Emerging markets like Africa, South America and India have been having a steady growth in mobile use, most of phone manufacturers who develop on the low to mid range have noticed this and are spreading their wings to grab this market while it’s hot. Back here in Africa, a huge percentage of internet users have had their first internet experience on a mobile phone. I cant lay my hands right now on the actual stats source, so if you can please notify me in the comments. These stats mean that there is a very fast mobile phone adoption in this market and not only are mobile phone consumers spending more but they are also growing more aware of their needs when making mobile phone purchases. They are also growing in preferences. What a user would have spent money on last year is not what they would on the same budget, they expect more.
Since the entry of sub $120 dollar phones in the recent past, low end smartphones use has grown, and you know that after a user has tasted the honey that is using a smartphone, they dont backslide, unless the budget prohibits them. The Huawei Ideos U8150 sold by Safaricom, Kenya’s largest Mobile Network Operator by numbers changed this, and users have been upgrading in their droves from the feature phone to the smartphone.
In our market, currently selling we have three android phones that launched on the same day, different manufacturers. These are the Samsung Galaxy Pocket, LG Optimus L3 and the Huawei Gaga U8180 and this would prompt an average user to ask, ”why would I purchase one and not the other?” We have been having a conversation on twitter with the usual gadget geeks Bobby @mwirigi ‘Steve Kiarie @stevekiarie and Latiff Cherono @nairobiwp7 about what the advantages and selling points of each would be. These guys are good if you need to be updated on what a device offers, and are also informal customer service peeps for some device manufacturers. That’s a follow Friday right there.
So Latiff went ahead and did a specifications comparison chart to ease the work of someone who could have missed the conversation and would love to follow. These are the technical specifications of the phones, including a fourth one to make the list of:
Samsung Galaxy Pocket, LG Optimus L3, Huawei Gaga U8180 and one of the recently announced Nokia Ashas, the Asha 311.
Note: It’s not Symbian Series 40 but Series 40 which is an OS on it’s own, completely independent of Symbian. See details here:
As we can see the specs and the prices are not far off. Atleast each of them has one area where they stand out, for example, the Galaxy Pocket stands out with the 3GB internal storage,Bluetooth version 3.0, the OS version being Gingerbread(that they share with the LG) and the pixel per density it’s second from the Asha 311.The lows are the 2mp camera and the 128Mb RAM. The Nokia 311 stands out for the pixel per density, Gorilla glass and has the highest processor at 1GHz. Lows for this one are the VGA video recording, lack of multi-tasking and the 140MB internal storage. It also has the lowest spec battery, though this may not quite work against it since it doesnt have the always-on feature android devices have with automatic sync and push notifications to strain the battery. The Huawei Gaga has the fighest frames per second on the video shooter at 25 QVGA and the 512MB ROM.Low point is the OS version which is Android 2.2.2 Froyo, it also has the lowest processor at 528Mhz, though this is compensated by the fact that it is the lowest priced in the bunch. LG Optimus L3’s strongest point is the battery which is a 1500mAh which promises a 10h talktime then it has a 3inch screen(with the lowest pixel per density) but at the same time the highest in price.
Tell us in the comments what you think of each, the comparison and what would drive you to purchase the one you would.
Wow! What a chart in there…Pretty confused I must say..Ok lemmi go..Pensively looking at the pro and cons of each gadget one is merely left with particular interests in a phone and cosmetic factors like shape,colour and so on and one’s favourite brand. For me camera would be a motivating factor which elimates galaxy pocket at that particular instance..With a 2MP and 3.12MP are offered almost same prices..it definitely trails in this.RAm capability is a also a key factor..I dont want a phone that cant multitask,sluggish as you are aware Kenyans we want things pap! me included..Galxy pocket is thus eliminated once again..Nokia is spared at this particular instance as I dont think Symbian is such a heavy platform for the 128Mb that it offers..Resolution another key point; they are almost the same in this though for all the phones..Since I want my phone to be android coz of ofcourse Android market Nokia is out of contention..This leaves me with Huawei and LG..Im sceptical of Huawei phones..I dont know its coz of Chinese models..2.2Froyo and I didnt like its shape and buttons arrangement..Which leaves me with LG as the winner here! Perfect battery,Res..Tick,Design and shape.. Tick,Camera also tick as well as Android version..I am a Samsung evangelist by the way but in this particular instance I think LG beats it.I mean honestly. LG L3 got features! The only thing Im not sure of is ComCorp product support,,Accessories availability and such support for instance chargers a..LG will need to work on their campaigns and perceived low quality among consumers of their products..Otherwise LG wins here! I would go for it. Lakini they put such a big logo on the front…Coming from Samsung its a bit intimidating….
The chart is simply amazing and it really helps in choosing the phone you want. Anyway am sold on the nokia asha 311, so my question is, where can i get it from? I am based in nairobi.
Asha 311 will only be available in Q3 globally, just launched recently.
Not being rude, but I have to make this comment:
S40 is not a smartphone OS!
Is this a comparison of All Android entry smartphones v/s a Nokia feature phone??
There is absolutely no comparison in terms of Consumer experience, UI, app store,……………………
Over to you Latiff.
Great comments. I hope that all of approach your purchasing decisions like Paul Mwago. know what you are looking for, weigh out the options, handle the product then buy what fits best to your needs.
@3cb5af31404db5b66f25123f12798750:disqus What determines a smartphone OS? The ability to purchase then apps? The ability to share information across social media? The ability to play angry Birds? The ability to manage emails? The ability to multi task?
If you said yes, then SymbianS40 is definitely a smartphone platform. The Asha 311 can do all this.
At this price point, the user should understand that the expecting their smartphone to perfrom like a high end SGSIII, Lumia900 or iPhone4 is unrealistic. The device simply does not have the horsepower to run graphic animation intensive, data hungry apps well, if at all. Further more, if the user’s device budget is $120, would we expect them to spend half that every month for their data plan (tariff)? Off course not.
Thus the entry level smartphone might only be able to do a few things but it should be able to do them very well. I believe the Asha fills this niche very well.
Many first time buyers see reviews of the high end Android phones with Dual Core’s, 1GB RAM, running Gingerbread etc and expect that they will get the same experience in the entry level phones.
The only thing you can expect is that you will get what you pay for.
So, has nokia 311 arrived in Kenya?
It’s coming, but officially it has not yet arrived.
Good job on the spec sheet comparison Latiff. Just one suggested amendment Nokia 311 isn’t “Symbian” Series 40. Its just Series 40. Series 40 and Symbian are two separate operating systems.
Series 40 isn’t the same thing as Symbian Series 40. Symbian was Nokia’s smartphone OS now replaced by Windows Phone. Series 40 is a lightweight OS originally developed for Nokia feature phones but now with Asha refreshed to support smarter functions. It retains it’s core advantages in that it isn’t data hungry or battery hungry but now packs much more functionality and new fluid UI.
King’ori, Thanks for the clarification between S40 and Symbian. I will make the suggested change.
Sure! Thanks for the information, goes a long way for both us and the readers.
cheers guy’s very informative blog. will visit more
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