Samsung hasn’t made huge announcements in the mobile space at CES 2015 (likely opting to save those for MWC 2015 instead), but it has separately announced a couple of mid-range phones overnight. Destined for the Indian market, Samsung has announced the Galaxy E5 and E7, which could be described as photo-focused devices on the fairly standard Galaxy phone formula.
As you can see, the E5 is a pretty standard Galaxy type device, and while it isn’t exactly high end, it does have a few nice touches not usually seen in the mid-range. A 5″ Super AMOLED display is front and centre, though the resolution is as yet unknown. A front-facing camera at 5MP is also present, which is ideal for all those selfies. The rest of the phone rounds out with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of on-device storage with MicroSD expansion, an 8MP rear camera and a 2,400mAh battery.
This is packaged into a phone that’s 141.6 x 70.2 x 7.3mm, so surprisingly small and slender.
Software wise the E5 will be a standard Android 4.4 setup with TouchWiz. There’s no LTE on this model, which probably won’t impact in India too much, but it may if it’s sold elsewhere.
The E7 is a little higher on the shelf, with an increase in screen size to 5.5″ and 2GB RAM instead of 1.5GB. The rear camera increases to 13MP, but otherwise the remainder of the hardware is much the same, save for a larger battery at 2,950mAh which should easily see out a demanding work day (given the lack of LTE).
No pricing or availability has been announced yet, but these things always happen after the launch announcement, and down the track. We know that India is a launch market, but I’d be surprised if these devices don’t find their way into other markets at the lower end as well.
