Wednesday, August 15, 2018

User manual for Samsung’s Android Go smartphone available online

The user manual for Samsung’s first Android Go smartphone – the Galaxy J2 Core – has been leaked online. It is giving us further confirmation that the device will be a regular Galaxy phone instead of something with stock Android. Not that we needed such confirmation, but if you still had doubts, this should clear them away.

The manual is in Russian so it’s unclear if there’s a mention of Go versions of apps such as YouTube and Google. But as our exclusive reveal of the actual phone in pictures had shown, the J2 Core won’t come with the full-fledged versions of Google’s proprietary apps. It’s unclear if users will be able to access the full-blown versions from the Play Store. Anyone can download the Go versions of these apps from Google Play on regular Android devices, so it would be logical for the reverse to be true as well. But Google probably prevents that on Android Go devices as it might be detrimental for the user experience given the limited RAM.

Samsung Android Go phone has a removable battery

The Galaxy J2 Core will also come with a stripped-down version of the Samsung Internet app and various tools to manage data usage and storage. Its specs are expected to include a 5-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 7570 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB storage, 8-megapixel and 5-megapixel rear and front cameras, a 2,600 mAh battery, and Android 8.1 Oreo with on-screen navigation keys. The battery is removable and there are dual SIM slots, as confirmed by the user manual, although that isn’t surprising as removable batteries continue to be a part of Samsung’s ultra low-budget smartphones.

While the user manual comes from Russia, the firmware for the Galaxy J2 Core on our website are for India and its neighboring markets (for the model SM-J260G). And that’s where the phone is likely to be launched first as these markets are the prime target for Samsung’s budget efforts.