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Josh Levenson
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Earlier today, US Mobile announced that it is the first carrier in the United States to offer customers a choice of affordable contract smartphones from Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi and Meizu. Subscribers of the network will be able to choose either the Xiaomi Redmi 2, Mi 3, Mi 4i or Meizu M2 Note, with price tags ranging between $120 and $220.
We have to say that US Mobile is awfully brave entering into a partnership with these two Chinese companies as their smartphones have been repeatedly slated by the Western world for featuring heavily-skinned interfaces that have been described as cumbersome and a burden on the Android operating system.
It’s important to note that the manufacturers don’t skin the OS because they believe that their optimizations provide a better experience than stock Android, but are forced to develop them as the majority of Google’s services aren’t available in their home country — so, instead, they have had introduced their own skins and app stores to bulk out what would have been a restricted platform.
The announcement comes not long after a handful of reports surfaced online claiming that Lenovo, along with a small number of other Chinese technology giants, devices had been banned by MI6, CIA and other spy agencies all over the world following an expanding fear of hacking emerging from China. Although no proof was ever forthcoming, the speculation certainly shook the world and resulted in a sharp decline of the manufacturers sales.
Just recently, however, the companies have made a comeback. Their durable, modest-performance smartphones have been taking the world by storm — and for good reason, too. When $119 can get you a mid-range, well-built Redmi 2 with scarily similar internals to the Samsung Galaxy J5 for just a fraction of the price, folks on a tight budget would be bonkers to plumb for the pricier option.
Here’s what Founder and CEO of US Mobile, Ahmed Khattak, had to say:
“U.S. consumers have traditionally had to compromise to afford incredible devices. Now, with the launch of our marketplace, we are thrilled to offer complete range of exceptional smartphones for low monthly payments and to give our customers access to exceptional phones otherwise not available in the U.S.”
There is one large drawback, though. As the units are being shipped to the United States and have not been designed for distribution there, they, unfortunately, don’t feature the correct carrier bands for use with the operator’s LTE service. This means that if you opt for one of these devices, you’ll be left with no alternative other than to use 3G.
Thankfully, US Mobile has some fantastic deals for its Internet service, which start for as little as $9 per month for 100 minutes, 100 texts and 100MB of data, and go up to $59 a month for 5000 minutes, unlimited texts and 5GB of data.
Source: US Mobile
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