You might be dreaming of the time when smartphones would be available at the price of feature phones. A new Android phone has just been spotted for less than $10.
Technology-centric news site Motherboard has got a chance to spot the highly affordable Android phone called TracFone LG Prepaid Lucky LG16. This new smartphone has just been listed on the Walmart site with a price tag of $9.82 (around £7, €9) exclusive of some shipment charges.
The cheap Android running phone is marketed in the US by prepaid wireless service provider TracFone Wireless and is manufactured by LG as a basic smartphone to let novices experience Google's open-source operating system without being much of a burden on their pockets. The smartphone does not have components like a front-facing selfie camera sensor or high-speed LTE support but comes equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and features a 3.8in TFT touchscreen display. Also, there is a 3-megapixel rear camera sensor with VGA video recording support.
LG has provided Android 4.4 KitKat operating system on the $10 Android phone with a tweaked interface on top. We speculate that the smartphone would not receive an update to the latest Android Marshmallow version or even its preceding Android 5.0 or 5.1 Lollipop. However, the smartphone does have Google Play Store to let you download new Android apps and there are 3G as well as Wi-Fi connectivity options.
The Android smartphone is currently available for purchase through Walmart with an optional $5 care plan for the first two years. It would also be available through other sales channels and other regions like the UK in the coming future.
Although LG's attempt to come up with the $10 phone might not alarm its rivals such as Samsung and Sony, it does suggest a way to offer some really cheap smartphones. Google is already working on its Android One initiative to expand the presence of Android by offering affordable smartphones.
You can go ahead and spend $10 on the new smartphone, but if the latest Android experience is your primary requirement, there isn't anything pleasing. That being said, the new smartphone strives to persuade some feature phone users to start keeping Android in their pockets.
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