Samsung has launched a new affordable smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Core Plus, but it’s a definite step back from its predecessor.
We reported on the launch of the original Samsung Galaxy Core back in May. It was an affordable effort with a smaller-than-usual 4.3-inch display and modest specifications.
It’s become normal practice for Android manufacturers to release 'plus' models of their handsets, which are subtly revamped versions with improved specifications.
The thing is, the Samsung Galaxy Core Plus, which has just been quietly released in Taiwan, isn’t an improvement at all.
Once again, we’re looking at a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 LCD display, a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, and a 5-megapixel camera. However, there’s less RAM (768MB down from 1GB) and less internal storage (4GB versus 8GB in the original).
In fact, the only improvement of note is the version of Android that the new Samsung Galaxy Core Plus runs. Even then, Android 4.2 isn’t much of an update over the original’s Android 4.1. They’re both classed as Jelly Bean.
It smells like Samsung using up some of the parts from its other handsets to us. As pointed out by Android Beat, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 packs 3GB of RAM in four 768MB chips. It’s possible that Samsung wanted to pack one of those components into its new Samsung Galaxy Core Plus, which would certainly be an efficient use of resources.
Still, it’s a bit cheeky calling the resulting device 'Plus,' isn’t it?
The Samsung Galaxy Core Plus is going on sale in Taiwan for NT$7,990, which amounts to about £168. That sounds pretty cheap, until you consider the recently announced Motorola Moto G, which provides much better specs for just £135.
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