Announced back in February at Mobile World Congress, HTC’s One V is a “low end” Android 4.0 smartphone with a single core processor that’s targeted at people who want something that’s affordable, yet not a piece of junk. It’s already out in the UK and if you want it it’ll run you roughly $385. That’s not exactly what we’d call “budget”, but it’s certainly cheaper than HTC’s flagship, the One X. Anyway, what we want to know is when will the One V hit American shores, who will carry it, and how much will they want for it? According to DroidDog, the answers are: Virgin Mobile, later this month, and just $200. If that price point is real, then the One V will easily become the most attractive prepaid smartphone in the United States. Right now that title belongs to the Samsung Proclaim, which goes for $180 on Straight Talk, has a 3.5 inch low resolution screen, and a spec sheet that’s so bad we’re not going to bother repeating it here.
The bigger question is should you even buy the One V? At $200, it’s no contest, but let’s be realistic and say it’s going to cost $300. When you reach that price it actually makes more sense to buy a used flagship device. For that amount of money you could easily get an old Nexus or an old iPhone 3GS. Both of those should run just fine on Straight Talk, which offers unlimited everything for about $60 per month.
And if you go with Straight Talk, you get to use AT&T’s network, whereas Virgin Mobile is basically Sprint … which means coverage is going to be pretty spotty, browsing the web is going to be painfully slow, and you’re just going to be annoyed more than anything else with your phone.
Watch this space, there’s only three more weeks left in the month.
[Video Credit: SlashGear]