14 DAY TRIAL // Android One is a line of Android devices launched by Google and targeted at first-time smartphone users. The phones are usually made available in emerging markets and run stock Android. Google designs, develops and sells Android One phones, while various OEMs actually manufacture them.
A new report suggests that Google is working on bringing the Android One project to the US in 2017. The first US Android One phone would be made available around the middle of 2017 and will carry a price tag of between $200 and $300 at launch, according to The Information.
There are little details about the upcoming phones, but some say that Google might contract LG for manufacturing the first US Android One phone. However, it’s expected for more OEMs to take part in the Android One project and produce multiple such phones this year. In the past, Android One phones were manufactured by relatively unknown OEMs like Micromax, Cherry and QMobile.
Android One phones run the latest version of Android OS
The advantage of Android One phones is that they don’t come with bloatware, competing services, and they get security and software updates quickly, since these come straight from Google. Regular low-end Android phones usually come with bloatware and they certainly don’t receive updates as soon as one would want.
Android One phones will appeal to consumers who are looking for an affordable stock Android smartphone that gets regular software and security updates at least for the coming two years. Since the new Android One phone will be developed by Google, we expect it to run the latest Android Nougat version at the time of launch.
Last year, Google announced the GM 5 Plus in India, part of the Android One project. The phone had a metal frame and ran an octa-core Snapdragon 617 SoC with 3GB of RAM. It had 13MP cameras on the back and front, and drew power from a 3,100mAh battery. It was the first Android One phone with USB Type-C port and was sold in more than 16 countries for an approximate price of $265.