Samsung’s budget LTE Galaxy Express Jelly Bean phone emerges from AT&T obscurity with official launch

Samsung’s Galaxy Express has been on sale via AT&T in the US since November, but the Korean mobile giant has finally ‘launched’ the Android Jelly Bean-powered device in an official capacity today.

Devoid of any international release information, dates or pricing — though it is $99.00 in the US — Samsung has spilled all the details on the Jelly Bean-powered device, which it calls a “a value-driven 4G LTE smartphone, designed for the young social explorer”.

The Express packs a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal memory with Micro SD card support. It has a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED screen, and is 9.3 mm thick. It sports a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, 5 megapixel lens on the back and all the usual connectivity — WiFi, USD 2.0, Bluetooth, etc — which includes NFC.

As you’d expect from the Galaxy range, the device includes the firm’s AllShare device-to-device streaming features, S Beam and Mobile High Definition Link  which connects to phone to HD displays to play content on larger screens, and other standard features. Users can enjoy Google Now and all the other benefits of the phone shipping Android 4.1.

On paper, the specs are certainly superior to the Galaxy S Mini III, which was released in October 2012. The Mini has a smaller 4-inch screen, less powerful 1Ghz processor and no LTE, which does make the Express’s release somewhat confusing.

The device is pretty impressive, albeit without a confirmed non-US price point at this stage, and it will be interesting to see where it is launched. Already in the US market, the device could do very well in the UK, although 4G has tended to be supported by more expensive, higher-end devices in the country, to date.

Samsung’s long tail of mid- and low-end device have helped it become the world’s largest smartphone maker by some distance. According to an IDC report published last week, the company shipped 63.7 million smartphones in the final quarter of 2012. The analyst firm estimates that Samsung shipped a record 216 million smartphones over the entire year, that’s a 129 increase on its 2011 tally.

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