After a false start last year, Samsung’s first Tizen-powered smartphone is finally available for purchase… if you live in India, that is.
The Samsung Z1 went on sale today for INR 5,700, or roughly $92. It ships with a four-inch WVGA PLS display operating at a resolution of 800 x 480 and is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor alongside 768MB of RAM.
The handset includes 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card), a 3.1-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing VGA-quality camera with face detection capabilities. It relies on a 1,500mAh battery pack that Samsung claims is good for up to eight hours of talk time or seven hours of video playback.
Connectivity-wise, the Z1 includes a GPS chip, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. Samsung’s press release only mentions 3G networks from Reliance Communications & Aircel meaning 4G LTE likely isn’t included. It’s being offered in red, white and black color schemes, supports dual SIM cards and runs Tizen version 2.3 out of the box.
Despite the slower 3G connectivity and budget-minded price point, Samsung is pushing this as an entertainment device. They’re offering buyers 500MB of 3G data free for the first six months as well as access to premium content on Club Samsung where users can stream and download from a collection of more than 270,000 songs and 80 live TV channels.
