Samsung officially announced the Galaxy S5 mini and four new iterations of budget Android smartphones: Core II, Ace 4, Young 2, and Star 2, just to make sure that people are happy, no matter how much they’re willing to spend on a mobile device.
Frankly, Galaxy S5 mini is nowhere near is great as Samsung’s flagship, but it does come with all of the sensors of the original S5. Since this is a miniaturized version, the display is obviously smaller, not only in dimensions, but also in resolution. The 4.5″ Super AMOLED screen sports 720p resolution, with a pixel density of 326ppi, a clear improvement from S4 mini’s 256ppi. The Galaxy S5 mini is IP67 certified, which means that it can withstand dust, sand and water for limited periods of time. The mini versions are regarded as pricy downgrades for the previous generation of flagships, so it’s probably better to own an S4, rather than an S5 mini.
The Galaxy Ace 4 is the only smartphone in this line-up to come with a 4″ display, the others being either smaller or larger than this. It does not excel spec-wise, but there will be an LTE version with a slightly better battery.
Core II (I’ll never understand why Samsung uses arab numbers for some devices and roman numerals for others) looks like a dumbed-down version of Galaxy S5 mini, with an equally large display, but of a poorer quality. Obviously, Core II doesn’t pack all the sensors of the S5 mini, nor the 8MP rear-facing camera, being equipped only with a 5MP one.
Star 2 is among the basic models that were officially announced by Samsung. This 3.5-incher sports a 320 x 480 pixel resolution, 512MB RAM and a single 2MP camera. Don’t expect multi-core CPUs or advanced connectivity in such a device, as you might be disappointed.
Galaxy Young 2 is very much alike the Star 2, with the exception of a better camera with 3.15MP.
The good part about all of these phones is that they will run Android 4.4.2. KitKat, which isn’t pretentious at all, in terms of RAM or CPU power. The “simplified TouchWiz Essence” UI should contribute to a smooth experience.
As an owner of a Samsung Android smartphone, I used to think that the mobile devices made by the Korean company are of a high-quality. Nowadays, these “budget” Android smartphones are too expensive for what they offer, and the world would probably be better off buying Chinese alternatives or LG devices.
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