January 23rd.
So, what are your thoughts on Samsung J1?
Via PhoneArena | Source: hi-tech-mail
