Kogan intros world's second Android phone: Agora / Agora Pro

We'll be totally honest -- we pretty much blew Ruslan Kogan off when he proclaimed that he was about to push out a $199 Android phone by the year's end. And truthfully, the guy still hasn't totally delivered, but you won't find us kvetching about more Googlephones, regardless of MSRP. The Agora (AU$299; US$192) and Agora Pro (AU$399; US$256) are available for pre-order as we speak, though neither one is scheduled to ship out until the end of January. For those unfamiliar with Kogan, it's an online-only enterprise that has wares built specifically to its dimensions in China, and so far as we can tell, it's as legit as they come. As for specs, the Agora packs a 2.5-inch touchscreen (320 x 240), 3G networking, a backlit QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.0 and a microSD card slot; the Pro adds in GPS, 2-megapixel camera and WiFi. So, with unsubsidized prices this low, are you willing to take a chance?

[Via iTWire]

[surge @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:29PM]

$192 and no camera WTF? is up with that

[Cole @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:35PM]

2-MP camera,. right in the text and viewable on the article.

[surge @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:38PM]

it says that the pro version has that not the basic one

[DBrim @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:45PM]

People who work for defense contractors will love that (if the phone ever comes here). They're not allowed phones with cameras at work and it's nearly impossible to find a decent phone that doesn't have a camera.

[Frankfurter @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:48PM]

@DBrim - I'm assuming you don't know anyone at a defense contractor. I know several and that rule isn't enforced too well......

[DBrim @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:10PM]

I did for a period. The rule was enforced, but even if it was I wouldn't want to risk, you know, getting fired.

[DBrim @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:14PM]

Even if it *wasn't, rather.

(I apologize in advance if this comment shows up twice... it didn't show up when I posted it five minutes ago)

[Loonie @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:33PM]

For future reference, put the punctuation at the end of the sentence.

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:29PM]

It's nice to see more Android phones finally, but...will there be A2DP? Or at least a 3.5mm headphone jack?

Anyway, what I would really like to see is an Android-powered response to the N97. *That* would be some truly breaking news.

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:31PM]

Looking more at the phones, especially the Agora Pro, it definitely seems to be stepping on the unlocked QWERTY candybar territory currently dominated by the Nokia E71. Unfortunately, it costs more than the E71 and has a lesser feature set even though it is larger than the E71.

It is a pretty phone though.

[noodleman @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:39PM]

Hey who wants to hang out in the reply section of the first comment?

[rubi76 @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:48PM]

it has a headphone jack

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:41PM]

I'll show you my Kogan if you show me your Agora.

[noodleman @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:42PM]

I just wanted to hang out, I didn't say anything about trading really bad euphemisms...

[Spencer @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:46PM]

The Bluetooth stack in Android doesn't have A2DP yet; Google thought about adding it, but decided that it was better to push out a limited feature stack that they were happy with, than rush out extra components that, later down the line, they'd realise they should have done differently. So, Android is supposed to get it A2DP eventually, but, as with most things google, who knows when that'll be?

[Ellianth @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:56PM]

*sits uncomfortably close to noodle while resting his hands on noodle's legs* Sup?

[Benson @ Dec 4th 2008 12:41AM]

I'm not seeing where the E71 costs less. Google shopping says they're all over US$300 unsubsidized.

And I might be interested in one, if I was on ATT or they had T-Mobile 3G...

[Dave Chappelle @ Dec 4th 2008 2:00AM]

"AU$299 AU$399"

oh Engadget... uv come so far.

Australian dollars? THANK YOU!!!~!

[Aaron @ Dec 4th 2008 2:44AM]

I agree with eggothewaffle. What's this phone got that would make me want to swap it for my Nokia E71?

Looks? No. Features? No. Better 3rd party software? No. Battery life? Probably not.

[chefgon_ign @ Dec 4th 2008 6:53AM]

Isn't the G1 already a direct competitor with the N97?

[LondonConsultant @ Dec 4th 2008 9:56AM]

N97 has sexiest hardware and G1 has sexiest OS, but I want both for my phone...

[JT @ Dec 4th 2008 11:07PM]

What about R2D2? Will it be R2D2, or C3PO, or Sonny, or even Johnny Five?

[ProjecT TimeZ @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:29PM]

Cool.
Android is the future.
Open Source FTW.

[noodleman @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:35PM]

ok :)

[Tyler Spilker @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:34PM]

This or the G1

What do you think

So thats $258 vs $399 USD without a contract right? Is the price correlated to the quality of phone or not?

