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Cape Town – Hisense is making a strong South African play with a new set of smartphones that the Chinese manufacturer has launched.
On Friday, Hisense announced the Infinity PureShot, K8 and Pulse smartphones for the local market.
All the devices are capable of LTE or working on higher speed long term evolution networks as the firm looks to stave off competition from Huawei and Xiaomi which are actively targeting SA.
READ: Xiaomi targets tech-savvy South Africans
“All three of our new smartphones are LTE enabled, allowing for fast internet access and speedy video downloads,” said Mark Zhang, product manager at Hisense South Africa.
The K8 flagship boasts a 13.9cm (5.5 inch) display protected by Gorilla Glass and metal frame with leather back similar to the LG G4.
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The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8939 octa-core processor mated to 3GB of RAM. Though the device has 16GB of on-board storage, it has retained the micro-SD card slot to expand the memory.
The main camera on the device is rated at 13 megapixel (MP) while the front facing “selfie” camera is 8MP.
The PureShot is slighter smaller at 12.7cm (5 inches) but has a similar main camera. On the front, the device sports a flash-supported shooter at 5MP which also has an 85° lens for wider angle shots.
The Pulse is the cheapest of the lot and features a dual core processor and 12.7cm display. Like its bigger brothers, it supports 16GB of on-board memory with a micro-SD slot and dual-SIM.
Hisense has not had much luck in ranging their devices with mobile operators, but the company has secured distribution deals with retailers like Pick n Pay.
Cell C ranges the Hisense Glory U939 and Infinity U800 dual core powered devices on its website.
Dual-SIM devices have not traditionally been popular in SA, but recent statistics provided by International Data Corporation have revealed the dual-SIM handsets make up 34.4% in the local market.
Pricing starts at R2 799 for the Pulse, R3 499 for the PureShot and tops out at R4 999 for the Infinity K8.
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