
The Future of Cheap Androids Begins Now - pietrofmaggi
http://gigaom.com/mobile/cheap-android-smartphones/
======
akgerber
The really important thing is is that the phone is $25/mo. as the full usage
fee. That's less than half the price of what I'm paying right now on Verizon,
and less than a third of what people can pay for the iPhone. I'm considering
downgrading to this device right now just because its price is so low.

~~~
brettnak
Do you know what kind of network they are? Could you use an iPhone or GSM
Android phone on Virgin?

~~~
trotsky
Virgin Mobile USA is a Sprint MVNO - in fact they are wholly owned by Sprint.
So that means they're CDMA.

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zapnap
I bought my wife an Optimus-T for Christmas and, though it may not be as fast
as my Nexus-S, it's a solid, well-built little phone that does everything she
needs and a lot more. In fact, I tend to think the build quality is higher
than the Samsung. I loathe contracts so we just paid list price for the phones
(the Optimus-T seemed like a bargain at 240) and we're on a contract-less
family plan with T-Mo.

This is really the beginning of the low-cost Android revolution. With more
users able to jump into the pool without having to sign up for a ridiculous
contract, it'll make what might have otherwise seemed superfluous (Android
instead of a "dumb" smart phone) accessible to just about everyone, which is
going to be a Very Good Thing for us app developers. The market is going to
expand dramatically in the coming year.

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krschultz
This is great news for devlopers (or at least me, and I want to be a mobile
app developer).

Get an iPhone subsidized, pick up this cheap Android device, and suddenly be
able to develop on both platforms while paying <$65 a month for data (plus my
regular phone service that I already pay for). A year ago that would have cost
a heck of a lot more.

And I'm fine with it being a weak Android phone, I had planned on developing
to a low spec device anyway.

~~~
wallflower
> And I'm fine with it being a weak Android phone, I had planned on developing
> to a low spec device anyway.

I just gave up my iPhone yesterday for a Nexus One. All-in.

Yes, it's not a minimum-spec G1 but I wanted to use it in place of the iPhone.
I truly believe if you want to develop for a platform you have to use it
everyday. All the quirks, some of the benefits. The iPhone is definitely
smoother but I do like the hardware 'back' and 'menu' buttons. Keyboard and
screen sensitivity is driving me nuts... The App Market is a mess - took me
forever to figure out which Advanced Task Killer was the real monty (tons of
title/keyword spam). The lack of scrolling gravity is really noticeable but
less annoying now.

I am truly amazed at the quality of the Twitter for Android application
(compared to most other apps).

~~~
mrj
Don't use a task killer, it'll just mess things up for you. Either uninstall
or stop the services you don't want (using the built-in app manager).

Android ~1.6 did have some issues, plus the slower processor and memory meant
that the task management didn't _really_ work out like it was supposed to. But
it's absolutely not needed on modern Androids.

~~~
mxavier
Unless your provider is anything like mine, Sprint. They load your phone down
after each update with apps you don't want (Nascar, Blockbuster, NFL) which
cannot be uninstalled without rooting and seem to randomly just appear in
running tasks.

Also I've found that a properly-configured task killer can do wonders on
battery-starved android phones like the Evo 4G.

------
marshray
I just ordered my first Android, a Nexus S for $199 with a 2-year contract
cancellable for $200. Best Buy on line was the only place I could get it, the
local store couldn't sell it (I'm going to make a blog post about that
insanity). Even though it's contract-subsidized it's not carrier locked and
seems to expressly permit custom firmware.

Way to go Google! I kind of like having them around. I'd stayed away from
smart phones because I found the contracts, carrier locking, and the rooting,
jailbreaking, DMCA challenges simply gross. But Google seems to be trying to
keep those clowns honest and now I feel comfortable participating in that
market.

~~~
SeanLuke
> I just ordered my first Android, a Nexus S for $199 with a 2-year contract
> cancellable for $200.

Wait, what? If you buy a Nexus S outright without contract it costs $529.
You're telling me that I can buy a Nexus S with a contract for $199, cancel
for $200, and thus have a contract-free Nexus S phone for $399?

