Amazon did it again. The retailer today introduced the $59.99 Alcatel A30, which is by far the least expensive unlocked phone in the US running Android 7.0 Nougat. And it even works on Verizon.
There's a catch, of course: you have to be an Amazon Prime member to get that price. Otherwise, you pay $99.99. The A30 works on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, but not Sprint.
Amazon also introduced the Moto G5 Plus (pictured) for Prime members, unlocked for $184.99, which is a great deal. It's one of very few unlocked phones that work on all four US networks, including Sprint and Verizon.
But let's get back to the Alcatel. Last year, Amazon introduced the Blu R1 HD, which was a huge hit at $49.99. The R1 HD remains on sale, but the A30 offers better carrier support, the latest version of Android and a two-year warranty.
Other A30 specs include a 5-inch, 720p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 8MP and 5MP cameras, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage plus a MicroSD card slot. Alcatel and Amazon didn't provide a full spec sheet or any pictures of the device, although they should be up by now at amazon.com/prime-exclusive-phones.
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It's unheard of for an inexpensive phone like this to run the latest version of Android. According to Google, only 2.8 percent of Android phones are currently on Nougat. There's no guarantee of any feature upgrades, of course, which only makes it more important to get the latest version you can.
The A30 compares very well with other inexpensive, unlocked devices, most of which aren't compatible with Verizon. For under $100 at Amazon, you can get an older Moto G LTE, a Blu Studio Selfie 2, or a Kyocera DuraForce, for instance, but they all run older versions of Android, have slower processors, or lack LTE.
The A30 will be available next month, Amazon says, and we hope to review it then. In the meantime, if you aren't totally price-constrained, the $184.99 Moto G5 Plus looks like a great deal.