Affordability is something that defines Android One smartphones. The trio of the initial Android One devices promise a Nexus-like experience at a very affordable price point, and are designed to capture the entry-level market in developing markets like India. The three devices — from Spice, Karbonn and Micromax — are priced around the US$100 mark, making them the most affordable devices to get Android updates directly from Google.
This naturally means that Android One phones will be among the first to receive Android updates. While Google isn’t really giving them the Nexus treatment, it sure is making buyers of the device feel special with updates well on time. A report from Android One’s home market of India that originated today claims that the initial trio of devices is in line for an update as soon as next month; we’d however put our money on a January release just to be on the safe side. Prashant Bindal, CEO of Spice Mobiles, concurs: “We plan to provide Lollipop in our Android One devices around January 2015 and the update will be available for all Dream Uno users in India,”, he adds.
Micromax and Karbonn announced Android One devices respectively, beside Spice Mobile’s. This leads one to believe that the aforementioned couple of makers too shall announce the update along with Spice, even though we’re yet to hear from these makers. All three phones come with mid-range specifications, and as mentioned before, a price tag that hovers around the US$100 mark. Announcements such as the Huawei Honor Holly, Xiaomi Redmi 1S, etc. have hampered Android One plans by quite a bit, but the latter remains to be the first one to have an Android One announcement. Unlike Nexus smartphones, Android One devices are controlled by Google up to a large extent. Besides software, the Mountain View search giant also dictates what hardware Android One phones would be running. A handful other low cost phones are in the pipeline, which will be made by various OEMs including Taiwan’s ASUS.