Can someone else verify this?

~~~
marshray
Yes. I'm sure there are some taxes and other fees that make it not such a huge
win. IIRC there was a $35 activation fee that probably isn't refundable.

Personally, I would feel a little gross about doing that kind of thing, mostly
from the "this is why we can't have nice things" angle.

So as much as I've regretted cell phone contracts in the past, I'm going to
give T-Mobile a fair try. After all, I do need some provider even if I hardly
ever use the voice (my previous phone was a prepaid thing I kept in the trunk
of the car with the battery out mostly for emergencies).

I know I don't count as "someone else" but see
<http://www.bestbuymobile.com/article/google-nexus-s-faqs/> _Are there two
different versions of the Nexus S, locked and unlocked? No, the Nexus S is
always unlocked, regardless of whether it is sold with a T-Mobile contract or
not._

I'll confirm this as soon as I get my phone of course.

~~~
marshray
Yep, the $199 Nexus S (with contract) works great. Not locked. Not even any
lame carrier apps pre-installed.

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cageface
Up to now the price difference between iOS devices and Android devices hasn't
been decisive but this feels like the point at which Android starts to eat
away the bottom 2/3 of the iOS market.

~~~
ugh
I don’t think cheap Android phones are going to eat away the bottom two-third
of the iOS market. They will be much more attractive to the many people who
currently don’t own a smartphone and wouldn’t buy an iPhone or a high-end
Android phone because they are too expensive. (In other words: I expect the
market for iOS phones to continue to grow, albeit slower than the overall
smartphone market, particularly slower than Android.)

~~~
ZeroGravitas
He does say iOS rather than iPhone, so he could be talking about expansion
into markets that currently have an iPod Touch and a dumbphone, or no phone at
all due to youth or poverty.

~~~
ugh
The iPod touch is currently not two-thirds of the overall iOS market, it’s 38
percent (10 million units in Q1 2011 vs. 16 million iPhones). Non-iPhone
devices (iPod touch and iPad) were a bit more than 50 percent of the overall
iOS market.

In the best case scenario for Android, cheap phones can completely obsolete
the iPod touch (I think that’s very unlikely), but even then they would only
take 38 percent of the iOS market.

------
tophercyll
I have an LG Optimus T on T-Mobile. I got it a while back for $200 with no
contract.

My $60 plan through T-Mobile is more expensive then the Virgin one mentioned
in the article, but because T-Mobile reduces your bill if you don't take the
phone subsidy, it is a lot cheaper than the other options I looked at when
buying.

I can't stress enough how great a phone is for the price. The CPU is only
600MHz, but with Android 2.2 it doesn't feel sluggish to me (perhaps because I
don't know how fast a phone like the Nexus S feels).

The best part of having no contract is in a year I can just buy a new low end
phone with dramatically better specs and hand this one down.

------
ebiester
Did anyone else just think "cheap testing device?"

~~~
muriithi
Yep. Two weeks ago I bought a cheap Huawei Ideos running Froyo at about $100
here in Kenya.

Testing Android apps on a physical device beats using the emulator hands down.

~~~
inoop
I bought a ZTE Blade (Orange San Francisco) for 90 euros in Switzerland for
that exact purpose.

------
pietrofmaggi
I don't see the devices in this class of prices as a big threat for Apple.
They're not in a race for market shares, what Apple looks for is revenue
share.

Apple has always targeted the high-end of the smartphone market, and is using
iOS to differentiate their devices from all the other (and they have a strong
brand).

This kind of devices speaks trouble for two subjects:

1\. Nokia. There's no future for the Symbian phones, and now that Android
phones cost less that the less-capable Nokia smartphones they're in big
trouble.

2\. High-end Android smartphones. It's difficult to differentiate for an high-
end device when the cheap ones runs the same application with little or no
downgrades... this will inevitably shrink the margin of the manufacturers
(Motorola has the brand, but what about the others?).

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saturdaysaint
I've enjoyed being on the cutting edge with high-end smartphones for a few
years (I'm on an iPhone 4 right now), but I could see settling into one of
these in the near future. Most of my phone usage is fairly simple and probably
won't change - map searches, social networking, Rdio for music, web news
reading. In short, I have little doubt that these phones would work for me and
I'm an early adopter. With Google voice commands, even a resistive screen
device might be surprisingly useful.

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davidw
Hrm... I'd rather see an article about full prices, no gimmicks. It's much
easier to compare phone prices here in Italy, as they're basically all
unlocked and full price.

