At the beginning they were only purchased by people with large budgets. But slowly, they have become accessible to almost all of us. Currently, they can be purchased by anyone. Obviously, we are talking about smartphones.
Smartphones became so cheap that they have become a mass phenomenon which represents a threat to the so called feature-phones.
And, of course, when we talk about smartphones we can’t expect top notch technical specifications, but they are suitable for those who are first time smartphone buyers or simply want to enjoy the advantage of a smartphone without paying too much. In this article we are going to talk about some of the cheapest smartphones on the market right now.
LG Optimus ME P350
This is one of the cheapest smartphones available. This is a Optimus family member with a 2,8 inch TFT display, and a 320 x 480 pixels resolution.
Connectivity is ensured by 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS, Bluetooth 2.1, microUSB port and the 140 MB of internal memory can be extended with the help of microSD cards up to 32 GB. GPS is also there, while the photo camera has a 3 MP sensor. This LG smartphone comes with the Google Android 2.2 Froyo operating system.
Samsung Galaxy 5 I5500
This Galaxy smartphone from Samsung is also very cheap. Based on the famous Corby phones, this Galaxy smartphone comes with a 2,8 inch TFT display at a 240 x 320 pixels resolution,and it also has a 600 MHZ processor.
Regarding connectivity this phone comes with 3G and Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB for file transfers. The phone has 170 MB of internal memory but you also get a 1 GB microSD card in the package. The OS is Google Android 2.1 Eclair.
Motorola Fire XT311
Motorola is also a company that releases cheap smartphones. And this model has a QWERTY keyboard, a 2.8 inch display and a 320 x 240 px resolution. Powered by a Qualcomm 600 MHz processor, the smartphone can access the Internet through 3G , Wi-Fi and GPRS and for data transfer you can use Bluetooth 2.1 and microUSB.
Some of the other features are GPS and 3,15 MP photo camera. The smartphone comes with the Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570
A cheap smartphone is also the Samsung Galaxy Mini, which comes with a TFT display a big bigger than the above rivals, 3,14 inch, and a 320 x 240 px resolution. This smartphone also has a good hardware platform, as it comes with a 600 MHZ processor, 168 MB internal memory that can be extended through microSD cards and a 3 MP photo camera, as well as GPS support.
Connectivity is ensured by 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, USB 2.0. Operating system is Android 2.2 Froyo.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
Sony Ericsson also makes its presence felt on the cheap smartphones market with the Xperia X10 Mini Pro model, equipped with a QWERTY keyboard which is slide activated.
The TFT screen ensures a 240 x 320 pixels resolution and the 128 MB internal memory can be extended through microSD cards. It also has a 600 MHZ processor, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS, Bluetooth, microUSB, however the photo camera is a bit better: 5 Mp.
Conclusions
Smartphones manufacturers are staring to release more and more cheap smartphones, as the demand has also started to increase so people with low budgets have a lot of options.