This years’ Mobile World Congress (MWC) had brought along some really good news for mid-range devices when NVidia had announced the Tegra 4i system on chip (SoC), which had an LTE modem built onto the chip itself. NVidia has designed the Tegra 4i on the same principles of their Tegra 4 processors; however the Tegra 4i is targeted towards the mid-range market. The chip packs four Cortex A9 cores clocked at 1.7 GHz, a fifth battery saving core, 60 GPU cores and NVidia’s latest i500 LTE modem. Click here to read our comparison of the Tegra 4 vs. the Tegra 4i.
The power of the Tegra 4i processor will be unveiled when the first phone based on the chipset will be launched in European markets this April. The French manufacturer Wiko has announced the Tegra 4i bearing Wiko Wax, which is expected to retail at the economical price point of €200 ($276). As an introduction to Wiko, NVidia states that “within two short years, Wiko has become a major player by providing unlocked phones with sophisticated design, outstanding performance and the newest technologies. It has more than two million users in France and is expanding overseas fast.”
In terms of looks, the Wiko Wax does not look stunning, but it doesn’t look too bad either. The device boasts of a 4.7 inch display offering 720p HD resolution, an 8 mega pixel (MP) primary camera whereas the front of the device boasts of a 5 MP secondary camera for video calls and the occasional selfie. An ample 1 GB of RAM is available on board, while internal storage is at 4 GB, which is expandable due to the thankfully present MicroSD card slot. The unique aspect and the selling point of the Wiko Wax is the presence of LTE connectivity at this price point – thanks to the Tegra 4i chipset. The Wiko Wax will come preloaded with Tegra Zone, which is an app that lists all games which have been optimized for the Tegra 4i processor. The app would also provide Android gaming news for fans as well as provides a spotlight of popular games. However there is no confirmation as to which Android version would be preloaded on the device.
The Wiko Wax will be released in Italy first, whereas release is also expected in Germany and France sometime later. Does the news of LTE connectivity of cheap devices excite you? Do let us know in the comments below.