Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo official, a so-so smartphone with a 5-inch display

MWC 2014 is nearly upon us but Samsung couldn't wait to show off its heavily spoiled mid-range phone, the Galaxy Grand Neo.

Many of its specs were previously reported, but now the Neo has officially been outed as packing a 5-inch, 480 x 800 display. Packed inside the nearly square-looking handset lies a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, backed up with 1GB RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.

The handset has a bit of girth measuring in at 143.7 x 77.1 x 9.6mm and a slog on the software side running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. On the backside you'll find a 5MP camera, and on the front a simple VGA shooter.

Other specs for this understated phone include a 2,100mAh battery pack and Bluetooth 4.0. With HSPA+ and GSM radios in tow - plus dual-SIM card slots to boot - it's likely to come to a number of carriers. Sadly, there's no support for LTE.

One of many

Samsung didn't attach any availability dates with the official announcement. However, we spotted the phone already up for pre-orders with a Netherlands retailer for €260 (about $355/£214/AU$405).

The price is a little inflated thanks to additional tax, but the handset will run into plenty of competition at that price point. For slightly less screen real estate and a much lower price, users should look to the Motorola Moto G.

Alternatively, the mini world has some budget-friendly options with the HTC One Mini and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

• Samsung is working on some super dense screen options by dipping into 2K and 4K.