Samsung Possibly Testing Android Go Smartphone For Select Markets

Google announced Android Go last year. It’s an iteration of the company’s mobile operating system that’s meant for low-end devices with less than 1GB of RAM. The operating system and accompanying lightweight apps are optimized for low-end devices to provide a good user experience. ZTE was among the first companies to launch an Android Go smartphone and it appears that Samsung might have one in the pipeline as well.

Samsung wasn’t a part of Google’s Android One program and while it’s yet to confirm if it will be launching an Android Go smartphone, word on the street is that the company does have one in the pipeline.

A recent benchmark listing for an unreleased Samsung device bearing model number SM-J260G brought clues which suggested that this is an Android Go smartphone. The device was listed having a processor codenamed Universal7570_Go with 1GB of RAM, both key indications of a Go-branded device.

According to a new report, Samsung is testing its Android Go handset for four markets – Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. It would make sense for the company to launch its first Android Go smartphone in these markets as they are where it normally launches its slew of budget smartphones. Samsung’s low-end devices powered by its homegrown Tizen operating system also have 1GB of RAM and less and they have managed to carve a niche for themselves in this market as well.

Whether or not Samsung will bring its Android Go device to other markets, particularly in the West, remains to be seen. With ZTE launching the first Android Go handset in the United States, Samsung might want to get a piece of that pie for itself as well.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: android go, Samsung