Today Samsung announced that it has released the Galaxy J3 Pro in India. The phone is a low-to-midrange device with no exciting specifications to speak of, save one. It is launching with Android 5.1 Lollipop. This is noteworthy almost to the point of humor, as Lollipop is now two major updates behind and a year old.

There's no telling if this is just a result of delays or an intentional move on Samsung's part, but it's surprising to see such an old version of Android on a new phone. Typically Google won't put its seal of approval on something so out of date, so there must be some mitigating circumstances around the phone's release. Perhaps it suffered a drawn-out regulatory approval process, or a retailer asked for a delay. The SoC might not have more recent drivers and Samsung could have gotten some sort of exemption. Or it might simply not ship with Google Play services.

If you do happen to be interested, for some reason, the device is available now at Indian retailer Flipkart for Rs. 7,990. It includes "Make for India" features (I swear that's what they call it in the press release) like Ultra Data Saving mode and a special mode for biking. The chipset in the device is made by a company called Spreadtrum, which Samsung has also used for the J3, Galaxy Grand Prime, and Galaxy Tab 3 V. Not an impressive lineage, but it isn't meant to be a high-end device. It does have a 720p AMOLED display, dual SIM support, and a decent sized 2600mAh battery so it may end up being popular at that price point.

PRESS RELEASE

Source: Samsung