Samsung extends Galaxy offerings with mid-range Galaxy Core

After launching the Galaxy Note 510 (earlier Note 8.0) and the Galaxy Win smartphone in India last week, Samsung has now ushered in a new member of the Galaxy family "the Galaxy Core. This mid-range Android phone comes in both versions – a single SIM device (available from July) and a dual SIM one (available from May), depending on the market. Here is a look at the specifications.

Galaxy Core has a 4.3 inch WVGA TFT LCD touchscreen display (480×800 pixel resolution) and runs on the Android 4.1 operating system with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, has 1 GB RAM and comes with 8 GB of internal memory. There is also a microSD slot to expand the device memory by 64 GB.

On the camera front, the smartphone has a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED Flash that can record 480p videos at 30 frames per second and a front-facing VGA camera for video calling. As for connectivity, the device has Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi and 3G, as well as a microUSB port and a microSD card slot. It is powered by an 1,800 mAh battery and comes with GPS (with A-GPS support). Galaxy Core measures 129.3mm x 67.6mm x 8.95mm, and weighs 124 gm. The device also supports dual-SIM.

Just like other Galaxy smartphones, this one also comes with a number of additional features like Samsung Hubs (for music, games and reading); the company's instant messaging app ChatON; Smart stay "the front-facing camera that identifies eye movement and maintains a bright display if a user is reading an e-book or browsing the web, etc.; S Voice – a natural language UI that listens and responds to voice; Smart alert "the mobile phone vibrates automatically when picked up, to notify missed calls and messages; and Motion UI, which activates common functions such as refresh or mute with simple motion commands, among others.

Looking at the specs, we feel that it should be priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 16,000. In that price range, it will compete with smartphones like Nokia Lumia 620 (Rs 14,230), HTC One V (Rs 13,888), Lava Xolo X900 (Rs 12,839), Karbonn S5 Titanium (Rs 11,990), Sony Xperia E (Rs 10,990) and Micromax Superfone Canvas 2 A110 (Rs 10,050). There is not much to write home about, but it can find takers among low-end customers if Samsung prices it right.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)