The Samsung Galaxy Fame recently went on sale in Europe and now the SIM-free version of the smartphone is available for pre-order in the UK.

The budget Samsung Galaxy Fame smartphone is designed to be a wallet-friendly handset rocking Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It sports a 3.5-inch screen and packs a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. The SIM-free version of the Galaxy Fame will be available in the UK starting next week for £172.98 including taxes.

The handset's 3.5-inch TFT display has a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, which is moderately decent for an entry-level, budget smartphone. Other specs include a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera for photos and videos, as well as a front-facing camera for video chats.

The Samsung Galaxy Fame also sports a micro-SD card slot for additional memory, expandable up to 64GB. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone features Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth and USB. The 1,300 mAh battery provides a reasonable performance and it's removable, which means users can easily remove or replace their SIM. The battery provides up to eight hours of talk time and roughly 40 minutes of talk time, which is not much but it should do for a budget handset.

The bottom line is that the Samsung Galaxy Fame is a budget smartphone, which means that it's a decent but not spectacular handset. Samsung fans who don't want to or can't afford to draw a hole in their budget for a high-end smartphone may find the Galaxy Fame as a good solution. It looks similar to other handsets in the Samsung Galaxy range and its price tag is its most attractive feature.

On the other hand, very attractive is the Android Jelly Bean software on the Samsung Galaxy Fame. Although it is not the absolute latest version of Android, it does pack some neat features and is a major improvement over Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). While many smartphones are still stuck on ICS, the Samsung Galaxy Fame rocks Jelly Bean without rising to the price of other Jelly Bean smartphones out there.

Interested shoppers in the UK can pre-order the unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy Fame smartphone from Unlocked Mobiles and receive it at the beginning of May. The smartphone will work on any network.