Android One Phones Set to Launch in Indonesia With Android 5.1 Lollipop

Google on Wednesday announced the launch of its Android One initiative in Indonesia. With the launch, Indonesia has now become the fifth country after India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka to receive Android One smartphones. Google however is yet to announce a date for the release of the Android One smartphones in the country.

The Mountain View giant has revealed Evercoss, Mito and Nexian as its OEM partners for the Indonesian market. One of the most notable features that hasn't been mentioned by Google in its blog post is that the Android One smartphones launching in Indonesia will run the latest Android Lollipop build, 5.1, which hasn't yet been officially previewed. The Android version has been mentioned at several places on Android One's Indonesian site.

(Also see: Evercoss One X vs. Mito Impact vs. Nexian Journey)

Announcing the news on the official Google Asia Pacific blog, titled "Selamat datang Android One - high-quality, affordable smartphones coming to Indonesia", Google's Caesar Sengupta, Vice President of Product Management said, "In Indonesia, we're working with leading partners Evercoss, Mito and Nexian to make high-quality smartphones for less than IDR 1.5 million (approximately Rs. 7,330)."

The company alongside also revealed plans to offer affordable data costs in Indonesia. Sengupta added, "Along with Android One, we're also working to reduce data costs for people in Indonesia. Our data compression feature on Android One's Chrome browser helps compress the amount of data flowing between the phone and the Internet."

Sengupta also revealed that Indonesia will be among first few countries where YouTube users can watch videos offline. "Indonesia is one of the first countries where YouTube users can take videos offline to watch later during periods of low or no Internet connectivity," he said. The company had launched the feature in India in December.

Google has tied up with Indonesian telecom provider Telkomsel to offer reduced data costs on Android One phones. As a promotional offer, the Android One users will be receiving free over-the-air (OTA) updates and free 200MB per month of app downloads from Google Play for the first six months.

As for specifications, the Evercoss One X, Mito Impact, and Nexian Journey handsets will come with identical specifications as the Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, and Spice Dream Uno. They will feature a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) display; 1.3GHz quad-core processor; 1GB of RAM; 8GB of built-in storage; expandable storage via microSD card (up to 32GB); Dual SIM (Micro SIMs) support; 5-megapixel rear camera; 2-megapixel front camera, and 1700mAh battery.