14 DAY TRIAL // Good news for Samsung fans in India, as Galaxy S3 Neo mid-range smartphone has just made its debut in the country. The dual-SIM smartphone has been tipped for release since late March, but no details on the phone’s exact launch date were available at that time.
Today, fonearena reports that Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo can be purchased via online retailer Snapdeal for Rs 25,499 outright, which is about $425 or €310.
The device is rather overpriced if we take into consideration all those mid-range smartphones launched weekly by various native OEMs, so in the end, customers are paying for the brand.
Anyway, those who order the Galaxy S3 Neo via Snapdeal should know that the retailer claims that it will ship the devices in 2 business days, so it will take at least 3 days to receive it.
The only major advantage over other cheaper mid-range smartphones available in India is the fact that Galaxy S3 Neo ships with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box instead of the “standard” Android 4.2 used by Indian OEMs.
The quality of the display is definitely much better on Samsung’s smartphone, which sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD (720p) capacitive touchscreen display.
As mentioned earlier, the Galaxy S3 Neo offers dual-SIM capability, which is a much-needed feature in India. The phone measures 136.6 x 70.75 x 8.6mm and weighs 132 grams (battery included).
Speaking of which, Samsung’s mid-range smartphone is powered by a 2100 mAh battery, which has yet to be rated by the manufacturer.
Hardware-wise, the Galaxy S3 Neo is decent, but in no way more powerful than other cheaper alternatives in the mid-range category.
According to Samsung, the device is equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1.5GB of RAM. The amount of storage is bigger however, so this is another strong point of the Galaxy S3 Neo over the affordable Indian smartphones.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo comes packed with 16GB of internal memory, but users will also be able to further expand storage up to 64GB via microSD card slot.
In terms of connectivity, the smartphone offers 3G HSPA+ and HSPA, along with IR remote control, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS with A-GPS support.
Last but not least, the handset boasts an enhanced 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, as well as a secondary 1.9-megapixel camera in the front for video calls.