Samsung updated its mass market device line with its Galaxy Core Advance, which it said “provides a meaningful design to extend Samsung’s powerful technology to more users”.

The device has a 4.7-inch screen and “soft feel coated back cover”, and also has physical buttons for frequently-used features. “Dedicated keys for voice recorder, camera, volume, menu, home and power functions brings users who are less comfortable with a touch-screen experience seamless access to Galaxy Core Advance’s capabilities,” the company said.

Features of Galaxy Core Advance include Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with GLONASS for improved location accuracy, and NFC with S Beam, to share information such as videos, contact details and audio files with a tap.

It also includes enhanced accessibility features for disabled and visually impaired users, including optical scan, which recognises text from an image and reads it aloud, high quality text-to-speech support, and voice guided camera functions.

Hardware specifications include HSPA connectivity, a 1.2GHz dualcore processor, 1GB or RAM and 8GB of storage (expandable via a microSD slot). It has a five megapixel camera, and is powered by Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).

Galaxy Core Advance will be offered in “deep blue” and “pearl white”, and commercially available “early next year”.