EE have today announced and launched a brand new device under their own EE device brand – the Rook.
When EE launched the Kestrel a while ago the £99 launch price caught a lot of press and customer attention for being a decent spec device at a low, low price.
EE have done it again, and this time they’ve cut the price in half. That’s right, the Rook costs just £49 to new customers and £39 to existing ones, plus it’s on sale from today.
Whilst the specifications are hardly groundbreaking (a 4 inch display, 1GHz Quad-Core MediaTek processor, 5 megapixel camera and 1,500mAh battery), for £49 you are getting a great entry level into the 4G smartphone world.
This device would be ideal paired with sharer SIM-only cards to give family access to a 4G smartphone with all the Android apps available at a really low price.
Here is the full press release from EE and we hope to have a Rook in for review shortly.
EE LAUNCHES THE UK’S LOWEST PRICED 4G SMARTPHONE, THE ROOK
7th July, 2015 – EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, today launched the Rook, the UK’s most affordable new 4G smartphone at just £39 for existing EE customers* and £49 for new EE customers. The Rook is available immediately from EE stores, EE telesales and via the EE online store and will allow a new sector of UK pay as you go customers to enjoy the benefits of superfast 4G.
With 44 per cent of UK pay as you go customers currently spending up to £50 on a handset, the Rook will be the only new handset in this price range to offer a superfast 4G experience – opening double-speed 4G to over 2.5 million UK consumers**.
The Rook runs the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system, and features a 5 megapixel camera, a 4” high resolution FWVGA display screen and 8GB internal memory, all powered by a fast and energy-efficient 64 bit MediaTek® 1GHz Quad-Core processor enabling faster web browsing, smoother game play, quicker multitasking and further improved battery life. The Rook also comes with a 1,500mAh battery, which is good for over five hours of talk time and over 400 hours stand-by-time on a single charge.
Sharon Meadows, Director of Devices at EE, said:
“At EE, we believe everyone should have access to 4G and the experiences it offers on the go. The Rook provides a great 4G smartphone at a compelling price – allowing even more people to enjoy the benefits of our superfast mobile network from high speed web browsing and downloads to gaming and streaming.“
The Rook builds on a range of own branded devices from EE designed to give consumers access to the UK’s fastest network, offering features and specifications traditionally associated with a higher price point.
As well as being on pay as you go, the Rook is available to EE corporate customers – providing a powerful and easily affordable smartphone for customers in medium and large enterprises.
Customers who purchase a Rook handset can also benefit from up to a 20% discount on select EE accessories. Further details on these, as well as more information on the Rook from EE is available at: www.ee.co.uk
Key Specifications:
| Design Specifics |
OS |
Android 5.1 |
|
Form Factor |
Candy Bar |
|
Dimension |
126*64*10.3 |
|
Weight (g) (with battery) |
130g |
|
Antenna |
Internal |
|
QWERTY Keypad |
Virtual QWERTY |
|
TouchScreen |
Capacity touch screen |
|
Side Keys |
Volume key, power key |
| Chipset |
Chipset (BB/RF) |
MediaTek® MT6735M with integrated 4G modem |
| |
Processor |
MediaTek® Quad-Core 64bit processor |
| Display |
Main Display technology, size, resolution, colour space |
TFT TN 4.0“ WVGA(480*800) 16M colour |
| Camera |
Camera Sensor Type |
CMOS(RAW/YUV) |
| |
Still Image Capture Resolution (in MP) |
Back: 5MP FFFront: 0.3MP FF |
| |
Flash |
No |
| |
Auto-focus |
No |
| |
Function |
Digital Zoom: 4xCapture mode: EV / Scene mode / colour effect / continuous shot/face detection /anti-flicker / picture size setting / white balance
video mode: microphone/Video quality |
| |
Image (formats, preview framerates) |
Capture Format : JPGPreview framerate: max. 30fps |
|
Video (Formats, resolution, preview / record framerates) |
Formats:3gpResolution: back sensor (176*144/480*320/640*480/1280*720);record frame rates: vauto mode(30fps); night mode(15fps) |
| Memory |
Combo Flash |
8GB eMMC +1GB RAM |
| |
Total internal memory (end user available) in MB |
More than 1GB |
| |
Maximum Capacity of external memory card (GB) |
32GB |
| Battery |
Battery capacity(mAh) |
1500mAh |
| Connectivity |
Bluetooth (Version , Power Class, Profile) |
BT4.0 |
| |
Wifi Protocol |
802.11b/g/n |
| |
USB Cable Connector (MiniUSB / 8 pin MiniUSB / MicroUSB / Others) |
5pin MicroUSB |
| Accessory |
Headset(3.5mm/2.5mm/others)(OMTP/CTIA) |
3.5mm, CTIA |
|
Charger connector (MiniUSB / 8 pin MiniUSB / MicroUSB / Others) |
5pin MicroUSB |
