Google on Monday announced that it was launching its first Android One device in Pakistan in partnership with QMobile.
The QMobile A1 is now available for purchase at retail stores across Pakistan, Google’s Asia Pacific Blog blog announced. “Like all Android One phones, the QMobile A1 combines high-quality hardware that’s been tested by Google with the latest version of Android (Lollipop 5.1.1) and all of the features that come with it.”
The phone will cost Rs11,500 – $113, which is more than the $100 price tag with which it is being marketed globally.
It boasts a 4.5-inch touch screen, along with a powerful 1.3GHz quad core processor, a 5-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash, a 2-megapixel front camera, 1GB RAM and 8GB of built-in memory. The dual-SIM phone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. It could prove to be a welcome addition to the entry-level Android phone range currently available in the market.
However, this phone will have to face stiff competition in a market which has already seen smartphones for as low as $60, with some of the low-cost offerings from Qmobile itself.
Low-cost Android One devices have already been introduced in at least seven other countries.
According to Google, phones on the Android One platform will have Google’s new Material Design interface, up to twice the performance speed, and a special battery-saving feature.
What is Android One?
Android One is a standard created by Google that targets first-time smartphone buyers primarily in developing countries. Phones with Android One run “the latest and fastest version of Android” and are “automatically updated to the new version as soon as it is released”, the company says.
In June last year, Google had announced the Android One standard with the purported aim of addressing “the mobile computing needs of those in emerging markets”. In September 2014, the first batch of Android One phones was announced in India.
