Samsung Galaxy Y gets the Netphone treatment

Smart Communications has just added a new phone to their Netphone line-up. It’s an entry-level Android phone by the name of Samsung Galaxy Y with a cheaper price tag of only Php5,990USD 102INR 8,653EUR 97CNY 743 for the prepaid kit.

What’s interesting though is that instead of using the Netphone naming system (something like the Netphone 501 or maybe a Netphone 303 — this is just an example), they just used the original name given by Samsung.

Most likely reason is that Samsung has a good reputation with Android handsets and it will sell more if they stick with it rather than using the Netphone nomenclature (unlike the ZTE Blade).

Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone Edition
3.0″ TFT LCD capacitive display @ 240×320 pixels
823MHz ARMv6 processor
256MB RAM
164MB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
3G/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
2MP camera
FM Radio tuner
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion battery 1200mAh
TouchWiz 3.0
Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The Galaxy Y was announced just back in August 24 so it looks like Smart got it first here in the Philippines. The handset reminds me of the Galaxy Ace, only smaller and a refresh of the Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570.

The Galaxy Y is packed with everything that you’d expect from a smartphone but with a really appealing price point. A few of the specs might be disappointing though — like the 65k (it’s 256k) display color and the 240×320 screen resolution (a stark contrast from the Netphone 701).

You can pre-order one from Smart here which is free on Data Lite Plan 500 and Php5,990USD 102INR 8,653EUR 97CNY 743 on prepaid.

I wonder though that since the Netphone suite has been created for this model, it’s possible to have them shared and installed on other similar handsets by Samsung (probably the Galaxy Mini, Ace, Pro and Fit).