Hisense is promising a completely new line of high-quality and low-cost smartphones as it prepares a new assault on the South African market.

The Chinese manufacture has been quietly building its brand in the appliance space, but has kicked off an aggressive exercise to sell smartphones in the mid-tier market segment.

However, the company said that criticisms about poor long-term battery performance are addressed in a range of new devices due for release.

“One of our key focus points was the battery performance and that’s why if you look at the type of ratings that we put on our devices in that price segment, we’re quite a level above our competitors,” Hisense product trainer Grant Pendlebury said.

The company is preparing to launch a range of LTE smartphones in SA with features not yet available on competitor devices.

While local model names have not been announced, the Hisense L681 has a quad-core processor, wide-angle self-portrait camera with flash, and a 2 200mAh battery.

While that doesn’t compare well to the 3 100mAh battery in the class-leading Sony Xperia Z3, the Hisense is estimated to cost around R2 500 when it launches in South Africa later this year.

“What does come into play is how much consumers are using the phone and, personally, my phone is loaded with applications that are continuously running so we need to take into mind what type of applications we are using and how we’re using the battery life,” said Pendlebury.

However, he insisted that Hisense had done a lot of work to ensure performance over the long term. He advised consumers to be aware that some applications can drain the battery quickly.

“Taking into consideration how we’re using that battery will also make a difference, but in terms of specification, our batteries are very well rated according to our competitors in that price range.”

Manufacturers Samsung and Apple have set the benchmark in terms of their product support network in South Africa, and Hisense is also working to ensure that consumers find support for devices.

“Service is something we’re going to focus on going forward. We’ve put a local service provider within range of any consumer who take their phone to somebody and have it inspected while they wait,” Pendlebury said.

He added that the company kept key spares on hand to ensure a speedy turnaround time for repairs.

“If anything should go wrong, we’re not in a predicament of having to let the consumer wait for a certain time period. We can actually repair it on the spot.” — Fin24