Over the last few months the Nigerian blackberry craze has slowly been, or at least partially subdued by a new emerging android craze. Beginning with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Tab , the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note has turned a small flame into a raging inferno and Nigerian mobile providers have decided to even further fuel this android addiction by releasing their own branded fully functional android phones.
I’m talking about the Etisalat Gaga and the MTN Rave, truth be told these phones are a far-cry away from delivering the kind of first class experience high end android devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note and the SonyXperia S have to offer. But for those who are interested or curious about the android phenomenon but don’t want any costly investment yet, these are ideal entry level devices to satisfy your curiosity.
MTN Rave (a.k.a. ZTE v821) is an android phone with a 2.4 inch TFT resistive touchscreen , capable of displaying 56k colours. Equipped with a QWERTY keyboard it also has 256 Megabytes of internal memory what can be upgraded up to 32GB via microSD. Its camera takes 2MP stills, and it runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo). It also comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G as is standard on most android phones. The device is priced at Twenty Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N20,500), at any MTN Walk-in centre.
The Etisalat Gaga (a.k.a. Huawei U8180 IDEOSx1) is a full touchscreen android device with a 2.8 inch screen capable of 256k colours and 512 of internal storage upgradeable to 32GB. Its camera takes 3.15MP stills also running Android 2.2 (Froyo). It also comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G. This device is sold for Eighteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine Naira (N18,999), and Etisalat outlet.
At a glance this is a no brainer, the Gaga offers a 2.8 screen which can display 256k colours while the Rave only has a 2.4 screen with a mere 56k colours. The gaga has a 3.2 MP camera while the MTN alternative only has a 2 MP camera. The Etisalat Android has 512 Megabytes internal memory and the competition has 256 Megabytes internal memory. To add insult to injury the Gaga is also a Thousand Five hundred Naira (N1,500) cheaper. In conclusion, the Etisalat Gaga squashes the MTN Rave flat, the only down side is the lack of a dedicated keyboard but if you’re not that fond of texting and tweeting you’ll have no problems. The Gaga may not be a high end android phone but in the low end android market in Nigeria today, it definitely is a great deal choice.
Etisalat Gaga Android phone as of today is sold for only seven thousand naira (N7,000)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update! I'll confirm and rectify that as soon as possible.
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