[Joe Dombrowski @ Dec 4th 2008 1:03PM]

Well, obviously I don't know about the quality of this phone, but my roommate just got a G1. Before then, I was very much against its design, and it looked cheap in pictures. Let me just say, this is absolutely not the case, and the G1 is very much a high quality product. My only problem is that with my smaller hands, the nub on the right of the keyboard gets in the way when I want to hit the spacebar.

[Mike @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:33PM]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Motorola Q1!

[Parcel @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:35PM]

How come all of the Android pictures show an analog clock that is clearly out of sync with the digital clock in the upper right-hand corner?

[Frankfurter @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:49PM]

Same reason Apple-haters get wood off of Linux.

"Look! Our OS has cool glossy widgety-things too!"

[initialxy @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:52PM]

It's too cutting edge. That thing is intended predict what will happen to your watch 2 hours and 15 minutes later.

[Freestyle Farfetchd @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:16PM]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the clock on Android's front page is ugly and unesceary. Whilst I'm sure you can get rid of it, it'd just look so much better if they did the screenshots without it.

[nerdtalker @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:47PM]

That's what happens when you design-by-committee an entire mobile handset OS with way more google engineers than necessary.

I hate to link it, but here it is: http://gizmodo.com/5053734/how-many-google-phone-engineers-does-it-take-to-tell-the-time

It's truly incredible that this is still the case in all their promotional photos. Unless it's a world clock or something, there's just something so absurd about this that is emblematic of the entire Android experience so far. It'll eventually grow out of it, but the UI feels far more scattered than it should.

[gaelg @ Dec 4th 2008 4:16AM]

They should just choose one specific time for all their promotional photos, just like blackberry phones:

I don't know if you notice, all blackberry promotional photos are set to 12:21pm.

examples:
http://www.mobileguerilla.com/images/blackberry-8700g.jpg
http://www.removeblackberrypolicy.com/resources/blackberry.gif
http://www.mobilewhack.com/AT-T-BLACKBERRY-CURVE.jpg
www.gadgettastic.com/wp-content/2008/08/rim-blackberry-bold-smartphone.jpg
www.navigadget.com/wp-content/postimages/2008/03/blackberry-8820-gps.jpg
etc...

ALL 12:21pm

I wonder if it's a meaningful time?

[Ryback @ Dec 4th 2008 4:59AM]

The clock isn't circular. Either the clock is designed by Salvador Dalí's cousin or the screen is just a badly fitted image plastered on the promo-pic.

[Ryan Beesley @ Dec 4th 2008 5:44AM]

@gaelg

I can't find a reference to it online, but it is probably like how when analog clocks were photographed they were usually set to ~10:18. This usually put the hands out of the way of any face logos and it looked the best in that position; balanced and inviting. 12:21 is probably chosen becase on a digital clock that lights up the ten's place for the hour, and has pleasing semetry, but it isn't 10:01 which would look strange since it isn't on an hour but oh so close, and it looks better than 11:11 which looks like a bunch of vertical lines. 13:31 is right out.

/Ryan

[sam @ Dec 4th 2008 11:26AM]

@Ryan How about 13:37?

[McPOW @ Dec 4th 2008 5:16PM]

who. the. fuck. cares?

[warrrennnnn @ Dec 4th 2008 6:54PM]

Ryan- high five for the Monty Python "right out" reference. =]

[Nicky-Larson @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:35PM]

Yes, Yes I am.... Willing to take the chance

[drsilverworm @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:36PM]

If anyone wants to take the plunge, enter KGNBUCK as a coupon code upon check-out for 5% off.

[Chad @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:37PM]

This isn't the second one. The zzzPhone is the second Android phone.

[DBrim @ Dec 4th 2008 12:29AM]

Fair enough, however this is the second REAL Android phone.

[yopladas @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:38PM]

Wow! I never thought they'd reach the $200 mark... guess I was wrong...

[Sridhar3 @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:44PM]

That's a really nice phone for the price.

[bob @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:49PM]

I wish we had a demo or actual images.. this is a Treo's lovers dream.. ! I've been waiting for a Treo-like Android phone. I think I found my answer. Do you think I should pull the trigger? I can't seem to us the 5% for international.

[Logboy @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:47PM]

oh, me likey.

[Oli D @ Dec 4th 2008 3:21AM]

Oh likey likey

I do you like a truck

[Johan S @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:51PM]

The $192 Agora phone doesnt have GPS or Wi Fi that makes it a lame duck right off the bat.

Also both are QVGA, which sucks.

[DeoWulf @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:02PM]

"Also both are QVGA, which sucks."

So I've seen (eyeroll).



Oh, that wasn't bait for a rant about anything, if you're that type. Just commenting on the redundancy. :P

[High Return Investing with Dax @ Dec 6th 2008 12:38PM]

Add GPS and that's a killer phone. With subsidy that'll probably be a free phone or close to it.