Elephone jump ship, building a budget Snapdragon phone for just $79.99

Ying HuaJuly 1, 2015

Our sources at Elephone have sent us surprising news this morning of a new phone based on a Qualcomm chip and costing just $79.99.

So far we have only seen Mediatek phones come through the doors of the Elephone factory, the only exception being the rumoured dual-boot Elephone Vowney with Intel chip due for launch later this year, but we should see a Qualcomm phone ahead of this.

According to our sources, Elephone are now working on a device with a Snapdragon processor, but it isn’t a flagship phone but rather a budget device with a price tag of just $79.99.

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The full specifications haven’t been revealed yet but what we do know is the SoC is a quad-core 64bit running at 1.2Ghz, there will be 2GB RAM on board and the display will be a 5-inch 1280 x 720 HD panel.

Images of the phone show a capacitive home button, and rounded textured black body.

[ Elephone ]

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About the author
Ying Hua
I'm an avid gamer and a bit of a Ninja when it comes to gadgets and technology. When I'm not busy with the latest Android and iOS games and I can be found writing at Gizchina.com.

PaulBV
July 1, 2015
Again some crowdfunding ? Last Elephones looked good before lauch…but after that, it is a different story 🙁
csak1user
July 1, 2015
It should be similar hardware as Redmi 2 2GB. But for this price, it would be awesome.
- Steven Fox
  July 1, 2015
  Yeah, Xiaomi should drop the Redmi 2 price already, 140$ for a S410 device – come on!
  If Elephone can produce a decent build and the price is below 90$ it could sell well, because the S410 has all the bands you need, and is actually not such a bad performer at 720p for casual stuff.
  - balcobomber25
    July 1, 2015
    Why would Xiaomi drop the price when the Redmi 2 is there best selling phone right now? Besides for $140 you are getting a lot more than just a SD410, your getting one of the best phones available for under $150. The camera on that phone is amazing (for the price point).

Guy Dviri
July 1, 2015
- Xalis
  July 1, 2015
  Selling more units to people that don’t know best.
- balcobomber25
  July 1, 2015
  In the West MTK still has the image of being poorly designed and poorly performing chips. Even some leading tech writers convey that false message (which is sad in itself). Customers see Snapdragon and think it is better. What they don’t realize is the 64 bit SD’s have been horrible so far. The 410 is underpowered and the other two are portable flame throwers.
  - Cognos
    July 1, 2015
    Also, MTK chips don’t have good GPS. They claim that they have GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS and all that, but in reality, MTK chips’ GPS takes more than 20 minutes to cold lock. It requires a crappy procedure of downloading EPO files and what not, and then the cold lock comes down to some 10 minutes.
    I’m yet to see an MTK chip that can cold lock in less than 5 seconds. On the other hand my SnapDragon 801 cold locks within 5 seconds (sometimes lesser), without fail, everytime.
    Fuck off MTK.
    - balcobomber25
      July 1, 2015
      Classic example of the point I was making. The old MTK chips had that problem. The new 64 bit ones do not.
    - Realracing Marc G
      July 1, 2015
      I’ve got a $80.00 thl 4000 with an older low end mtk 6582 SoC. I get a cold lock typically in 5 second outside, half a minute inside. Great signal strength too. Same goes for wifi and cell reception.
      A lot of Mtk SoC’s end up in cheap phones with crap antennas, hence the poor reception.
    - Yeti hand
      July 1, 2015
      How about you get some details on the last mtk processors before speaking?
      I guess you’re a perfect example of the point balcobomber was making
    - Lildwell2
      July 2, 2015
      Good job at proving balcobomber25 right. I got an ecoo e04 with mtk6752 and it locked in less than five seconds inside of my apartment that’s in an ugly GPS spot. All other GPS that I used turns off when you get to the gate. Why don’t you just fuck right off.
    - Chico Migraña
      July 2, 2015
      I have more problems with GPS in SD800 on Mi3 phone than MTK phone Alife s1
    - ChecchoT
      July 2, 2015
      try to read newer informations… 64bit and mtk6595 32bit mtk chips have GLONASS support as snapdragon chips, there are no gps problems , just take a look on youtube reviews
Gigi Grace
July 1, 2015
Haha, Elephone is playing tricks again. it must be some crap packing the Snapdragon 400 or 410. Hi, elephone, would you please don’t play but do some real work and give us something good? Don’t use some Soc worse than MTK6752. I’d rather pay more for a Ulefone Be Touch 2 instead of your Snapdragon crap.
Suskind
July 1, 2015
Guest
July 1, 2015
July 1, 2015
Nice. Elephone with Snapdragon Cpu, I like it 🙂 I have hope that smartphone has been Cyanogen OS!

Paap Mrittu
July 1, 2015
This one will sell very well. Snapdragon. So possibility for developers.
Ivan Rusanov
July 1, 2015
That’s exactly what I would pay for any of the current Elephone’s “annual flagships”.
- bilbao
  July 10, 2015
  Come one, you can’t say that ! There is price for component, when you have FHD screen, 3GB ram, it has to cost something. Elephone is fixing bugs on latest devices and I’m sure they will run really good 🙂

Muhammad Yasir
July 1, 2015
not bad … i think MOAR companies should do this 🙂
using both companies tech along with OV cams as well as Exynos Processors and Samsung so called Isocell tech !
just imagine a company using ALL THESE TECHS In TANDEM on their phones !
- balcobomber25
  July 1, 2015
  A company comes incredibly close to doing that. Blu Products in America. Their phones used to be just rebadged Gionees but they are starting to branch out with their own products. Their lineup includes the following:
  Android Phones
  Windows Phones
  MTK Phones
  SD Phones
  Tablets
  And I have a really strong hunch they are going to be one of the American companyies that debuts an Ubuntu phone.
  - Muhammad Yasir
    July 1, 2015
    - balcobomber25
      July 1, 2015
      Their phones are actually quite cheap, they aren’t tied to a carrier. The only thing is they don’t really have any true flagships. But they just released a very interesting phone with the following specs:
      5” 720p
      Sony IMX 135
      LTE
      SD 410
      1GB RAM
      The cost of this phone? $149. They offered it for only $99 for the first week and sold out within the first 48 hours, so they are extending that sale as a reward to their fans. Its not the most powerful phone but for $99 it is great and it looks good too.
      - Muhammad Yasir
        July 1, 2015
        balcobomber25
        July 2, 2015
        Yea even at $149 its not a bad phone, the 1GB of RAM and underpowered SD410 aren’t great but if your not a poweruser it is a great alternative to the Redmi 2. And it looks really good. Here is a link to the phone:
If there is a phone coming every day its got to be Elephone
Mesterio
July 2, 2015