InfoSonics verykool SL5000 joins the Android LTE market

There are a myriad Android smartphone brands in the market, but majority of the most popular ones either offer rather expensive flagships or budget devices that can only do 3G. If you're on the look out for an affordable 4G handset, you have quite a limited number of choices. Fortunately, those choices just got incremented by one with the new verykool SL5000, InfoSonics' first LTE-enabled smartphone.

Because of the dozens of smartphone brands, not to mention models, today, chances are you haven't heard of some of the companies that do make devices right in your own backyard. Like BLU Products, InfoSonics is a homegrown company based in San Diego that designs, makes, and ships mobile devices both under its own "verykool" brand as well as other private names. It actually has a number of smartphones, and even one tablet, already out in the wild, including an xTreme line that's made to weather the elements. But all of their devices have one thing in common, based on the company's vision: they fall within the budget market.

The verykool SL5000, codenamed "Quantum" (because it definitely needs a very cool name), doesn't boast of the highest end specs, which is neither surprising nor disappointing if you put it within the proper context. It runs on a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with a rather sufficient amount of RAM at 1 GB. Internal storage is unfortunately, quite small at 4 GB but there is an option to add up to 64 GB more via a microSD card. There's an 8 megapixel camera on the back, capable of 720p video recording, and a 2 megapixel shooter on the front for selfies and video chats. Perhaps the most disappointing part of the smartphone is its 5-inch screen that only reaches FWVGA 854x480 resolutions, not even qHD 960x540. The 2,000 mAh battery is advertised to last 10 days on standby or 8 hours on continuous talk time.

Of course, the main attraction for InfoSonics' Quantum is LTE connectivity, which is admittedly still a rare find among mid-tier devices. It even boasts of support for Category 4 networks, giving a theoretical downlink speed of 150 Mbps. All of that you get for a price of $229.80. The verykool SL5000 "Quantum" is available directly from InfoSonics and can even be purchases in six split payments of $38.99. The phone comes unlocked so using it with a US carrier of choice shouldn't be an issue.

SOURCE: InfoSonics