Kogan jumps on 'phablet' bandwagon with $149 smartphone

Plus-sized handset for budget shoppers.

The Kogan Agora 5.0" Dual-core Smartphone is a budget 'phablet' device costing $149. It ...	The 5-inch WVGA touchscreen boasts a native resolution of 480x800 pixels. This is significantly ...	Connectivity options are impressive for a phone in this price range: it comes with two separate ...
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Kogan Technologies has launched a budget 5in 'phablet' running Android Ice Cream Sandwich priced at $149.

The Agora 5.0" Dual-core Smartphone was unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas today (see all the photos from the event here).

Chief specifications include a 5-inch WVGA touchscreen with a native resolution of 480x800 pixels, a 1GHz dual core Cortex-A9 processor, a five-megapixel camera and 1GB RAM.

Connectivity options include two separate SIM slots, inbuilt Blutooth and WiFi (802.11 b/g/n), a 3.1mm audio jack and a Micro SD card slot for additional storage. The phone comes network unlocked and is compatible with 3G networks. 

According to Kogan's website, the Agora 5.0" Dual-core Smartphone measures 142x80x9mm and weighs in at 590g. It comes with a 12-month warranty.

"$149 can get you 22% of an iPhone 4S or 100% of the Kogan Agora Smartphone," Kogan Technologies CEO Ruslan Kogan claimed in a statememt. (Whether it's 22 percent as good as an iPhone 4S is probably open for discussion).

Free talk time

In December last year, Kogan launched pre-paid 3G mobile services through Telstra with prices starting at $29 per month.  

The Agora 5.0" Dual-core Smartphone can be bundled with a Kogan Mobile SIM Starter Pack which includes 100 minutes of talk time, 100 SMS and 100MB of data.

Purchases of the Agora 5.0" Dual-core Smartphone are currently limited to three units per customer. The phone is available to order now, with shipping in February.