Last week, Samsung announced the Galaxy J2 Core as its first Android Go powered smartphone in India. It is the company’s first handset to run on Google’s lightweight Android Oreo (Go Edition) operating system, which is meant to power devices with less powerful hardware. It comes preloaded with features like Ultra Data Saving mode and Optimised Data Control. Highlights of the phone include a 5-inch display and a 2600mAh battery that the company says can deliver up to 11 hours of non-stop video streaming on YouTube Go.
The Galaxy J2 Core has been priced at Rs 6,190 and comes in Gold, Blue and Black colour options. It will be available across all retail stores and Samsung e-shop website.
The Samsung Galaxy J2 Core is powered by a quad-core Exynos 7570 SoC, coupled with 1GB of RAM. and 8GB of internal storage. The device also supports storage expansion of up to 256GB via a microSD card. It features a 5-inch qHD (540×960 pixels) TFT display and in terms of optics, it sports an 8MP rear camera with a f/2.2 aperture and an LED flash. On the front is a 5MP sensor, which comes with the Beauty Mode feature.
"Galaxy J2 Core reiterates Samsung's commitment towards meaningful innovations that delight our customers. We are pleased to integrate industry-first smart memory management solutions that allow apps or content on the memory card. We are also pleased to partner with Google in bringing the latest Android experience for entry-level smartphones with Oreo (Go edition) on Galaxy J2 Core. This approach eradicates current consumer pain points by opening apps 15 percent faster, delivering 2X storage out of the box, and allowing consumers to stream content for up to 11 hours on YouTube Go. This is indicative of Samsung's commitment to a digitally enabled India by allowing our customers to Go Faster & Go Longer," said Sumit Walia, Director, Mobile business, Samsung India.
As the Galaxy J2 Core runs on Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition), it comes preloaded with Google Go apps, which are stripped down versions of their full-fledged counterparts. Maps Go, YouTube Go, Files Go and some more are examples of such apps that take up less space and are optimised for working in areas with patch network connectivity.
We can't say for sure but the Galaxy J2 Core could also be updated to the recently announced Android 9 Pie (Go Edition) in the near future. The latest Android 9 Pie (Go Edition) OS improves upon Android Oreo (Go Edition) in many ways. It offers an additional 500MB of internal storage and faster device boot times, along with additional security features like verified boot, and an accessible dashboard for tracking and monitoring data consumption. You can read more about the Android Pie (Go Edition) here.