Samsung Galaxy J1

The Galaxy J1 is Samsung s bid to re-invent itself in the entry-level segment. The influx of Chinese vendors had a drastic effect on Samsung s sales in the budget segment, so much so that Xiaomi is now the leading manufacturer in India, edging out the entrenched South Korean vendor.

To stem the tide, Samsung has re-aligned its offerings, now focusing on segments rather than standalone devices. In the mid-tier, we now have the Galaxy E and Galaxy A series, while the high-end is host to the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S series. In the entry-level, Samsung has rolled out the Galaxy J series, the first of which is the Galaxy J1.

While Samsung has done a great job if identifying what consumers want across segments, it is yet to bring that to the budget category, as the Galaxy J1 is once again a rehash of what the manufacturer has done years past. The device has underwhelming hardware in the form of a 4.3-inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480, an unheard-of dual-core Spreadtrum CPU with two Cortex A7 cores clocked at 1.2GHz, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal memory, microSD card slot, 5MP camera at the back, 2MP front shooter and a 1,850mAh battery. On the software front, the phone comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box.

Such hardware would have made the Galaxy J1 a decent alternative in the budget segment last year, but the introduction of great devices like the Redmi 1S and the new Moto E, along with the more recent Honor Holly and Bee mean that the Galaxy J1 is antiquated even before it hit store shelves in the country. Available for the same price as devices that offer far better hardware, we don t see any reason why you should get the Galaxy J1, unless you re a loyal fan of the brand and are unwilling to buy from anyone else.