MTN Nigeria and TD Mobile have introduced the Android smartphone ICE 2 from Freetel, Japan’s largest selling smartphone brand into the open market in the country.
Designed in Japan, the ICE 2 comes pre-loaded with Worldreader’s free e-library of 50,000 e-books and MTN apps such Music Plus. The Android 7.0 smartphone will sell for about NGN 13,000 at all major online and offline retail stores including MTN’s outlets.
According to TD Mobile, the new device is designed for the Nigerian market and it is just one of many devices from the stable of Freetel. The device is pre-loaded with MTN’s latest apps including MTN Music Plus. Additionally, the device is also pre-loaded with Worldreader’s free e-library of 50,000 e-books – an app that enables Nigerians to read their favourite book at no cost, according to a report by Telecompaper.
Although it is a mix of low-end and budget, the Freetel Ice 2 comes with a design language spoken by mid-range smartphones and higher-specced devices. It has a plastic build, but is designed in such a way that you’d be unsure of what it is made of when looking at it from afar.
Rahul De, MTN’s chief marketing officer speaking on the launch said, “We are excited by this partnership because our focus over the years has been on connecting millions of Nigerians to each other and the world, thus expanding access to information, entertainment and endless opportunities. The affordable Freetel Ice 2 takes us further along this journey, allowing more Nigerians make the transition to smartphones.”
Also speaking at the event, Gozy Ijogun, managing director, TD Mobile, disclosed that the launch of the Freetel Ice 2 is a fitting testimony to the company’s landmark strides in making ICT products and devices accessible, affordable and usable across Africa.
While, Adama Diallo, Google’s head of Nigeria for Android Partnerships, emphasised: “We have been truly impressed by the quality of the Freetel Ice 2 at this price point. We are excited to continue working with ecosystem partners like Freetel, TD & MTN to offer Android devices at every price point and connect more Nigerians to the internet.”
The Freetel Ice 2 comes with a 5.5-inch display which is rather large for a budget device. It has an HD (1280 * 720) pixel resolution with a 267 ppi pixel density, and its display is covered with 2.5D curved glass, yet another unusual feature in a low-end smartphone. The device is 9 millimetres thick.
The Device
The device is Google GMS certified, meaning that the device meets Google’s performance requirements and properly runs Google Apps. In addition, the device is powered by Google’s most recent Android operating system – Android 7.0 – and comes with the latest software and security updates including Google Play Protect: a newly-developed software which continuously works to keep one’s device, data and apps safe.
Memory & Performance
Under the hood, the Google Freetel Ice 2 is powered by a MediaTek MT6580 processor with four Cortex-A53 processing cores (quad-core) and a clock speed of 1.2GHz. Its graphics operations are carried out by an ARM Mali 400 GPU.
The processor has 1GB of RAM space to carry out its operations, offering basic multi-tasking functions. This RAM size is quite low and the phone can be used on at most two applications at a time if you want to avoid lags and crashes.
The user has 8GB of default internal memory to store multimedia files and install applications. A significant part of the ROM is already filled up with system applications and files, and it might not be sufficient for the user’s storage needs, in the event of which you can slot in a microSD card with a size of up to 32GB into its external microSD card slot to expand the default internal storage capacity.
Camera
Much should not be expected from a budget device in this department, and the Freetel Ice 2 keeps it low with a basic 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash at the rear.
It also offers you the luxury of making video calls and taking basic selfies with a 2MP camera placed on the top of the front bezel.
Battery, Connectivity & Software
You will be able to use the smartphone for at least half a day before a recharge is needed, thanks to its 2800mAh Li-ion battery. The smartphone has dual SIM slots, but unfortunately, it lacks 4G LTE support which seems to be a deal-breaker for most smartphone users today. It’s a budget smartphone with other amazing specs at a low price, so we can’t say this is bad, either.
The smartphone runs on a stock flavour of version 7.0 (Nougat) of the Android operating system out of the box, and offers connectivity options like NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS.
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