Aakash-maker Datawind releases three low-cost phones starting at Rs 3,499

Datawind, the maker of the ultra-cheap Aakash tablets, has now dipped its toes into the smartphone market. The company has launched three phones in a new range called PocketSurfer. The PocketSurfer 5X, the PocketSurfer5 and the PocketSurfer 3G5 are low priced phones that start from Rs 3,499 onwards.

The PocketSurfer 5X is the cheapest phone amongst the trio and comes with dual-SIM capabilities. Interestingly, the phone runs on Linux OS, a fresh change from the low costing Android phones we’ve been seeing. The phone with a 5-inch display packs a Cortex-A8, 1GHz chip and promises 3 hours of talk time. No details about storage capacity though.

The PocketSurfer line up

Take a quick look at the PocketSurfer 5X’s features:

• 5-inch, TFT Touch WQVGA display
• GSM EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz ) Bluetooth
• Front VGA camera

The PocketSurfer 5 too sports dual-SIM capabilities but this phablet comes with the Android version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich flavour. It houses a Cortex-A9, 1GHz chip and promises the same three hours of talk time. You can expand the memory on this phone too using a microSD card, but the internal storage capacity has not been revealed. The phone is priced at Rs 4,999.

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Here’s a quick lowdown on the specs of the PocketSurfer5:

• 5-inch TFT Capacitive WVGA screen
• GSM EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz ), WiFi, Bluetooth
• 2MP primary and VGA front-facing camera

Lastly, the PocketSurfer 3G5 is the most expensive of the lot, priced at Rs 6,499. It has a built in 3G modem and runs on a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex-A7 processor. The phone comes with a 5-inch display and offers a talk time of about 4 hours.

Here’s a look at the PocketSurfer 3G5:

• 5-inch TFT Capacitive WVGA screen
• 3G UMTS WCDMA (850/2100 MHz), GSM EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz )
• WiFi and Bluetooth.
• 5MP primary and VGA front facing cameras

All three Datawind handsets are available online on the PocketSurfer website of the company.