Update: The Ghost is available exclusively to Cell C. The cheapest contract price is R349 per month on a Chat 150.
Samsung, Apple and, somewhat anachronistically, BlackBerry: these are the names that dominate the South African smartphone space. But a number of local brands are starting to lay their claim on the market. One example is AG Mobile has launched the Ghost — the first Android smartphone with a lifetime warranty.
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AG Mobile, which has been around since 2007, says it will replace any faulty device for the lifetime of the phone, and three years after the phone has been discontinued. The warranty includes the replacement of two cracked screens — at no charge — as well as a 24-hour replacement with a new phone in areas across the country, Monday to Friday.
AG Mobile CEO Anthony Goodman says that the new flagship device aligns with the brand’s goals of producing quality, affordable devices and offering an excellent user experience.
“We understand the frustration associated with a malfunctioning device, as well as the negative impact it has on productivity, communication and the pocket,” Goodman says, “So we came up with a solution to ensure our customers have access to telecommunications via a quality product and extended power supply, and if there’s any issue, that there’s minimal downtime.”
With South Africans notoriously brand loyal, especially when it comes to smartphones, it should hardly be surprising that AG has felt the need to add in value beyond the lifetime warranty. Every Ghost customer will therefore receive items valued at R1500 including in-ear-pieces, a car charger, a 7500mAh power bank that can last for up to three days and a protective cover for free with the device.
The Ghost comes standard with KitKat and features include:
- 5.5-inch 1080p Gorilla Glass touchscreen
- 13MP with auto-focus and flash (Sony IMX 214 camera sensor)
- 5MP front camera
- 1.3GHz quad-core processor
- 16GB internal storage
- 2GB RAM
- External memory (expandable to 128GB)
- Dual SIM
- Multimedia player
- GPS
- Gravity sensor
- WiFi
- Bluetooth 4.0
- 2700mAh Li-ion battery
The Ghost is currently available exclusively through Cell C retail outlets and call centres on contract. It comes pre-loaded with several social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, WeChat and YouTube.
