14 DAY TRIAL // After Virgin Mobile confirmed that it will carry the newly launched BlackBerry Bold 9900, Bell, the carrier that owns Virgin Mobile, continues to be interested in Android smartphones, as the carrier decided to increase its lineup with a new model.
The new kid on the block is the Galaxy 551 slider, which is expected to hit the shelves tomorrow, May 4th.
Canadian customers will be able to purchase the Android-based smartphone for $249.95 outright, or they can obtain it for free upon signing a new three-year contract.
Bell offers two additional options for Android fans, as the Galaxy 551 can be acquired for $224.95 with a new one-year contract or for $199.95 with a new two-year plan.
The phone has been sitting on Samsung Canada's 'Coming Soon' page for several weeks now:
“Get the outstanding Android experience with the Samsung Galaxy 551. A dazzling combination of beauty and functionality, it features a stunning 3.2” touchscreen and a handy side-sliding QWERTY keyboard for easy texting. And with a 3MP autofocus camera and Samsung’s incredible Social Hub, Samsung Galaxy 551 has everything you want from a smartphone – at a fully affordable price.”
Although the phone was initially slated for an April 28th release, it seems that the carrier had a busy schedule that forced him to postpone the launch of the smartphone.
According to the guys over at MobileSyrup, the Galaxy 551 will now launch on May 4th for the prices mentioned above.
Samsung Galaxy 551 runs the Android 2.2 Froyo platform and TouchWiz 3.0 UI on top of it.
The phone features DNSe sound enhancement and is powered by an average 667 MHz processor.
The smartphone packs 160 MB of internal memory, full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB, 1 GB included), as well as HSDPA and HSUPA support.
The phone is powered by a Li-Ion 1200 mAh standard battery that should provide up to 520 hours of standby time or up to 9 hours of talk time.