Samsung’s Ultra Thin, 5.5” Galaxy A7 Smartphone Launching January 14

We first brought you news about Samsung’s Galaxy A7 smartphone earlier this month. The 5.5” Galaxy A7 represents the third model in Samsung’s new Galaxy A series (following the 4.5” A3 and 5” A5) and is Samsung’s thinnest smartphone to date at just 6.3mm thick.

We have now learned that Samsung plans to officially announce the device in its home market of South Korea on January 14. According to Phone Arena, the Galaxy A5 will also be officially introduced in the South Korea on the same date; it’s been available in China since November.

The Galaxy A7 actually packs in some pretty decent specs including a 64-bit Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB of RAM and a 1080p display. You’ll also find a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, 16GB of internal storage (a microSD slot is also included) and a 2500 mAh battery.

What we find slightly odd, however, is that Phone Arena indicates that the Galaxy A7 will ship with Android 4.4 KitKat onboard instead of Android 5.0/5.0.1 Lollipop. While an upgrade to Lollipop is likely inevitable, it would have been nice to see the OS installed out of the box.

Samsung has yet to officially release the “lesser” Galaxy A3 or Galaxy A5 for the U.S. market, but U.S. residents that are clamoring for the device can order one from Expansys USA. They are currently selling the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 (both unlocked, dual-SIM models) for $329.99 and $409.99 respectively.

However, that pricing isn’t exactly attractive considering that an unlocked Motorola Moto G (second generation) will set you back just $180.