Pakistan's QMobile W1 another reference-design-based budget Windows Phone

Published by at

QMobile Pakistan has launched its first smartphone running Windows Phone 8.1. The QMobile W1 is a low-end device with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. Coming in at Rs7000, it's unlikely to set the market alight. Isn't it about time we had a higher end reference design for the platform, Microsoft?

W1

From Tech Prolonged (sic):

QMobile W1, to offer its intelligent features, has a wide 4” Liquid Crystal Display showcasing quick 1.2GHz processing speed, where you can fill in data as much as 4GB ROM and 512 RAM. To add to the multitalented package, W1 is giving you a clear 5MP Camera with a good on-the-go 1950mAh Battery & GPS Navigation. QMobile Windows Phone W1 is available from all QMobile Outlets, Mobile Galleries and Franchises nationwide for the price of only PKR 6,999.

W1 is powered by Windows Phone 8.1. Windows Phone offers a more personal smartphone experience that brings you closer to the people and things you really care about. As a Windows Phone 8.1 device, W1 includes features such as Live Tiles that surface information important to you; Action Center, which show new activities and notifications at a glance; and Senses, a suite of features that takes the work out of managing data use, storage space and battery life.

About QMobile founded in year 2009 by Mr. Zeeshan Akhtar, the Brand has made its mark in a very short span and has been known for its affordable offers along with most advanced technology in town available for everyone. The products are sensational, allowing QMobile to set apart from all the key players in the category – the excellence of QMobile is best supported by extraordinary customer care and after sales value being provided to the customers. The range of stylish yet innovatively advanced QMobile products provide touch screens, QWERTY, WiFi, Windows and Android OS Smartphones, catering to customers who are looking out for advanced quality and features at prices that are extremely affordable.

QMobile W1 – Full Specifications

NETWORKS 2G: GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
3G: WCDMA Band I (2100), WCDMA Band VIII (900)
CPU 1.2GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon
DISPLAY 4″ WVGA (800 x 480) LCD
OS Windows Phone OS – Windows 8.1
CAMERA Primary Camera: 5 Megapixels Auto Focus, with LED Flash
Secondary Camera: Smart Camera (Figures unspecified)
CONNECTIVITY Dual SIM,  USB, Bluetooth, 3.5 mm audio connector, WLAN 802.11 b/g/n
MEMORY RAM: 512 MB, Mass memory: 4 GB, Expandable user memory (microSD card upto 32GB)
DIMENSION 126 mm x 64 mm x 10.5 mm
BATTERY 1950 mAh
OTHER FEATURES MRE, GPS/AGPS, Video Player, FM Radio

All of which is well and good, but this is essentially as low as Windows Phone can go in terms of specs, so calling the W1 'sensational' is overstating things by quite a margin! In particular, even Microsoft's low end newbies have the 8GB/1GB (storage/RAM) baseline, so the W1 is definitely going to feel underpowered once Windows 10 hits.

Noteworthy is that Cortana hasn't come to Pakistan yet - this would have made a difference to the offering, I think. Still, a new Windows Phone is a good thing. Just as long as it isn't so low end that it puts customers off!

Source / Credit: Tech Prolonged