Samsung’s last premium device for 2018 has been announced earlier this month in the form of the Galaxy Note 9 but the company is expected to launch a handful of additional smartphones before the end of the year, recent reports indicate. The products in question will cover a wider range of market segments and price points but none of them will target the high-end price bracket like the Galaxy Note 9. A couple of them are said to bear the “Core” moniker and run Android Go, Google’s lightweight version of its mobile OS, and according to recent leaks, Samsung is developing its own set of stripped-down applications for the platform. Most of these upcoming devices are likely set for release before the end of 2018 and will be launched in Europe and Asia, among other regions.
Starting off with what appears to be the more powerful device from the bunch, recent reports claim that the OEM plans to launch a slightly altered version of the Galaxy A9 Star to Europe. The original model was released in China earlier this summer but according to SamMobile, various firmware builds pointing to a European model have been discovered, specifically for countries including France, Germany, Scandinavia, and the UK. As yet it’s unclear if this version will differ in terms of specifications compared to the model for China, which sports a 6.3-inch panel with a resolution of 2,220 by 1,080 pixels, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 chipset, 4GB of RAM, and a dual-camera setup with 16- and 24-megapixel sensors.
Reportedly, Samsung is also expected to expand the Galaxy J Prime series with two additional models, the Galaxy J4 Prime and J6 Prime, both of which have been previously spotted online via Geekbench, bearing the model numbers SM-J415F and SM-J610F, respectively, as seen in the gallery below. Both models are expected to run Android 8.1 Oreo and rely on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset, but while the former uses 2GB of RAM, the latter seems to be equipped with 3GB.
Two additional smartphones following the “Galaxy J” naming scheme will reportedly be added to the OEM’s portfolio this year but instead of the “Prime” suffix, these units will be known by the “Core” moniker. It appears that this particular nametag will be reserved for devices running on Android Go, and as a result, they should compete in the budget price bracket. Firstly, the Samsung Galaxy J2 Core was recently spotted in a user manual published prematurely by the OEM’s Russian division, confirming a user-removable battery and a simplified UI. However, little is known about its alleged sibling, the Galaxy J4 Core, although previous reports have referred to the unit by the model number SM-J410F.
Whether these devices will hit the shelves as described above remains to be seen, but nonetheless, Samsung is well-known for its expansive smartphone lineup and the OEM has been covering every price point for many years now. Having said that, with the premium segment covered for the next six months or so until the next Galaxy S10 launches next year, it’s very likely that Samsung has at least a few additional Android smartphones in the works for this year, especially now that students are preparing to go back to school and the year-end shopping season is just a few months away.
