Samsung Galaxy Precedent Review
[NOTE: As more info becomes available, I'll update this post with more links. You can also check out this page for more information: http://www.samsunggalaxyprecedentreview.com/]
A really surprising development has sprung up in the Straight Talk world. In fact, I’m not completely sure what to believe about this. But rumor has it that there will be an Android phone coming to Straight Talk.
Specifically, there’s a video showing up on DailyMotion.com introducing the Samsung Galaxy Precedent. According to the video, the phone will be available in September, and the price will be $150.
Whoever posted this video has a strange user name that doesn’t sound like anything officially endorsed by Straight Talk, yet they have also uploaded 9 other videos related to either Straight Talk or Net10. The production value on these videos is good enough that I have a hard time doubting their authenticity.
Now, assuming this is indeed accurate, there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Of course users will want to know about the technical specs on the device. Some observers in the Straight Talk forum HowardForums have pointed out that the phone in the video looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Prevail available on Boost Mobile. While those same people pointed out that the Prevail is not a highly regarded phone, I think we also need to keep in mind here that the bar isn’t very high when it comes to previous Straight Talk phones. The Samsung Galaxy Precedent won’t have to do much to become the “best” phone offered by Straight Talk.
The next big question is which network it will operate on. Since the aforementioned Prevail device uses the Sprint network, there is speculation that perhaps the Precedent will also be a Sprint device. However, I am a little skeptical that after all these years of not having a relationship with Sprint, America Movil would start now. Of course, Sprint might have their own motivation for getting on board as they fight to retain a subscriber base in the face of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.
There are a couple of further reasons why it might NOT be an AT&T or Verizon phone. First, if the Precedent is indeed very similar to the Prevail, then know it would be an easy transition to make this one work on Sprint’s network. Next, all three America Movil brands have recently seemed to push customers away from Verizon-based phones which seems to indicate that perhaps America Movil doesn’t make as much money from it’s Verizon-based customers as those on AT&T and T-Mobile’s network.
At the same time, if it is an AT&T phone, that could open another can of worms. An AT&T-based Android phone on Straight Talk would mean that the SIM card could be swapped into any other unlocked GSM phone (assuming it supports the proper GSM bands). And I think that Straight Talk, for the purpose of keeping customer support calls to a minimum, might not want a whole slew of different handsets coming on board.
Well, as I pointed out at the beginning of this post, I’m not entirely sure what to think of this video. I definitely have more questions than answers at this point, but I do think that we can reasonably expect to see the Samsung Galaxy Precedent make an appearance on Straight Talk very soon.
Special thanks to The_Sweeper and Tracfancier, each of whom took time to send me an email to let me know about this development.
