The number of Android phones in the market can be easily compared to the phrase “It is raining cats and dogs.” Android phones vary in a number of specifications and that gives them a specific price tag. In a price conscious society like India, desi companies like Micromax, Lava (Xolo), Videocon, Karbonn, etc have attracted a number of consumers who do not wish to shell out exorbitant amount of money while buying Samsung, Sony or HTC’s Android smartphones.
Only one Samsung phone among the bigwigs of Android smartphones today are available for as little as INR 5,000/- i.e. Samsung Galaxy Star. Other smartphones in the lower category price range include devices like Micromax A84 which retails at INR 3,200/- or little known Magicon M3 Atom which is priced at INR 3,250/- (Retails on e-commerce website Homeshop18 at INR 3,199/-).
Sadly, many of these companies do not offer the not so latest version of Android i.e. Ice-Cream Sandwich 4.0 or above. Out of the phones listed on Know Your Mobile that costs below INR 5,000/- ; 3/10 phones run on Android version 2.3.x i.e. GingerBread. The seven other smartphones listed, run on Android 4.0 i.e. Ice-Cream Sandwich or above; but are priced on the closer to the INR 5,000/- barrier.
Another little known Indian smartphone manufacturer Josh Mobiles has added to its Android portfolio (Yes, they have launched a couple of Android phones before named Josh Thunder and Josh Fortune HD). The Josh Fortune Square has been launched at a price of just INR 2,999/- making it probably the cheapest Android smartphone in the country.
Sporting a 3.5 inch screen with 480 x 320 pixel resolution, the Josh Fortune Square comes with a 1 GHz processor with 256 MB RAM and a meagre storage space of 100 MB. It runs on Android version 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) OS and has support for microSD card up to 32 GB. It is a dual-SIM phone that has a 2 MP rear camera and from the pictures we can probably assume that it has a flash. It houses a 1450 mAh battery which provides the juice for the device.
Judging by the cost of the phone, one cannot expect it to provide support for 3G. We still remember the days when phones with just 20 MB of storage cost at least INR 10,000/-. Technology has surely come a long way but will people really buy such phones given the outdated OS and a storage of just 100 MB? Tweet us your thoughts to @onlygizmos
