Every two or three years, you’ll need to get yourself a new phone. That’s a fact. Samsung is certainly one of the major phone vendors in Uganda. They compete against the likes of Apple, HTC, Nokia, Huawei, Tecno and lately iDroid which just entered the Ugandan smartphone market.
Samsung has a fairly good dealership chain that sells and distributes their phones. That includes authorized electronic stores like Midcom, Simba Telecom shops, Transtel Uganda, UgaSung and mobile networks like MTN Uganda.
Buying a device from a mobile network is slightly more costly than from electronic stores. That’s because Mobile Networks bundle their phones with mobile data even though it’s advertised as “Free”.
How to buy the right phone for you
Here at Dignited, Smartphones are divided into 3 categories; Entry-level, Mid-range and High-end smartphones.
Dignited Smartphone categorization | |||
---|---|---|---|
Smartphone Category | Minimum Specs (as of 2015) | Example | Price range(Ugx) |
Entry-level | 512MB of RAM Single core processor of less than 1Ghz 4GB ROM Not more than 5MP camera | Galaxy Star Pro | less than 300,000 |
Mid-range | 1GB of RAM Dual-core 1Ghz processor 8GB internal memory 8MP camera | Galaxy Grand 2 | 400,000-1,000,000 |
High-end | At least 2GB of RAM, 2Ghz Quad-core processor 16GB of internal memory 13MP camera | Galaxy S5 | more than 1,000,000 |
Entry-level smartphones are low end phones that usually first-time phone owners buy. An entry-level smartphone according to our own categorizing has 512MB of RAM, a single core processor of less than 1Ghz and around 4GB of internal memory and not more than 5MP camera. The Galaxy Star Pro for intsance with 4.0″ screen, 2MP camera, 1Ghz CPU, 512GB RAM, 4GB ROM, Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery qualifies for this category. These usually costs less than Ugx 300,000.
Mid-range smartphone has specs a little higher than your entry-level smartphone. According to our standards, a mid-range smartphone should have 1GB of RAM but less than 2GB. It should have at least a Dual-core 1Ghz processor, 8GB internal memory and an 8MP camera. The Galaxy Grand 2 that goes for Ugx 850k with 5.2″ screen, 8MP camera, 1.2 GHz Quad-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB ROM, Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery fits well in this category. These devices usually cost less than Ugx 1million.
Then the beasts, the High-end smartphones. These are usually flagship devices from major phone vendors. Think the iPhone 6, HTC one M8, Samsung Galaxy S5, Tecno Phantom Z, Huawei Ascend P7, Nexus 6 etc. These devices have the highest specs in the market. Again according to our standards, for a phone to be considered high-end, it should have at least 2GB of RAM, 2Ghz Quad-core processor, 16GB of internal memory and at least 13MP camera. The Samsung Galaxy S5 that goes for Ugx 1,850,000 price tag with 5.1″ screen, 16MP camera, 2.5Ghz Quad-core CPU, 2GB RAM, 16/32 GB ROM, Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery qualifies eat on the table of men.
Obviously as the years go by, the category specs change. What used to be a mid-range device 2 years ago is now considered an entry-level devices. So this is as of 2015.
Phone | Important Specs | Price(Ugx) |
---|---|---|
Samsung Authorized dealer shops | ||
Galaxy Star Pro | 4.0" screen, 2MP camera, 1Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM, Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery | 244,900 |
Galaxy Ace 4 | 4.0" screen, 5MP camera, 1.0Ghz Dual-core CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM, Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery | 364,900 |
Galaxy Core 2 | 4.5" screen, 5MP camera, 1.2Ghz Quad-core CPU, 768MB RAM, 4GB ROM, Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery | 445,900 |
Galaxy S3 Mini | 4.0" screen, 5MP camera, 1GHz Dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM, 8/16GB ROM, Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery | 469,900 |
Galaxy Grand Prime | 5.0" screen, 8MP camera, 1.2Ghz Quad-core CPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery | 628,900 |
Galaxy S3 Neo | 4.8" screen, 8MP camera, 1.2Ghz Quad-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB ROM, Li-Ion 2100 mAh battery | 752,900 |
Galaxy Grand 2 | Dual-SIM, 5.2" screen, 8MP camera, 1.2 GHz Quad-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB ROM, Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery | 803,900 |
MTN Uganda shops | ||
Samsung Trend Lite | 20MB of data, 4.0" screen, 3.15MP camera, 1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM, Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery, Dual-SIM | 260,000 |
Galaxy S3 Mini | 20MB of data, 4.0" screen, 5MP camera, 1GHz Dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM, 8/16GB ROM, Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery | 490,000 |
Galaxy Grand 2 | 1GB of data, Dual-SIM, 5.2" screen, 8MP camera, 1.2 GHz Quad-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB ROM, Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery | 850,000 |
Galaxy S4 Mini | 20MB of data, 4.3" screen, 8MP camera, 1.7Ghz Dual-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB ROM, Li-Ion 1900 mAh battery | 950,000 |
Galaxy S4 Mini | 20MB of data, 4.3" screen, 8MP camera, 1.7Ghz Dual-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB ROM, Li-Ion 1900 mAh battery | 950,000 |
Galaxy S5 | Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat) 5.1", 1080 x 1920 pixels (~432 ppi pixel density) Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400 2GB RAM, 16/32GB ROM, 16/2MP Camera Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery | Ugx 1,850,000 |
Galaxy S6 | Android OS, v5.0.2 (Lollipop) 5.1", 1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density) Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 3GB RAM, 32/64/128GB ROM, 16/5MP camera, Non-removable Li-Ion 2550 mAh battery | Ugx 2,250,000 at MTN Uganda Ugx 2,000,000 on Jumia Uganda |
Galaxy S6 Edge | Android OS, v5.0.2 (Lollipop) 5.1", 1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density) Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 3GB RAM, 32/64/128GB ROM, 16/5MP camera, Non-removable Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery | Ugx 2,600,00 on Jumia |
Samsung Galaxy S6 in Uganda
Samsung this month launched its latest flagship phones, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge. However, these devices won’t be available in Uganda until mid-April according to Samsung Mobile Uganda.
@oquidave Hi David. Greetings. The #GalaxyS6#GalaxyS6Edge will be avaiable in the Ugandan Market Mid April.
— #GalaxyS6 (@SamsungMobileUg) March 6, 2015
Update: The Galaxy S6 is now available in Uganda
Samsung Galaxy S6 goes for a price of Ugx 2,250,000 (about $752) with 3GB of data at all MTN Uganda service centers. It’s also available for order on Jumia Uganda with multiple vendors giving different offers of as low as Ugx 2,000,000 (about $668). The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is going for Ugx 2,600,00 (about $870) on Jumia and not MTN Uganda.
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