Telecom, Huawei launch NZ's 'cheapest' Android - or is it?
Telecom and China's Huawei have launched what they are billing as New Zealand's cheapest Android phone, the $199 Huawei X1.
Vodafone seems to have grounds to dispute the claim: on the Android section of its website this morning it lists a house-brand Android, the Vodafone 858 for $199 (a rep from Telecom offered the excuse that yesterday Vodafone was selling the handset for $249 .... a rep for Vodafone countred that the handset has always sold for $199 in its basic form, with the Warriors edition briefly at $249*).
NBR has been told the Vodafone 858 is manufactured also by the ubiquitous Huawei - and indeed, aside from colour, the two handsets seem identical.
2degrees sells another budget Huawei Android, the Ideos U8150 for $249 (Androids are also quietly populating the higher reaches of the carrier's lineup, with 2degrees also offering the LG Optimus Black and the Sony-Ericsson Xperia Neo, both for $750).
All three carriers offer Androids "free" on certain contract plans.
The pricing is keen, but not good as across the ditch where Optus is offering the X1 to prepay customers for $A89 ($NZ112) and retailer Crazy John's recently had the U8150 off-contract for $A99 ($NZ125).
Beyond support from multiple manufacturers and carriers, a broad spread of pricing, from premium to cut-price, has been central to Androi handsets collectively out-selling Apple's iPhone.
Low-cost, low specs
The Huawei X1 runs the 2.2 'Froyo' version of Google's Android operating system (many phones are now sold with the newer 2.3).
It has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, a modest 3.2-megapixel camera that records standard definition video and a so-so single core 528MHz processor (about half the grunt of more expensive smartphones. There is a full range of wireless options, however with wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS connectivity.
* Any more correspondence on this point can be left in the building skip behind NBR's offices.
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Comments and questions19
They're all rubbish anyway
[We've got a couple of Huawei X5s at NBR Towers. For the money, they're quite capable handsets. There's no fancy software laid over the basic Android interface - but many would see that as an advantage - CK]
+1
They're all rubbish anyway [We've got a couple of Huawei X5s at NBR Towers. For the money, they're quite capable handsets.
Bit early to be drinking isn't it?
Great entry level android phone for the price if you don't have a lot to spend and/or don't want all the bells and whistles.
We have bought two $49 HUAWEI cell phones, to replace 6-7 year old Hyundai phones. The only thing wrong with my Hyundai is that the battery won't hold its charge. I am not as yet confident to post the old one for recycling. In my experience appliances made in CHina often leav a lot to be desired.
Huawei X1 is the newer model U8180, Vodafone 858 is the model down U8160, and most phones ARE made in china, your samsungs, apples etc...
Fortunately not all of these are rubbish
Just remember, if the android won't run Cyangenmod, run for miles. Don't trust your telco to support you.
High time someone had a court judgement against the teleco's for selling hopeless outdated android OS/s with known security flaws that they will not fix/allow updating...
Vodafone's 845 was selling for $199 including $200 calling credits for prepay at the beginning of this year. Only months ago it was for sale for around $150. How can Telecom claim it is the cheapest Android around?
The phones are rubbish, that's how .
And 2degrees was offering a smartphone at $149 nine months ago... I think they were actually the first to break the sub-$200 smartphone barrier...
This sums up the whole debate nicely ..
http://markspeed.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/ipad-vs-blu-tack1.jpg
Never too early to be drinking :0
yes like me, you too could buy the $199 phone from Vodafone but you'll spend most of your time experiencing dropped calls, deathly SLOW mobile data and excrutiatingly painful tech support from a call centre that sounds like it is located in a sheep herders paddock in outter mongolia...
this debate should be about a whole lot more than the phone....
Australian carriers can offer lower prices on prepay devices thanks to SIM locking - they can use this to effectively subsidise the price down. This is not possible in NZ, hence your comparison is not like-for-like
Pricing of the same models in Singapore, Kazakhstan, Iraq and the U.K. please !!!11!!11
Considering that Apple makes the most money of any smart phone manufacturer, they are not worried about other Telcos selling cheap Androids and the various BOGOF deals that exisit.
Can we update from Android ver 2.2 to ver 2.3 ourselves?
I bought 2 SmartPhones this month (August).
LG Optimus ME from DSE @ $215, came with a 2GB SD Card.
Huawei Ideos U8150 from Warehouse Stationary @ $199 (after tradein of old phone). This one did not come with a SD Card at all.
I really like the Ideos
But I am having major problems with the Wi-Fi on the Ideos.
While the LG is detecting 3 Wi-Fi hotspots nearby in my home.
Meanwhile the LG is connecting to my wireless router at 54mbps even from
a couple of meters away.
The Ideos is only detecting only 1 network (the one in my house) and
with a very bad signal strength ranging from 1mbps to 18mbps. The phone
is not even 1 meter away from my wireless router.
The moral of the story is stay away from the Ideos U8150 if you are going to be using a lot of Wi-Fi
Huawei Ideos U8150
I’ve tried 3 different hotspots, same problem, bad Wi-Fi connectivity.
Warehouse Stationery sent the phone back to the supplier for investigation and confirmed that the phone does indeed have a problem and will need to be repaired. Faulty unit maybe.
A word of advise to anyone out there. If you are going to buy a phone don’t buy from Warehouse Stationery due to the lack of technical knowledge from the staff and their refund policy.
Maybe go thru Dick Smith or Harvey Norman at least where they may have some technical knowledge.