The relatively unknown hardware developer Kogan has just announced a new quad-core smartphone for the mobile device market. Hopefully the new Agora 5.0 will be able to compete with all the bigger contenders such as Samsung, and HTC, but it should be able to keep pace with the lower price point and advanced hardware that its boasting.

The Agora 5.0 Quad-core Smartphone doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, nor does it even speak of a brand when you consider that the predecessor was called the Agora 5.0 Dual-core Smartphone. Something about it just doesn't gel with more traditional conventions on the smartphone market right now, and that's a good thing. The name and brand are relatively unknown, so if you saw it in a store you could be forgiven for thinking that it was some cheap knock-off device. At £150 the phone doesn't scream “cutting edge technology”, but you'd be wrong if you thought that.

This small phone packs as much punch as most tablets

I'd be hard pressed to think this was worth £150 at first glance, but I was taken aback when I first saw the technical specs for the price they're offering: 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 1280×720 resolution on a 5in IPS screen. Those are all quite good specs, and the device even runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, meaning that most users will already be comfortable with using the operating system. Those are just the specs inside the smartphone though. It also boasts a pair of cameras (2MP for front facing, 8MP for rear facing), 3G and WiFi connectivity, dual SIM slots, and a 2,000mAh battery.

The new Agora seems to lack on the internal storage side of things. It struggles with just 4GB of internal memory, and is probably going to rely on the microSD slot it comes with for increased space.

It's also a reasonable size from all angles

When you stop to look at it, perhaps missing out on the Kogan Agora just because of the more obscure brand is a mistake. This genuinely has the potential to compete with Samsung and the like. Maybe it will even convince them to incur some price drops in the near future.

KitGuru Says: That name is the only bit making me ponder a sale instead of it being a certainty. What do you guys think they should call it? 

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