Exciting news! Google is bringing the long awaited Android One to the Philippines.
For those who aren’t familiar with Google’s initiative, Android One was created to make high quality smartphones accessible to as many people as possible. The tech giant works with both international and local hardware partners to develop the devices. Best of all, the devices come with the latest version of Android and will continue to get updates for the next to two years of its life.
Google collaborated with two of our country’s leading smartphone manufacturers, Cherry Mobile and MyPhone, to bring the devices to life. The Cherry Mobile One and the MyPhone Uno will be the first Android One devices to grace our shores.
“We are very happy to bring Android One smartphones to the Philippines. Working with great partners like Cherry Mobile and MyPhone, we have designed and brought to market these high quality smartphones at highly affordable prices. We cannot wait to see what Filipinos do with them.” – Ceasar Sengupta, Google Vice President of Product Management
Both the Cherry Mobile One and the MyPhone Uno will come with capable front and rear facing cameras, as well as other features common in the country such as dual SIM slots, an FM radio tuner, and a microSD card slot.
Android One smartphones come with the latest version of Android (at the moment, it’s Lollipop 5.1) and will continually get updates in the next two years. Android 5.1 is said to perform 2x better than previous versions. Lollipop brings with it material design, and the much welcomed Project Volta, the battery saver feature that is said to help extend battery life by up to 90 minutes more.
Unfortunately, no information about price was mentioned. But they did assure us that it will cost less than PHP5,000.
UPDATE: As I was typing the post, Cherry Mobile has announced on their Facebook page that the Cherry Mobile One is NOW AVAILABLE at the select Cherry Mobile concept stores, kiosks, and accredited dealers for only PHP3,999 SRP and it will come with a FREE 8GB MicroSD Card.
