A couple of weeks ago, we learned that Transsion Holdings, the Chinese company that makes Infinix, TECNO, and itel phones, among other home entertainment products, was at the top of the game in terms of smartphone shipments in Africa. The development was achieved because the technology company understands the market, and that potential buyers just love value, meaning products have to be priced competitively.
The said phones have their super budget segments; itel, on the whole, releases sub KES 15K phones, TECNO has the Spark line, and Infinix has never given up on the Hot series.
Last year, we reviewed a variety of Hot devices. In mid-year, we extensively talked about the Hot 9 Play, and a couple of months later, the company introduced the Hot 10, which we also explored in a review.
The same period also saw the company launch a three-pronged approach to the Hot line. For instance, the Hot 9 series features three phones: the normal Hot 9, Hot 9 Pro and Hot 9 Play. We explained the differences among the models here.
The Hot 10 line was not graced by a Play model, but that omission has been addressed.
In the past week, the company announced the availability of the Hot 10 Play. The release is perhaps timely because the budget segment of customers is an interesting space, and the lower you go in terms of pricing, the more you appeal to them. The Play model, in this case, should be more affordable than the Hot 10. We just don’t understand why the release took this long.
Here are some of the Hot 10 Play specifications:
Chip: MTK Helio G25
RAM: 2/4 GB
Internal memory: 32/64 GB
SD card expansion: yes
OS: Android 10 Go Edition with XOS 7.0 overlay
Screen: 6.82” IPS LCD, 720p+
Notch: yes
Selfie cam: 8 MP
Main cam: Dual, 13 MP main and depth sensor
Battery: 6000 mAh, 10W charging
Price: Under KES 13000
As seen, the Hot line is always a sucker for big batteries and big screens. We are also glad to see that the device has met Google demands, which have since dictated that all Android Go devices should have at least 2GB of RAM, and not 1 GB.
Local availability has not been announced. Other Asian markets have already started buying the device.
We will know more once the phone makes its way here. Accurate pricing details will be given then.