~~~
lukeschlather
The full price for the phone in question is $150, no gimmicks.

Though from the Archos in my pocket that goes for $150, touchscreens have a
ways to go before I'm going to care to use a $150 unsubsidized touchscreen on
a phone. (Though throw on a keyboard and it might be different.)

Of course, I got the Archos as a testing device, not as something to rely on.

~~~
Raphael
Don't put LG down for Archos's poor screens.

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iigs
Non-contract prepaid phones are also subsidized in the US.

There have been billboards in Austin, among other places I'm sure, for:
<http://www.stopcellphonetrafficking.com/>

I haven't considered the math yet, but I suspect that the rate of price
decline cited in this article is too aggressive, and that truly subsidy free
Android phones for $99 are some time away yet.

~~~
amalcon
I once washed my phone, and I didn't want to renew my contract.

The guy in the store suggested that the cheapest way for me to get a working
phone was to buy a prepaid phone and swap the SIM card from the one I washed.

------
mseebach
This is the device that could have saved Nokia in the smartphone market.

~~~
joelhaasnoot
Nokia has devices very much like this, just not in the USA.

~~~
dotcoma
for the same price? I spent more than that (150 Euros) for a C5, which is
basically an almost dumb phone + ovi maps.

~~~
joelhaasnoot
Ok, so it's not exactly the same, but the C3 had a nice screen + QWERTY for
130 euros retail. Do realize that's without subsidies, I'm sure you can find
something and knock about 30 euros off the price (which happens with prepaid,
you never pay full market price with the bundles) and fine something very
similar.

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jasongullickson
I was really hoping this was cheap mechanical slave labor.

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bryanwb
this is how android will eat symbian's market share

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Create
Cheap androids have been here for a while now... 69€

[http://www.elpais.com/corporativos/elpais/coleccionables/201...](http://www.elpais.com/corporativos/elpais/coleccionables/2010/videopromos-
pais/index2.html)

------
dotcoma
89 Euros with no contract in Italy (and a new sim card with 5 Euros)
<http://www.wind.it/shop/prodotto133.phtml>

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Synaesthesia
Tried one in the shops, nice but the resistive touch screen is something I'm
not used to!

~~~
tophercyll
Perhaps you're thinking of a different phone? I believe the Optimus T/S/V line
all have capacitive screens.

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stevenj
has anyone bought the optimus v at a radio shack yet? i've tried tracking one
down for the last day, and no one seems to have it in seattle; the stores
haven't received shipment of them yet.

~~~
turbodog
I got mine at Target this past weekend. Call ahead and they can put one on
hold for you if it's in stock.

~~~
stevenj
cool, thanks

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pedanticfreak
Nevermind the cheap device. The $25 per month service that includes 300
minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data is the real story here.

[http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-
talk-...](http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-
plans.jsp)

Of course, you get what you pay for in coverage

<http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage>

Meanwhile in Canada you can't even get unlimited data over wired internet.

~~~
r7000
In Canada I have unlimited data (with fair use policy), unlimited text and
unlimited minutes (North America) for $40/month. The existence of such plans
is quite new.

Concerning the introduction of "mandatory" metered internet in Canada: it
appears the big guys may have been so greedy they over-reached. The consumer
backlash is strong and the decision is now under review by government.

~~~
hexis
Could you explain the "fair use policy"?

~~~
r7000
Max speed to 5GB per month after which they reserve the right to slow down
your connection.

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phlux
Can you then explain the use of the term "unlimited"

~~~
aphexairlines
The carrier has an unlimited license to distort the English language.

