Samsung Announces $92 Tizen OS Smartphone

Samsung has launched the Z1 in India, the South Korean company’s first Tizen OS smartphone, following an extensive delay to the platform coming to mobile.

The Z1 features a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 768MB RAM, 4GB of onboard storage (with 64GB of microSD expandable storage), 1500mAh battery and 3.1MP rear camera. Samsung has added dual-SIM support and a variety of Indian pre-installed software, to make it more appealing in the region.

Samsung will be adding Tizen OS 2.3, the latest version of the software, onto the Z1. The electronics giant has been working on the platform for over two years, in partnership with Intel, but has suffered various delays to the mobile launch.

To keep the platform alive, Samsung has ported Tizen OS to smartwatches and smart TVs, allowing developers to have some way for their apps to be used. The adoption of other platforms has also shown Tizen’s scaleability across screen sizes, something both iOS and Android have had issues achieving.

Samsung originally set a launch date for a Tizen OS smartphone in 2013, but cancelled the smartphone. The Z1 was announced in mid-2014 for an early Russian launch, but this was also cancelled, to the disappointment of many Russian developers.

This is the first official launch of the Z1, but it is questionable how well the Tizen OS smartphone will do on the Indian market. Samsung has set it up to a prime candidate in the selection of low-end end smartphones, with an extremely competitive price, but will any Indian consumers take warmly to the rather meek Tizen marketplace.

Alternatives like the Moto G and Xiaomi Redmi both run Android and feature millions of apps, alongside running on much better specifications than the Samsung Z1. Even Microsoft’s new Lumia 435 and 532 compete with Samsung Z1 on specs, and they cost even less.