itel, the Transsion Holdings (parent company to Tecno and Infinix) budget mobile brand has announced the entry into the local (and continent-wide) market of its latest smartphone, the itel S13.
The device, according to a statement from the company, is going for Kshs 7,500 in “all itel stores countrywide”.
At that price, it joins a growing list of budget smartphones from various brands that are competing for the attention of the Kenyan buyer including several from its parent company like Tecno’s Spark 2 and Infinix’s Smart 2. The itel S3 is directly in the range of Tecno’s F series devices announced earlier in the year and which have been on sale in the country for a few months.
The itel brand usually manages to keep a distance from its siblings by focusing on those looking for devices that cost just a little less than those from Tecno and Infinix. As was evident with the brand’s first Android Go-powered smartphone, the itel A32F.
Like the A32F, prospective buyers of the device can expect to find some modifications to the software giving it the itel look and feel since Google lets companies do this on Go devices. These customizations are what results in the device’s selfie “beauty mode” named Face Beauty 2.0 which is what itel is banking on to bring to life the device’s key feature: its 13-megapixel selfie camera. To complement it, the back of the device adorns a low-profile 5-megapixel dual-camera.
As was the case with the A32F, the device taps into the fingerprint sensor to allow users to undertake several custom actions like snapping photos, answering calls, launching apps directly from the home screen as well as stopping the alarm by mapping any of their 8 fingers/fingerprints to do so.
Unlike the A32F, this S-series Android Go smartphone arrives with a non-removable battery and a display with the 2018-y 18:9 display.
Specifications
- Display: 5.5-inch (480 x 960 pixels) IPS
- Processor: MediaTek MT6580 clocked at 1.3GHz
- Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card
- Camera: 5MP+5MP back cameras with dual-LED flash; 13MP front-facing camera with LED flash
- Operating System: Android 8.1, Oreo (Go Edition)
- Battery: 2,400mAh
- Network: 3G
- Others: Dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, FM radio
- Colour options: Champagne Gold, Elegant Black, City Blue
