MetroPCS-bound Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G leaks, to be released in August

Dominating the high-end part of the smartphone world doesn’t seem to be enough for Samsung, which is constantly looking to strengthen its presence in the low-end and mid-range niches as well. One phone that could place itself right between these sectors is the Galaxy S Lightray 4G, supposedly headed to MetroPCS in August.
The information comes via a Howard Forums leak and is not yet confirmed, but the fistful of high-quality “spilled” photos and the almost complete spec sheet guarantee that we’re not dealing with a bogus rumor.
That said, the Galaxy S Lightray 4G seems like a pretty bizarre device, starting with its name. I’m sure that most of you tuned in to this article because of the “S” branding in the phone’s title, which made you hope the phone might have something to do with the Galaxy S2 or S3. Well, it doesn’t, as far as we can tell, neither in terms of design, nor in hardware.

The exterior is actually very similar to that of Verizon’s Samsung Droid Charge, a 2011 LTE-enabled phone which hasn’t exactly been a winner. As far as specs go, we don’t know all of them just yet, but the ones we do know place the Lightray ages behind the Galaxy S3 and quite significantly behind the S2, too.
Sporting a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with an unknown resolution, the Galaxy S Lightray 4G is set to come with an 8 MP rear-facing camera with flash, an 1.3 MP front-facing webcam and 4G LTE connectivity, which ain’t too shabby. However, the phone is rumored to be only packing a 1.3 GHz single-core processor and that’s clearly below par even for mid-rangers these days.

Furthermore, based on the leaked photos, the 4.3-incher might only run Android 2.3 Gingebread upon its release, which would be terribly disappointing. An included 16GB microSD card, HDMI port, TV antenna for “Mobile TV”, and mobile hotspot capability complete the rumored spec sheet of the Lightray, making it one tough nut to crack. Will it be a low-end device? A mid-range one? Something in between?
We should find that out pretty soon, considering that MetroPCS has supposedly scheduled the new Samsung handheld for a mid-August release. If that’s true, an official unveiling is quite imminent. Is anyone excited about the Lightray?

Source:AndroidAuthority