Vodafone 150 lays claim to 'world's cheapest phone' title, ST-Ericsson works on thrifty 3G

There are only two possible reasons for why a gadget freak like you would want a cheap phone: you're either a very sensible person (who probably got mugged once), or you're saving up for the phone of your life. Oh, who are we kidding? We all want a nice phone for next to nothing, right? The legendary Motorola MOTOFONE came close, but check out these new bad boys -- the sub-$15 Vodafone 150 and the sub-$20 250, produced by TCL. Fine, they may look more like toys than your everyday eye candy, but you do get five hours of battery, SMS, two games on that mini monochrome screen, and even an LED torch on the back -- and what's more, the lowly 150 is claiming the holy grail "world's cheapest phone" title that every manufacturer with an interest in emerging markets would kill to own. For an extra $5 there's even a larger screen in color (!), not to mention FM radio. If you want one, you better start flying walking to either India, Turkey or Africa where the phones will be launched over the next few weeks, or you can just gaze at Fonehome's hands-on video of the 150 after the break.

On a similar topic, ST-Ericsson has launched the U6715 mobile platform with 7.2Mbps HSPA modem for Linux-based OSes (Android and MeeGo, to name a couple), and expects participating manufacturers to deliver sub-€100 (about $137) smartphones in the first half of 2010. Apparently, the trick is to use "structurally-less expensive silicon, without compromising the end user experience." With a 1000mAh battery, the platform will deliver up to 40 hours to musical entertainment -- twice that of the Nexus One with 1400mAh -- and up to seven hours of 3G talk time on one charge. Pretty sweet at first blush, except there's no mention of what the CPU would be clocked at. Regardless, all we want is some smooth video playback from the "elegant and powerful multimedia engine" -- is that too much to ask?

[byrdmac1 Posted Feb 18th 2010 12:07AM]

@Nuisance

When did engadget be all about phones. Enough with phones.

[ZaxCG2 Posted Feb 18th 2010 12:06AM]

Hey, we poke fun at it because it looks like a preschooler's toy... but this cheap a phone can really help out poor countries.

[JPduminy Posted Feb 18th 2010 12:27AM]

Vodafone is a very trustful company and its product is great and do good work.No network problem and no any problem.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Force-Factor-Reviews---Dont-Buy-Until-You-Read-This-Review&id=3016296

[jj321 Posted Feb 18th 2010 1:16AM]

it looks like a blackberry.

[Mitchel Posted Feb 18th 2010 2:11AM]

I remember when we sold the MOTOFONE where I work, it was a horrible phone.

One time it got subsidised all the way down to FREE on prepay and people still didn't want them. We literally couldn't even give them away for nothing

[propercupofcoffee Posted Feb 21st 2010 11:28PM]

@Mitchel

I would have gotten one in a second. I had to pay to get my Motofone from Mexico.

[GregV8 Posted Feb 18th 2010 5:37AM]

They only put in the flashlight to make it appear as if it had a camera...

[snowglyder Posted Feb 18th 2010 12:14PM]

Maybe I missed something... but cheapest? I just picked up a Virgin Mobile Kyocera at Wal-Mart for $8.88. That's almost half. Full color screen too, text, games, blah blah. Used it for porting so I could keep my number.

[johdaxx Posted Feb 18th 2010 12:36PM]

I think I'd rather just pick up an old SE W810. Battery lasts nearly as long, would be nearly as cheap, and kick the crap out of this phone multimedia wise. And it comes with the flashlight application.

I take it all back if the above phone has a real 'torch' that emits flame out the side. That would be cooler than anything.

[Arkv2 Posted Feb 18th 2010 1:22PM]

@mpv
:| Sarcasm

[propercupofcoffee Posted Feb 19th 2010 1:29AM]

Goodness gracious - it's hideous. I'll stick with my Motofone F3, thanks.