Safaricom has launched a smartphone campaign by introducing the most affordable 4G-enabled smartphones—Neon Ray and Neon Nova—in Kenya. The launching of the smartphones aims at delivering a digital experience for those who do not have smartphones.
Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom, said: “At Safaricom, we aim to transform lives by providing solutions to our customers. With these affordable phone options that will allow our customers to enjoy the superior digital experience without stretching their finances. The new 3G and 4G Neon phones will be an advancement towards inclusivity.”
As the company has entered a partnership with Google, it enables the company to access the Android Oreo which purposed for entry-level smartphones with optimized Google apps with lower memory, storage, and data.
Mahir Sahin, Director at Africa Android Partnership, Google explained: “Android’s mission has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone, and part of that is ensuring a great experience across the broadest range of devices. Android Oreo (Go edition) is specifically optimized to bring the magic of Google and Android to smartphones with limited memory and processing power, and we’re excited to see Safaricom joining that mission by launching the Neon Storm, Neon Ray and Neon Rova phones on Android Oreo (Go edition).”
The 4G-enabled Neon Ray runs on Android Go and costs KES 3,999 while Neon Nova runs on 9.0 and costs KES 5,999. Besides the 4G-enabled smartphones, the company also launches a 3G-enabled smartphone—Neon Storm and will cost KES 3,499. These smartphones will be optimized to support high-speed 4G network, enabling users to experience speed and reliable network of Safaricom.
Customers are able to purchase the smartphones at Safaricom agents and via online on the company’s e-commerce platform, Masoko.