Samsung’s upcoming second-generation Galaxy J5 Prime has been certified by the FCC earlier this month. The South Korean company announced the original Galaxy J5 Prime in September of last year, and rumors surrounding a sequel have been floating around for some time now. According to the new FCC documents dated November 24th, though, the upcoming second-generation model has now received its necessary certificates, suggesting its official launch is not too far away.
The new device, which is likely to be named either the Galaxy J5 Prime (2017) or Galaxy J5 Prime (2018), appears to be an incremental upgrade over its predecessor. Samsung looks set to keep many of the original internals such as the same Exynos 7570 chipset and 3GB of RAM. As well as this, the same 32GB of internal storage is also expected to be available. In the camera department, it looks as if the rear 13-megapixel sensor that the original device featured will be back once again, though the front-facing selfie module will receive a boost in resolution and be of the 8-megapixel variety, up from the previous 5-megapixel resolution. Also expected to increase in size is the battery, but a specific capacity has yet to be disclosed by some insider. The display of the upcoming device is said to be smaller than the one found on the original Galaxy J5 Prime. Last year’s model sported a 5-inch display, so a smaller screen would put it back into the 4-inch category, with a 4.7 or 4.8-inch panel being the most likely option along with a 720 x 1080 resolution. One final change is in the software department. The upcoming device is expected to feature an updated interface on top of Android 7.1.1 Nougat and should be upgraded to an Android 8.0 Oreo-based version of Samsung Experience shortly after launching.
Samsung is yet to make an official comment on the device’s existence, but considering the existence of the FCC-issued certificates, a launch appears to be imminent. Taking into account the fact that the South Korean giant is yet to release the Galaxy J5 (2018), it’s likely that this device will have the current calendar year in its name. Because of this, an early December launch appears probable, therefore marking the company’s final mobile release of the year, just in time for the holiday shopping season. In terms of pricing, a similar price tag to the original Galaxy J5 Prime (2016) is expected, so expect the Galaxy J5 Prime (2017) to set you back around $200.