The Trendiest and Most Affordable Gadgets from AIS

Advanced Info Service PLC or AIS is Thailand’s largest mobile phone operator with over 35 million customers as of the fourth quarter of 2013. Not bad for a company that started out as a computer rental business. In addition to post-paid services, AIS offers prepaid services under the 12Call brand.

Aside from good service and having a great signal anywhere in Thailand, one of the main advantages of being an AIS subscriber is having access to the trendiest gadgets in the market. Their postpaid plans offer the latest phones and tablets, as well as the exclusive AIS phones. But you don’t have to spend a lot to get a great gadget. If you want to make sure that what you’ll get is an affordable yet oh-so-worth-it phone or tablet, here’s a look at the coolest and most inexpensive gadgets from AIS.

1. AIS Lava 4.0

This phone was announced last April 24 and is expected to be available by the second quarter of this year. AIS fans will love this gadget. At 124.5 grams, it’s light yet really tough. It features a 4-inch display True Color touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. It runs on Android Jellybean 4.2.2 and has an internal memory of 4 GB, which can be supplemented with a micro-SD card with a maximum memory of 32 GB. It also has a front and back camera, which avid selfie takers will surely love. Though the image quality is not as good as those of Samsung or Apple phones, subscribers will love the price. It was reported that the release price of the Lava 4.0 is 2,390 Baht.

2. AIS Lava 3.5

People who appreciate a user-friendly, easy-to-hold phone will appreciate the AIS Lava 3.5. Weighing only 105 grams and featuring a 3.5 inch screen, this phone is definitely small in size, yet comes with all the basics that one expects from an Android phone. Available in 2G and 3G, it has a dual SIM capability and has a TFT-LCD True Color touch screen. This is available only in black, so you might have to find other ways to customize your phone’s exterior. This has an internal memory of 2 GB, which may not be sufficient for those who’d like to store videos or images, but you can get a micro SD card to take care of this minor problem. It’s very affordable at only 1,690 Baht, but you can also get this phone for as low as 499 Baht with a monthly payment of 350 Baht for 12 months.

3. Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite

If you want a great quality Android tablet, look no further than Samsung. Lest you think that it might take up to several payday checks to afford one, consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite. Though it’s not in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy Pro, it is one of the most affordable brand name tablets out there. It has a 7-inch screen, and at 9.7 mm is a bit on the thick side, but it’s also fairly lightweight at 310 grams, which makes it comfortable for one-handed operation thanks to its weight. It features a 1024 x 600 pixel display, so it fails to meet modern expectations for tablet sharpness, but image quality is still fairly good. There’s no front facing camera but it comes with an 8 GB internal memory and a micro SD slot. It has an impressive battery life, and it can manage 8 hours and 20 minutes of web surfing. It’s also ideal for playing videos, as it can hold up for at least 9 hours, making it a must-have for long flights. It’s available from AIS for 6,990 Baht, though you can get it on an installment basis. You only need to pay 749 Baht, then make a monthly payment of 450 Baht for 12 months to get this gadget.

4. Acer Liquid Z3S

From one of Asia’s leading laptop manufacturers comes an inexpensive yet impressive phone. It’s packed with a dual core processor, and there’s room for two SIM cards under the battery pack, so it’s easy to have a different SIM for work and play. It has an internal memory of 4 GB but you can boost it up to 32 GB via a micro SD card. It runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which, though it’s not the latest version of the software, is still quite recent. One drawback is the low resolution of 480 x 320, so most pictures taken using the Liquid Z3S may appear grainy. It’s compact at 120 grams and has a TFT capacitive touch screen that measures 3.5 inches. At 2,590 Baht, this can be a great first phone for tweens or teens. It’s also available on installment at 150 Baht for 10 months and a one-time payment of 199 Baht.

5. Nokia X

Nokia is taking itself down a new path in the lower end of the market with the Nokia X, but is it any good? All of Nokia’s smartphones are built-in with Window’s OS, so this is kind of baffling in a sense. The operating system is what’s known as a forked version of Android, meaning it’s based on Google’s code, but the interface is all Nokia, which might make it a bit confusing for those who are used to Android or Windows OS. In this feature alone, one could see that Nokia chose to tread with caution with integrating the Android OS to their product. It’s built to withstand some hard knocks, and though the shell is made out of plastic, it is extremely sturdy and weighs only 128.7 grams. You will not find the usual Google Play store icon or Contacts you’ll find in standard Android phones, but it has the tile-based android launcher by default that gives the feel of using a Windows phone. It has a 4-inch screen and a resolution of 480 x 800. Though image or video quality is not the same as the phones in the Asha or Lumia series, the colors are bright enough and are not grainy. You can have it for 3,990 Baht or with an installment plan of 200 Baht for 12 months with a one-time payment of 350 Baht.

6. Samsung Galaxy Pocket Neo

This Samsung phone is as low as you can go when it comes to brand name Android phone. It’s compact and plastic, and most people think that it looks more like a kid’s toy than the real thing, but that could be due to the tiny dimensions of this phone. It’s almost 12 mm thick and weights 100 grams. The 3-inch LCD display has a low resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, which means you can see icons’ jagged edges and the images look pixelized. Though it’s probably not the best device to use for watching movies or videos, it makes for an ok image viewer. The Galaxy Pocket Neo runs on the Android 4.1.2 Jellybean with TouchWiz Lite on top. The Jellybean brings smoothness to the performance of the phone, but the TouchWiz skin makes the device look even more cartoony and toy-like. Kids would love this phone, just make sure to let them know that it’s an actual phone and not a toy. It’s available from AIS for 2,690 Baht, and you can also get it on installment for a one-time payment of 349 Baht and a monthly payment of 150 Baht for 12 months.

See? You don’t have to spend a fortune to have the coolest gadgets. Just subscribe to any AIS postpaid plan, and have the trendiest phones and tablets right in the palm of your hand.