Durban – April is traditionally an interesting time for the South African cellphone industry as handsets unveiled at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in early March start filtering on to the local market.
This year’s been no exception, with three new smartphones available here and local launch details of a fourth announced – all in the space of a fortnight.
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge
The arrival that’s likely to cause the most excitement is that of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The handsome pair were a huge hit at the congress and Samsung South Africa are clearly betting on that star power carrying over into the local market because they ditched the traditional media conference and glitzy launch bash for a more low-key event restricted to cellular industry insiders.
Time will tell whether the decision to scale back the PR when competitors are ramping up their press schmoozing will pay off. But if any two devices deserve to stand on their own two feet, unassisted by media hype, they’re the S6 and S6 Edge.
Beautifully crafted from steel and glass, with not a hint of plastic in sight, they look and feel like the truly premium products you’d expect from the prices they command.
The Edge takes this a step further with its curved screen making for a uniquely appealing work of high-tech art.
Combine those stunning looks with Samsung’s ridiculously powerful Exynos octa-core processor, probably the best quad-HD display going, and Samsung’s most impressive smartphone camera yet and you’ve got a pair of products I’m sure will fly.
Depending on who you buy from, prepaid prices start at R11 000 for the entry level S6 with 32GB of storage and climb to around R16 000 for the 64GB S6 Edge. Contracts start at around R500 a month.
The South African Orange Store is offering the S6 starting from a more attractive R8 875, but do be aware that it’s a parallel (“grey”) import, so don’t expect any free help from your local Samsung repair centre if anything goes wrong.
I’m also told that devices sold through official Samsung channels will qualify for one free screen replacement over the two-year contract period, although I wasn’t able to confirm that at the time of going to press.
Microsoft Lumia 532
Microsoft couldn’t have got their timing more spot on with their Mzansi launch of their dual SIM Lumia 532, just days after Vodacom, announced it was to hike call and data prices for new and existing subscribers.
A handset that allows users to switch effortlessly between two SIM cards from competing networks depending on which offers the best rates deserves to be greeted with some enthusiasm.
And at a recommended prepaid purchase price of R1 699 exclusively from Cell C, it’s affordable enough to buy outright, even if you don’t intend using the Cell C SIM. If that’s still too steep an outlay, the network is also offering it on a Smartchat 1GB contract for R149 a month.
That operating system is, of course, Windows Phone 8.1 with the Lumia Denim update that brings some long awaited improvements, including one-swipe access notifications via the Action Centre.
Specs wise, the 532 compares fairly favourably to other phones in this price bracket but it’s in the value added software and services department that it really shines.
It comes with built-in Skype integration and a (pretty low resolution) front-facing camera, while the full mobile Microsoft Office suite means you’ll be able to read, review, edit and share on the go, although complex spreadsheets may prove a bit of challenge on the 4-inch display.
You can also keep your photos, videos and Office documents safely backed up with 30GB of free OneDrive cloud.
Despite the publicity pictures featuring a brightly coloured array of Lumia 532s, Microsoft is taking a leaf out of auto pioneer Henry Ford’s book with its South African line up. You can have it in any colour you like, as long as it’s black.
HTC One M9
HTC’s latest incarnation of its gorgeous flagship smartphone was originally supposed to be available in SA by now. Now, according to an announcement made at a local pre-launch this week, it appears it’ll only arrive on June 1, although pre-orders will start in May.
For hardcore fans of the One series, it will no doubt be worth the wait. But if HTC hopes to attract a more mainstream following in SA, such a protracted launch window really isn’t the way to go about it.
No prices were available, but HTC said the device would be available from Vodacom and MTN. Watch this space.
* For more details and pictures of all these devices, visit my personal blog alanqcooper.tumblr.com. Got any questions or comments? E-mail [email protected] or tweet @alanqcooper.