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Unnecto Quattro hands-on: an unlocked dual-SIM Android phone for under $200 (video)

Unnecto Quattro hands-on: an unlocked dual-SIM Android phone for under $200 (video)

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The Unnecto Quattro is a dual-SIM Android phone that will cost under $200 unlocked when it's released later this year. The phone has a 480 x 800 LCD screen and a 650MHz processor.

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We stopped by Unnecto's booth today at CTIA 2012 to see its newest Android smartphone, the Quattro. You may not have heard of Unnecto, but the company specializes in inexpensive dual-SIM feature phones that are sold off contract. That's where the Quattro gets interesting: we're told that the phone will cost under $200 unlocked. At that price point we suspect this is the kind of hardware we'll see in future Android smartphones that are free on contract. Of course, some corners need to be cut to get that price: the it has a 4-inch, 480 x 800 LCD screen, a 650Mhz MediaTek processor, and a 5-megapixel rear camera. You get two SIM slots with the Quattro — one micro SIM and another full-sized — but for now it only supports 850MHz and 2100MHz HSDPA (read: AT&T 3G). We were told that the company is working to get a T-Mobile compatible version, but it's important to note that the Quattro won't be sold from a carrier — it'll be solely be available from third-party retailers like Amazon and Newegg when it comes out in the next couple of months.


While the Quattro by no means competes with the newest marquee phones like the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III, it's solid for such an inexpensive phone. The back is covered in a slightly rubbery finish that keeps the phone from slipping out of your hands, but, unfortunately, the Quattro is thick and has quite a bit of heft. Additionally, the TFT LCD leaves something to be desired thanks to its poor viewing angles and washed-out colors. On the software side, it runs a slightly-modified version of Gingerbread, and while it isn't final, the changes aren't for the better. Unnecto has added an iOS-like overscroll animation that (for now) ignores momentum, so it'll do a full bounce-back no matter how fast you're scrolling. The OS has also been modified with a setting that allows you to switch between the two SIMs in the phone. We didn't get to test any games to push the phone's bargain-basement 650MHz processor, but, expectedly, scrolling through menus wasn't nearly as smooth as we've seen on other devices. Still, phones like the Quattro may very well be the devices that get smartphones into the hands of the nearly 50 percent of Americans who still use featurephones and dumbphones, and it isn't a bad start.

Unnecto Quattro hands-on pictures

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