Galaxy J3 Pro announced in China: metal body, entry level specs for $150

Samsung has a sizable stable of smartphones to sell, though in recent years there has been a clear push to cater to China. This could be seen back in 2014 with the original Galaxy A series, and more recently with devices like the Galaxy A9 Pro. Another letter has been announced for the country, the Galaxy J3 Pro.

While the Galaxy J3 (2016) was launched somewhat recently, this new variant has some beefed up specs.

The phone packs a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display (720p), a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Quad Core SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera with f 2.0 aperture and 5-megapixel front facing camera, a 2,650mAh battery, Dual SIM support, and Android Lollipop 5.1.1.

The phone will be sold in two color variants, Gold and Grey, and retail for a reasonable 990 Yuan, or roughly $150. It will be sold via China Telecom and release at an unmentioned point later this month.

Quick thoughts

The Galaxy J3 Pro is yet another modified China-specific hardware variant that shows the company is eagerly trying to capture the market there and compete with local rivals such as HUAWEI and Xiaomi, two companies that have a veritable army of affordable handsets with relatively good specs and build quality. Samsung has been in trouble in the region in recent periods due to its declining market share amid agile and aggressive competition.

As the Galaxy A9 Pro has recently been announced for international release, it’s possible the Galaxy J3 Pro may eventually be given the go-ahead as well, however the lower end specs make it a hard sell when there are so many other devices to choose from these days.

It is also a bit questionable that Samsung is releasing a “new” device in June 2016 that is still running Android Lollipop, an OS variant that saw development finish last October when Android 6.0 Marshmallow officially launched. Samsung has indicated it plans to update the J3 Pro to Marshmallow in the coming months, however.

Wrap up

While the Galaxy J3 Pro is unlikely to draw a major media focus in the international press given its modest specs, Samsung clearly has high hopes for its potential for success in China.

What do you think? Would you buy it? Leave a comment below!