Trailblazer
Chinese telco giant Huawei has announced its Blaze Android smartphone will be available in the UK next month, with an anticipated SIM-free price under £100.
Initially the handset will be available exclusively through Phones 4u and Tesco Mobile. It runs Android 2.3 with all the Google bells and whistles you would expect. But, as you would expect from an entry-level smartphone, it will lack grunt under the hood, packing just a 600MHz Qualcomm chip.
In other markets the Blaze is known as either the Ideos X3 or the U8510. It has everything you would expect - such as a touchscreen and a camera, just at relatively low specs. A price point of under £100 is probably critical for appealing to the more impulsive market, and this is the kind of phone that could make an affordable present with Christmas looming.
"The Phones 4u and Tesco Mobile brands are synonymous with the UK youth market and value segment, and this is where Huawei will enjoy early success as a progressive new smartphone brand, which we will build alongside our highly-successful ODM portfolio," said Huawaei UK boss Mark Mitchinson.
"The Huawei Blaze represents the first important chapter in an epic new journey Huawei is embarking upon in the UK and Ireland, and indeed globally, and I am delighted to have Phones 4u and Tesco Mobile supporting such a pivotal and innovative product."
Spex ‘n' pix
