Samsung Galaxy J1 Release Date and Specs Leaked: A New Line of Budget Android Phones

Dec 19, 2014 02:33 PM EST

Those that are interested in entry-level phones from Samsung might want to check out the Galaxy J 1 (SM-J100).  The specifications have recently leaked, but it is a good smartphone for those that don't want to strain their budget. 

According to Phone Arena, the Galaxy J1 will have a 4.3 inch WVGA TF LCD screen with 480 x 800 resolution.  As far as what is inside, it will have a 64-bit quad-core Marvell PXDA1908 chipset at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of expandable storage.  The camera is a relatively small 5 Megapixel on the rear, with a 2 Megapixel one on the front.  The battery is at 1850 mAh capacity. 

The biggest surprise, and not a pleasant one, is that the Samsung Galaxy J1 will only come with KitKat (Android operating system 4.4) on board.  Considering that most Android phones are longing for the lick of the latest Lollipop (Android 5.0), it seems like a deliberate downsize.  Gigaom even reports that the chip for the Galaxy J1 is 64-bit capable, which means that it could run Lollipop if the company wanted it to.  Perhaps running it on an older version of Android keeps the price down.

The Samsung Galaxy J1 isn't the only smartphone with leaked specifications this week, according to PhoneArena.  The Samsung Galaxy A5 and A3 were launched in Taiwan, without the Galaxy flagship A7.  The Samsung Galaxy E7 is planned to be released soon, and Samsung has stopped development of the Galaxy U series.  

Samsung's Galaxy series is known for creating high-end phones, and the Galaxy S5 and Note 4 cost the customer a huge cost unless some deal from the carrier is involved.  What makes the Galaxy J1 significant is it shows that Samsung is "simplifying its smartphone lineup".  This will probably signify an era where Samsung will name is phones by convenient letters and numbers, and target lesser performance phones for a more budgeted target audience. 

The leak for the Samsung Galaxy J1 specs comes from SamMobile, and they state that the entire J Series should be similar to the Galaxy Y series.  SamMobile doesn't seem to announce any formal release date.  Chances are, this phone will be announced at either CES 2015 in January or Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March.  This would confirm a report from Trusted Reviews on the Samsung Galaxy series of phones, saying that the A, E, and J series are all going to arrive on store shelves over the next year, with Samsung hoping the new monikers will make its wares easier to chew.