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Huawei has announced two new budget mobiles: the Y100 smartphone for £80 and the cheap-as-chips G7105 feature phone for £40. Both blowers will be available exclusively through O2.
The Y100 is the daddy of the duo, offering Android 2.3 Gingerbread on its 2.8-inch touchscreen. The tech-savvy among you might be concerned that that’s a pretty outdated version of Android, and you’d be absolutely right, but for a mere £80, you really can’t argue.
There’s no technical details about that screen, but for the price, you really shouldn’t expect the AMOLED technology that makes the Samsung Galaxy S3 so bright and vivid. Instead, you should look towards Huawei’s other budget blower, the Blaze which was small, but bright and sharp enough for the basics of messaging and checking Facebook.
Huawei claims the Ascend Y100 is part of the “most user-friendly entry-level smartphones on the market”, which is a pretty big statement. Part of what apparently makes it easier to use is the ability to load apps from the unlock screen, rather than having to dive into the Android homescreens each time. You get full access to the Google Play store, which is a bonus as some ultra low-end devices don’t provide this feature.
The G7105 however isn’t going to be your cheap Android pal. It’s a feature (or ‘dumb’) phone, rather than a smart phone like its bigger brother. Its focus is on being small and compact, and at 12mm thick and weighing a meagre 104g, it’s certainly doing that bit right.
It too is packing a 2.8-inch touchscreen which is a little surprising as feature phones tend to fare better with physical buttons.
It may not run Android, but it still offers features like a music player (with a 3.5mm headphone jack) and web browsing using the Opera Mini browser. It also packs a 1.3-megapixel camera on the back. Best of all is Huawei’s claim that it can achieve 600 hours of standby time and 300 minutes of talk-time from a single charge, easily trouncing the efforts of every smart phone in existence.
The G7105 certainly isn’t going to appeal to the hardcore tech fans among you, but if you only need essential features such as making calls, sending texts and maybe checking your email, it’ll do just fine. Alternatively, at only £40, it could be a good phone to take on all the festivals with you this summer — losing a £40 phone is much more palatable than losing your half-grand iPhone.
The G7105 is available from 11 May for £40 in white from O2. The Ascend Y100 is available from 1 June for £80, or for free on a £10 per month contract. You can also personalise the back cover with your own picture for no charge — apparently that normally costs £20.
What do you think of these two chaps? Are you interested in budget phones, or is your heart set on the Samsung Galaxy S3? Let me know in the comments below or over on the CNET UK Facebook page.
