Arc Mobile Nitro 400D, 450QD and 500D

The number of local players, bringing in off-the-shelf smartphones, to the Philippine is growing. One of the newest players is Arc Mobile. Arc Mobile is offering smartphones under the label Nitro and Prime. The Prime offering consists of obsolescent Android Gingerbread phones which really is of no interest to me. They also have a tablet, which runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but as site policy, I really do not recommend buying devices that do not run Jelly Bean. There really is no reason why new devices should be released with two and three year old operating systems.

More interesting are the three Nitro labeled phones offered by Arc Mobile:

Nitro 400D quick specs:

• Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• 4-inch WVGA display (480 x 800)
• Dual SIM
• 4 GB internal storage, expandable via a microSD card slot
• 512 MB RAM
• 1 GHz dual core MediaTek 6577 processor
• PowerVR SGX531 graphics
• 5 MP primary camera, autofocus with flash
• VGA front camera
• HSPA
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• A-GPS
• 1450 mAh battery
• Suggested retail price of Php3,999

Nitro 450QD quick specs:

• Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
• Dual SIM
• 4.5-inch qHD display (540 x 960)
• 4 GB internal storage, expandable via a microSD card slot
• 512 MB RAM
• 1.2 GHz quad core MediaTek 6598 processor
• PowerVR SGX544 graphics
• 5 MP primary camera, autofocus with flash
• VGA front camera
• HSPA+
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• A-GPS
• 1800 mAh battery
• Suggested retail price of Php5,499

 Nitro 500D quick specs:

• Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• 5-inch WVGA display (480 x 800)
• Dual SIM
• 4 GB internal storage, expandable via a microSD card slot
• 512 MB RAM
• 1 GHz dual core MediaTek 6577 processor
• PowerVR SGX531 graphics
• 5 MP primary camera, autofocus with flash
• 1.3 MP front camera
• HSPA
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• A-GPS
• 2000 mAh battery
• Suggested retail price of Php4,199

I have not had any face time with any of these phones. But their pricing is very competitive, and the specifications are good for the asking price. In terms of value for money, Arc Mobile looks like it wants to go head to head with Cherry Mobile on pricing. For the past few months, Cherry Mobile has very effectively undercut its competitors on pricing.

The Arc Mobile Nitro 400D is competitive with the Cherry Mobile Flare. On paper, I like the Arc Mobile Nitro 450QD more than the Cherry Mobile Thunder 2.0. The Arc Mobile Nitro 500D looks like a good lower cost alternative to the Cherry Mobile Titan.

Not a bad start for Arc Mobile.

July 3, 2012 update: Corrected suggested retail prices, which are lower than originally posted