One of the reasons Samsung has enjoyed such enormous success with its Galaxy smartphone line-up is that it offers phones for a number of different price ranges. The Galaxy S line-up is undoubtedly the class act of Samsung's portfolio, but other budget-conscious consumers need more options. The Galaxy Pocket Neo is aimed squarely at them.
The Galaxy Pocket Neo will be sold in two versions this coming May, one with a dual SIM option and one without. It will sport a 3-inch screen with a QVGA resolution, a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and A-GPS. The physical measurements of the 3G-enabled smartphone clock in at 104.95 × 57.8 ×11.8mm.
The news comes courtesy of Sammobile, though there was no source mentioned.
Unfortunately, anyone hoping for the Galaxy Pocket Neo to run on Android Jelly Bean is out of luck. It's probably not much of a surprise, considering the Pocket Neo's intended audience, but the device will come packing Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. So far, there's no word on whether or not an upgrade to Jelly Bean would be possible, or on what kind of internal processing technology the Pocket Neo will be powered.
The Galaxy Pocket Neo might be targeting budget-conscious consumers, but it raises some questions about Samsung's overall strategy with the Galaxy line-up. Diversity is a key reason Samsung has done so well worldwide, but some are wondering if the company is diluting the Galaxy brand and will only confuse customers with all these devices.
The dilemma is amplified by the fact with so many phones, it becomes really hard to tell them apart. Outside of the Pocket Neo, there are also indications that a Galaxy Pocket Plus is on the way. Both of these are spin-offs of last year's Pocket, which had a 2.8-inch display. The Pocket Plus is supposed to sport the same-sized screen, while the Neo will have the aforementioned 3-inch screen. The Neo comes with Ice Cream Sandwich, but the Plus is rumored to pack Jelly Bean 4.1.
Why Samsung chose to make two different devices like this is unknown, but they join a line-up that already includes the Galaxy Young and Galaxy Fame. On top of that, there's yet another unannounced low-range phone in the works called the Galaxy Star. Prospective buyers will definitely have a choice to make — the question is whether they'll even know where to begin.
