We all love smartphones, especially the ones that cost over half a thousand Euros, but not everyone can afford those. Luckily the market for devices that cost under 200 Euros is huge, with Nokia taking a large share of that space, but don’t forget Samsung. They’re increasingly trying to compete with Nokia at every price point and with their latest device, the E2530, they’re bringing people one of the most loved form factors at a price of just 3,990 Russian rubles or just a hair above $125. The specifications are nothing too exciting, but let’s go through them anyway.
There’s a 1.3 megapixel camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 2.1, microSD card slot, quadband GSM/EDGE so you can use this thing anywhere there’s a GSM network, and an external screen that’s hidden thanks to a mirror like finish. We’re sad to see no GPS included, or a better 3.2 megapixel camera, both features are included in the similarly priced Nokia 3710 Fold that’s been out on the market for over a year now. Samsung should have tried harder, but considering the markets these sorts of devices are destined for are already seeing Nokia market share bleed … then they might be trying to keep their margins up.
What say you? Last quarter 1 out of every 5 mobile phones shipped ran some sort of smartphone operating system. That number is only to get closer to 100% with the coming years, so should people even bother with feature phones anymore? There’s always going to be a market with people who just want a phone that does SMS and voice calls, but it’s shrinking as operators and handsets makers drum the benefits of having access to the internet on the go. They’re all also trying to sell services, and you can’t really create a compelling user experience on such a low end device.
[Via: Unwired View]