Samsung to launch Galaxy Grand 2 in India next week; device to be priced under Rs 25,000

Unveiled last month, Samsung has now launched the successor to the Galaxy Grand smartphone in the Indian market. The device will be available for purchase in the first week of January 2014, and while the company has not disclosed an exact pricing for the device (which is weird), it has added that the price will be between Rs 22,990 to Rs 24, 990.

Christened Galaxy Grand 2, the device brings a number of upgrades to its predecessor including an HD display, quad-core processor, and improved battery, among others. In addition, the company has also introduced 'Club Samsung', a content store that will enable customers purchasing the new smartphone to get music, videos, live TV and movies directly on the device. The store will be free for the first three months, post that customers will need to purchase the content.

Prior to Grand 2, Samsung had launched a number of variations of the original Galaxy Grand smartphone that included Grand Duos and Grand Quattro. Here is a quick look at the specifications of the smartphone.

Galaxy Grand 2 has a 5.25 inch HD TFT multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display (1280×720 pixel resolution) and runs on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system. The large screen offers 'Multi Window', which offers better multitasking by enabling users to run one application in two windows at the same time. The handset has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and comes with 1.5 GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 8 GB, which can be further expanded up to 64GB with a microSD card.

On the camera front, the smartphone has an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED Flash, and a 1.9MP front-facing camera for video calling. As for connectivity, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and 3G, and comes with a microSD card slot and a USB 2.0 port. It is powered by a 2,600 mAh battery that the company claims will provide up to 10 hours of video playback and 17 hours of calling. The specifications of the phablet are 146.8mm x 75.3mm x 8.9 mm, and its weight is 163gm. This one is also has dual-SIM functionality (GSM + GSM with dual standby option), and comes with GPS.

In addition, the device comes with a number of additional features like Story Album- enables users to organise pictures by timeline, and create and print albums from your device; S Translator- a translation service that provides instantaneous translations; S Travel- provides guides and travel information; Sound & Shot- records up to nine seconds of audio with your photos; Samsung Hub- a content service that provides access to music, videos, games and more; Group Play- for listening music, sharing documents or playing games together; and Samsung Link- connects your devices so you can access photos, music, videos and documents from multiple locations.

In terms of competition, the device will face off against the likes of Sony Xperia S (Rs 25,000), BlackBerry Z10 (Rs 24,999), Google Nexus 4 (Rs 24,575), HTC Desire 601 (Rs 23,990), Huawei Ascend P6 (Rs 25,499), and Lenovo Vibe X (Rs 25,999), among others.