Do you wish you could afford a hot phone? A high end smartphone? An iPhone? A Samsung Galaxy S6 for Shs 75,000 or even the master piece Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge for Shs 85,000? Do you curse yourself that you can’t afford to part with two months salary to buy a smartphone? You don’t have to. I got good news for you. Extremely good news.
As high end smartphones reach their specs limits, budget smartphones are undergoing rapid evolution and are determined to catch up in core specs. Google, Samsung, LG, Lenovo, Microsoft, Tecno, Huawei, and now Infinix are emerging as tech companies highly interested in producing budget smartphones affordable to virtually every human being. But it seems Infinix is way ahead in this game.
Take for example Google’s Android One range of smartphones made for developing countries. They are generally smartphones with features such as 4.5 inches screen, 5 MP rear camera, 2 MP front camera, dual SIM card slots, a replaceable battery, and are powered by 1 GB RAM and a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek processors. The prizes of these phones range from Shs 10,000 to Shs 16,000.
Microsoft on the other hand is currently promoting three budget smartphones. These include the Microsoft Lumia 535 retailing at Shs 14,000, Microsoft Lumia 435 at Shs 10,000 and the just announced Microsoft Lumia 430 that might retail for Shs 8,500 but not less than Shs 7,000. The first prices of the first two can be said to be “expensive” as they clock over Shs 10,000 psychological limit for most Kenyans. But the Lumia 430 will definitely retail for below Shs 10,000. Assuming it will go for Shs 7,000, then price wise it will be comparable with Infinix hot x507.
Microsoft Lumia 430
So let us compare the two.
Infinix hot x507 is already available via Jumia Kenya for Shs 6,999 only. The phone, although has marked price way below Shs 10,000, has specs for phones that are currently retailing at Shs 30,000 and above. In the article The irritating wait: It takes 21 days to get items from Jumia Kenya, I told you that the Infinix phone is better than Samsung Galaxy S3 in many aspects – well except for the screen and rear camera specs – but in usage you wouldn’t really notice the difference.
Infinix hot x507
On the other hand, specs for Microsoft Lumia 430 are actually those of a budget phone. The display is not the 5 inches of Infinix hot x507 but a mere 4 inches screen size. If you have used a phone with 4.5 screen and above, I am sure you’ll never go back to a smaller screen.
A large portion of a phone’s cost is determined by the screen. Crack that screen and you’ll know what I mean. Thus, to make Microsoft Lumia 430 very affordable, Microsoft has decided to go very minimal on screen size. If they could make the screen usable at 3.5 inches, the size of the first iPhone, I bet they would have gone back in the days.
Infinix seems to have known better. Instead of compressing the display size, they decided to play around with the pixels and display technology. The FWVGA display on Infinix hot x507 has a usable resolution of 480 by 854 pixels at 196 pixels per inch that will allow you to basically see the images and videos normally. There isn’t anything major that you will miss with the display. When reading, watching or viewing, you’ll only need to place the display a distant from your eyes and all will be fine. Microsoft Lumia 430 is packed with the same amount of pixels at 480 by 800 giving it a pixel density of 235 ppi. Given that the screen size is small, the viewing experience in Lumia 430 is a bit higher but usability especially typing, is greatly compromised. I bet those with big thumbs like me will struggle three to four times to have that damn password typed.
In other specs, when the Lumia 430 wants to give you only 8 GB of internal storage, Infinix hot x507 gives 16 GB, although the two phones feature the same 1 GB RAM capacity. Microsoft Lumia 430 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual core clocking 1.2 Ghz whereas the cheaper Infinix hot x507 boasts of a 1.3 GHz quad (not dual) core CPU by MediaTek. And yes, the rear camera on Infinix xhot 507 is 5 MP camera, two and a half times the rear camera on Lumia 430. And I tell you, the Lumia 430 has just a VGA front facing camera yet the x507 has a 2 MP selfie camera.
In summary, the specs in Microsoft Lumia 430 are similar to those in other budget phones but those in Infinix x507 are for high end smartphones but three to two years behind.
The story does not stop there.
Infinix has followed Infinix hot x507 with a better phone. A phone that features a HD 5.5 inches screen with 720 x 1280 pixels (yes that’s HD), has a 4000 mAh battery, features an 8 MP rear camera and 2 MP selfie camera, and competes with Samsung Galaxy S6 in processing power as it comes with an octa-core 1.4 GHz CPU. The Infinix Hot Note x551 excellent specs got Pulse Nigeria to summarize its features as follows:
Cool features- This device has some seriously cool features like the Gesture-based Quick Start that allows you to “quick start” the phone unto a predefined app by simply drawing figures on the screen when inactive, a Pick-up to call feature that enables you to call a contact that is displayed on a screen whenever you place the device close to your ear (borrowed from S3), Inadvertently mode that enables the device to be inactive even when the screen is active but not in use, Ultra lower power mode that helps get that extra juice out of the Infinix Hot Note battery, especially when its very low, Tap to Wake that locks and unlocks the screen by double tapping on an empty space, and the Voice activated unlock and quick start that allows you unlock the Infinix Hot Note using voice commands and set up to 3 different voice commands to quick start the phone to predefined apps like the camera, messaging and dialler.
All those goodies in a gigantic 5.5 inch HD display with a battery to last you up to two days in normal use does not demand you to cough Shs 74,000. No, not even 54,000 price range for most phones with similar specs. No, the phone is not going for Shs 35,000 either. Infinix Hot Note x551 is retailing for as cheap as the price for Microsoft Lumia 435. Actually cheaper.
Infinix Hot Note is now being sold at Jumia Kenya for only Shs 9,999. No, it’s not April 1st yet. You still don’t believe me? Just Google.
Do you know what phones Infinix Hot Note x551 compare with? We are talking about phones like LG G3 except for the QHD screen, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S4 or even Samsung Galaxy S5 except for the advanced camera and heart rate monitor in the S5. What Infinix Hot Note is telling you is that even if you can’t afford Samsung Galaxy Note 4 or the yet to be launched (in Kenya) Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, don’t worry, you’ll still get closer to those phones for only Shs 9,999. The only thing you’ll miss is that fulfillment only extravagant spending.
This is Infinix hot note – it goes for only shs 9,999. Isn’t it beautiful?
Microsoft, Tecno, Google, Samsung – please open your eyes. The writing is on the wall.
kachwanya martingicheru Article doesn’t point out the difference in processors, camera sensors, software support and more.
kachwanya martingicheru So while a Ksh. 70K phone may be overpriced, a significant price difference is due to better quality components
denniskioko kachwanya I wanted to point that, for a techie, the article was too layman.
martingicheru I agree, article should have attempted to explain some of the difference. kachwanya