99p Phone Arrives

The UK has got its cheapest ever mobile phone. This is the Alcatel OT-209, which is being sold at Carphone Warehouse for just £0.99p on pre-pay. Of course the price does not include the £10 Virgin Mobile credit that it is being bundled with, but this is still an order of magnitude cheaper than the most simple handsets were even a few years ago.



At that price point you would expect the Alcatel OT-209 to be pretty basic, and you would be right. There are few bells and whistles, but it can make and receive voice calls and text messages. That is not to say that it is without its charms.

Obviously the bargain basement price means that it is not a handset you would worry about losing or damaging. It is also super slim, and at 65g is very light. Aside from call and text functions there is even an FM tuner. Battery life is is one of the chief beneficiaries of this phones simplicity, figures given are 400 hours on standby, and up to 5 hours of talk time. The battery is capable of being fully charged in under 2 hours.