US carrier T-Mobile is strengthening its low-end smartphone lineup with the Galaxy Avant, a 4.5-inch device with LTE connectivity and Android 4.4 KitKat that will retail for $216 (or $9 per month). The Galaxy Avant is a minor upgrade over the recently announced Galaxy Core LTE, featuring a qHD (540×960) display, quad-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear camera, 16 GB of internal storage and a microSD slot (up to 64 GB), and a 2,100 mAh battery. The phone also sports an NFC chip, and supports Wi-Fi calling over T-Mobile's network.
The Galaxy Avant's design is similar to the Galaxy S5 and other recent Samsung handsets, with the faux leather back that consumers have come to love and hate. T-Mobile hasn't mentioned a release date, but it shouldn't be long before you will be able to shell out your hard-earned cash for the carrier's latest (not so cheap) budget offering.