Samsung launches its first phone based on the stripped-down Android Go platform

The world’s largest smartphone maker Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy J2 Core, its first phone built on Android Go for the entry smartphone segment.

Samsung is joining Nokia, Alcatel, Motorola, Asus, ZTE, etc. in addressing the entry segment smartphone segment, with the latest addition to its extremely diversified Galaxy series. Android Go, since it was introduced to 8.1 Oreo, has seen the product line-up slowly but surely growing, but the participation of Samsung is definitely a boost, bringing to the camp not only its expertise but also its brand clout.

The Samsung management is obviously happy with its efforts to address the entry segment and the first time smartphone owners. “The Galaxy J2 Core offers a complete smartphone experience, incorporating some of the key features available on high-end devices with improved battery, storage and performance that is particularly appealing to first time owners”, said Junho Park, Vice President of Global Product Planning, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

The J2 Core uses the same chassis as the J2 Pro, with same display size (5.0 inches) and resolution (540 x 960 pixels, or qHD), same cameras (8MP rear and 5MP front) though the Pro is equipped with a flash for the selfie camera. Both house battery of the same volume, and both support dual-SIM. The key difference is in computing power and memory size. The J2 Core uses Samsung’s own Exynos 7 chipset, and only has 1GB RAM and 8GB onboard memory (compared to the Pro’s 2GB RAM and 16GB memory).

Android Go has modified the standard Android to be run on lower hardware configurations including stripped-down Google applications designed to consume less memory and less data. However, the biggest problem with the Android ecosystem when it comes to Android Go is that not all applications have followed Google’s example, therefore the saving on memory and data does not go very far. In particular, quite a few applications, most social networks, for example, have disabled the option to be offloaded to run on external memory card, which means the onboard memory is still likely to run out pretty quickly. This will frustrate users, especially those first-time owners who may not be the most tech-savvy consumers.

Samsung does not disclose J2 Core’s retail price levels in the first two markets it will be made available.