A replacement for the Galaxy Grand we reviewed here has quietly gone official without major hypes nor anticipation from gadget geeks, it’s not a good marketing technique especially in an over-crowded segment but who knows, maybe it wasn’t that important to get some attention. The 5-incher which follows in the footsteps of its predecessor houses basic specs and could notably attract a mid-range type of price tag. Until now, Samsung had managed to accommodate two versions of the Galaxy Grand Series which are distinguished from other portfolios with a notably large display panel but retaining a meager mid-range price tag. As to why the Galaxy Grand Neo I9060 didn’t receive a substantial hype before release is beyond the information we gathered, we can only speculate.
According to supposedly leaked documents at the start of this year, Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo was formerly identified as Grand Lite, these were just speculations before the phone maker went official. It comes with a decent 1.2 GHz quad-core processor alongside 1GB worth of RAM. For a mid-range device, not bad at all; though Samsung’s products have always emerged pricier than close rivals, so I wouldn’t rate it at this moment. I was rather concerned why Galaxy Grand Neo didn’t get necessary attention before release; it may be cheap, non-important whichever you’d prefer calling, but it certainly isn’t a toss-over. We’ve witnessed budget phones perform much better that their premium counterparts. I remember the best performing Galaxy Ace which out-did Samsung’s flagships at that particular time, it could become a major hit especially for those who desire a large display but are limited financially.
Looking at tiny bits of this handset, the 5inch panel emerges as its selling point, however, I’m rather disappointed in the amount of resolution Samsung squeezed on it. 800×480 pixels suits better on smaller devices with less than 3.5inch displays, expected to content with over pixilated images and un-crisp text which becomes a major issue especially considering the large panel. There’s a 5MP camera at the back while a 0.3MP snapper resides on the front-panel. Surprisingly, the phone manages to accommodate 16GB internal storage which can be stretched with an external MicoSD of up to 64GB. There’s no official pricing details nor its availability in Kenya but expected the price to float around KES28000.