InnJoo ONE smartphone launches in South Africa for R2499

Can there be too many smartphone manufacturers in a single country? We’re not too sure. Although a jam-packed market means a larger emphasis on innovation, it also means that consumers are bombarded by product upon product.

We can now add yet another manufacturer to that list.

Dubai-based InnJoo has launched its mid-range stab at the South African mobile phone market with the InnJoo ONE, and it’s priced at a rather competitively.

The device is a fairly adept competitor spec wise too, featuring a 5.0-inch 720p screen, a Dragontrail X glass coating and a rather slim 7.3mm profile. It resembles a cross between the much pricier duo of Huawei’s new P8 and Samsung’s Galaxy S6, but it definitely has a touch of its own flair too. And this is apparent in its proprietary software.

The InnOS 1.0 skin pulls the visual strings, while special apps are available to download through InnJoo’s own app service. It’s an interesting ploy to shirk the vanilla Android UI with cheaper devices, but, as I noted before, innovation in this segment really is key. For one, InnOS looks a lot like Huawei’s EMUI.

There’s no skimping on internals either. There’s a MediaTek-made octa-core processor buzzing around at 1.7GHz for the 4G model, and 1.4GHz for the 3G. Both devices get 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with an option to expand this thanks to a microSD card slot. There’s also a slant towards imaging on the device with a 13MP rear snapper and a 5MP wide-angle lens selfie camera.

InnJoo has managed to squeeze a 2600mAh battery in the metal and glass shell too, which is slightly larger than the Samsung Galaxy S6’s.

And considering its nearly a fifth of the price, it’s quite an impressive package. The device will initially sell on South African eCommerce store Takealot for R2499.