Last week, several photos of a Samsung device allegedly called the Galaxy Grand 2 leaked. The rumors said it would have a 5.25 inch 720p screen, quad-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera, and that Android 4.3 would be on-board. I’m happy to say that all of those rumors were correct, and that the Grand 2 is now official.

When is it going to come out and how much is it going to cost? That’s the kicker, Samsung never says that in their press releases. All they say is the Grand 2 “will be offered in White, and Black and Pink is available in selective regions.” I’m going to interpret that as it’s immediately on sale, which is a plus.

Going back to the rumors for a second, one of them said that there would be an LTE variant of the Grand 2 destined for Europe. Today’s press release didn’t mention that at all, which makes me think we’re going to have to wait a few days or weeks until an announcement. It’s strange to me that the company wouldn’t announce both variants at once, but maybe they’re waiting to make a joint operator announcement.

So moment of truth, should you buy this thing? This phone is, for all intents and purposes, the Galaxy S III, except bigger. Yes, the screen on the Grand 2 is LCD versus AMOLED. And yes, the Grand 2 has 512 MB less RAM. But for most people on the street, the Grand 2 is just a jumbo S III that looks somewhat like an S4.

If the price is right, I can imagine this thing flying off store shelves.

Update: Check out the stitched leather back!