Samsung Galaxy F04 is touted as a fresh, speedy addition to the Indian Android smartphone market despite its stale spec list

This first week of January is, as always, marked by debuts for the most cutting-edge of consumer technology. Nevertheless, Samsung has chosen to provide a jarring contrast with the Galaxy F04, which purports to pack all a smartphone buyer might want, albeit with nothing that has not been seen before.

Samsung touts the F04 with a number of snappy taglines, one of which is "F for Fashionable". However, this translates into a rebrand for the Galaxy M04 with new Jade Purple or Opal Green colorway. In fact, as it turns out, both devices have the exact same specs.

Accordingly, the Galaxy F04 is somehow expected to be "F for Fast" with "Fab Performance" with the elderly MediaTek Helio P35 SoC. Its RAM can at least be boosted from its stock 4GB to 8GB - although the internal storage from which the excess will be drawn is a measly 64GB.

The F04 does at least support microSD cards of up to 1TB in size. The smartphone is, at least, one of Samsung's rare smartphones in which the rear cameras are pared down to 2 - not necessarily a bad thing in all cases, although they are weedy 13+2MP shooters in this case whereas the also very similar Galaxy A04 launched with a 50MP main sensor.

The F04, like the Galaxy M04, ships with promises to "always keep up with the latest OS" - which, as its launch page seems to think, is Android 12. It does, at least, have assurances of upgrading twice over during the smartphone's lifetime.

There is a "Full Power" 5,000mAh battery touted to stay on for up to 24 hours per charge - however, its charging speed is glossed over in its launch material; if it is that much like the M04, no more than 15W can be expected here: not that "Fast" at all.

On the other hand, Samsung has debuted the F04 at INR 7,499 (~US$91), compared to INR 11,999 (~US$145) for the M04. The Galaxy F series' new CES-defying member can be ordered from January 12, 2023 via Samsung.com/in.