14 DAY TRIAL // Idea Cellular has just announced the upcoming availability of its affordable Zeal smartphone. The Android device will be available for purchase in the coming days for only Rs 5,390 ($100/€75) off contract.
According to AndroidOS, Idea Zeal will ship with Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread operating system out of the box.
Although this might be considered a downside, the low price and the fact that it comes with dual-SIM capability should prevail.
Other highlights of the smartphone are far from being impressive, but that’s understandable given the fact Idea Zeal is a low-end handset.
Hardware-wise, the Zeal comes equipped with a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 256MB of RAM.
In addition, the smartphone packs 512MB of ROM inside, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD memory card.
Idea Zeal sports a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports 320 x 480 pixels resolution, as well as a 3-megapixel rear camera. Sadly, the phone does not come with front-facing camera for video calls, instead it offers 3G connectivity.
Last but not least, it’s worth mentioning that Idea Zeal comes with a promotional pack of Rs 261 ($4.7/ €3.7), which offers users 1 GB of free data every month for first 3 months, along with free Idea TV for first 3 months.
“For the past year, Idea has been focused on proliferating 3G in India by developing the entire ecosystem comprising of network coverage, customer service, applications and devices. We understand that the device plays an important role in enhancing service experience for the user, and has been a key component of Idea’s 3G growth strategy. Idea Zeal has been affordably priced to suit the pockets of consumers in semi-urban and rural markets and is aimed at upgrading existing 2G users to 3G,” said Rajat Mukarji, chief corporate affairs officer, Idea Cellular.