Samsung’s latest smartphone in Kenya has quite a long name – Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Pro (2018). If you find this name to be a bit mouthy, our research shows that the phone is alternatively known as Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro (2018), which, in my opinion, is much easier to grasp.
Anyway, the Grand Prime Pro (2018) comes with the following specifications:
- a 5.0-inch qHD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 540 x 960
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor
- 1.5GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage which is expandable to 256GB via MicroSD
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Samsung Experience on board
- 4G LTE support
- 8MP main camera and a 5MP selfie shooter
- a 2600mAh battery
The Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Pro (2018) is made entirely out of plastic, this is not surprising at this market level and admittedly, the phone does look good from the back, the front is what we’re used to, the usual Samsung capacitive navigation buttons and physical home button.
The device, which carries a recommended retail price of Ksh.14,499, is aimed at recapturing the entry-level smartphone market that Samsung has been losing to Chinese brands such as Infinix and TECNO. Ryan Mule, Product lead, IM Division at Samsung Electronics East Africa says that the company will be releasing more phones in the entry-level segment as they strengthen their market leadership.
Samsung had in the past tried to capture this market by introducing the Samsung Z2 smartphone which ran on the company’s own Tizen OS but things seem not to have worked out with the device – despite it’s attractive Ksh. 6,000 price tag – as the company pulled the plug on selling it locally. “It was a new operating system that customers did not know,” explains Mr Mule, citing that Tizen OS was not well received by Kenyans.
With the smartphone market in Kenya getting interesting by the day and companies like Vivo Mobile trying to have a piece of the cake, it will be an interesting year to watch how things turn out and whether we will have any casualties from the bull fight.
