14 DAY TRIAL // We reported yesterday on the upcoming release of Lava’s XOLO X500 budget-friendly smartphone featuring Intel Inside technology and the company has just confirmed that the device will go on sale in India next week.
According to AndroidOS, Lava XOLO X500 will be available for purchase in India starting January 28 for Rs 8,999 outright, which is about $165 or €125.
Lava XOLO X500 is the second Android phone to pack Intel Inside technology that’s being launched this week. Intel has also announced the upcoming availability of the Yolo smartphone in Africa.
The Yolo will be the first Intel-based handset available for purchase in Africa and Safaricom will be the one to sell it in Kenya.
Back on XOLO X500, this is a budget-friendly smartphone developed on the same Intel Lexington platform targeting emerging markets, which has been showcased at Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month.
The good news is that the device comes with dual-SIM capability, but some users might not like the fact that it will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system out of the box.
For the time being, it’s unclear if Intel plans to offer a Jelly Bean upgrade for XOLO X500, but we seriously doubt that it will come anytime soon.
On the inside, the XOLO X500 has been confirmed to pack a 1.2 GHz single-core Intel Atom Z2420 processor with Hyper Threading technology, along with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory.
Keep in mind that storage can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD memory card. The device sports a medium-size 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen display, as well as a 5-megapixel rear photo snapper.
Last but not least, Lava XOLO X500 will be powered by a decent 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery, which has yet to be rated by the manufacturer.
We expect that the smartphone will go on sale at multiple major retailers across the country. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.