Freetel ICE 2 Review: Google’s new N13,000 Smartphone made for Nigerians

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives of the company visitLagos for the Google for Nigeria event in July. At the event, the technology company announced many new products and services they were going to roll out for Nigerians in the coming months.

One of the products announced at the event was Freetel ICE 2 smartphone which Google said it was bringing to Nigeria in partnership with MTN. The main perk of this smartphone which Google harped on was the price. The Freetel ICE 2 is pegged at an enticing N13,000.

Obviously, Google’s aim with this smartphone, which is custom-made for the average Nigerian, is to boost the penetration of smartphones and hence, the internet, in Nigeria. To put a smartphone in the hands of every Nigerian. So, Google expects that at N13,000, Nigerians from all walks of life should be able to get its smartphone.

There’re some high expectations from the Freetel ICE 2 smartphone considering its Google affiliation, and clearly, Google has been doing a great job in the smartphone business since launching its first in-house device, ‘Google Pixel.’

However, when you consider the price and motive behind the smartphone, one shouldn’t expect too many bells and whistles on it.

We got our hands on the Freetel ICE 2 and after playing with a bit, we have some thoughts which should help you decide what you can do with the Freetel ICE 2.

Out of the box…

Freetel ICE 2 comes with a detachable battery of 1,350mAh, a USB cord and charger. However, for some reasons, the smartphone doesn’t come with a headphone, but it works with third-party headphones.

Portable but basic design

The Freetel ICE 2 design is as great as one can demand from a phone in this price range. The body is made of plastic which has a good, firm grip. It may not be the latest kind of design, but it is also not bad. You may not need to worry about major finger smudges or cracks on the phone, considering the material it is made of.

It is, however, not water resistant and will likely get damaged if dipped in water or other kinds of fluid. So, the Freetel ICE 2 promises to be a durable phone given the right conditions.

Under the hood, there are two sim slots and a Micro SD card slot.

Display

The Freetel ICE 2 smartphone has a pretty decent display with a 4’’ screen and resolution of 480 x 800. However, the display might not shine under bright conditions like when you’re outside on a sunny day. So, you may need to manually increase screen brightness to the highest.

Software

The Freetel ICE 2 comes preinstalled with the Android 7.0 Nougat which is the Operation system preceding the latest Android 8.0 Oreo.

Performance

Freetel ICE 2 comes with a 1GB RAM, an internal memory of 8GB with only 4.38GB usable, and a processor speed of 1.2GHz.

What this means is that your phone may not be able to run too many heavy apps at once, it, however, can handle basic tasks without noticeable lags.

Camera

You’ll have to take this one as it comes – with a 2mp rear camera and a 0.2mp front-facing camera.

Under the proper lighting, the rear camera will produce decent pictures but in low lighting conditions, the picture quality is definitely not the best. Same goes for the front-facing camera.

Final thoughts

The Freetel ICE 2 is a functional smartphone. It may not have some of the ‘bells and whistles’ in higher-end smartphones but considering the price, it’s all round a good phone.

Watch unboxing and review video below:

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