Boost Mobile has announced three new Samsung phones to its prepaid stable that will all be released at various points during the month of September beginning with the Samsung Galaxy S II in both black and white and features the following specifications.
- Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system
- Dual-mode 3G/4G
- 8MP camera (2MP front facing) with 1080P full HD video
- Dual-core 1.2GHz processor
- 16GB internal memory
- 8 hours talk time
- Wi-Fi/mobile hotspot capability
The phone will be released late next month for $369.99. The Boost Mobile version will ship with Android Ice Cream Sandwich and WiMax support, while the second Samsung Android smartphone in the lineup will be the mid-range Galaxy Rush for $149.99.
The Samsung Galaxy Rush features Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but is otherwise a typical mid-range smartphone with a 1GHz processor, 768MB of RAM, 3.5 inch HVGA resolution display and microSD slot and like the S II, will be released in late September. The last phone in the new slate is the Array feature phone, which features a sliding QWERTY keyboard and large 2.4 inch QVGA display along with a standard keypad for $59.99 and will ship on September 4th.
With Boost Mobile Being the first to add the Galaxy S II on prepaid, this opens up the phone to being released officially on other prepaid service providers, although the pricing is less expensive than the previous no contract pricing on Sprint owing to a substantial subsidy. The Samsung Galaxy Rush continues the trend of dropping the cost of Android Ice Cream Sandwich to more obtainable levels as the operating system continues to make inroads while Google continues its own push for Jelly Bean.
With the Array, Boost Mobile is wisely keeping a low-cost entry-level device in its lineup perfect for quick purchases for people that want messaging and voice over smartphone capability, as the Array is being pushed with the $45 Unlimited Talk and Text plan with Shrinkage, an obvious shot across the bow of Tracfone and its increasingly popular StraightTalk offering as the Boost Mobile plan goes all the way down to $30 after six on-time payments, although the plan does not include data access, while StraightTalk’s does and Boost Mobile’s equivalent plan to the StraightTalk plan for smartphones goes all the way down to $30, only including 2.5GB of data access before throttling kicks in on 3G and 4G respectively.