New smartphones to fall from Australian trees in the first weeks of Autumn

HTC Desire 820

The Mobile World Conference (MWC) will kick off in Barcelona next week and unsurprisingly, the biggest 'mobile' tradeshow in the world will coincide with the launch of a number of new phones.

Aussies will be able to get their hands on the first Microsoft branded smartphones in early March.

The Lumia 435 and 532 are entry level smartphones that will have the latest Windows 8.1 operating system, with the Lumia Denim update. The 435 and 532 will have a dual/quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2GHz processors and cost $129 and $149 respectively.

These phones will also be the first Lumias to have dual-sim variants available from the major retailers.

Object of Desire

If you're after a bit more power and a big screen the latest in the HTC Desire line will hit Optus stores on the 2nd of March.

The 5.5" HTC Desire 820 received a decent review late last year, featuring Qualcomm's first 64-bit octa-core processor and impressive 13MP rear and 8MP front cameras.

With a display the size of the iPhone 6 Plus the Desire 820 is more affordable than the large top tier smartphones at $499. It is a good price considering the power but there is some sacrifice on screen quality.

'Paranoid Android' wants to be skinny

A few days later, on March 5th, Samsung will release their slimmest phones to date – The Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 measure just 6.7 and 6.9mm thick respectively.

Samsung had design and affordability in mind with the A5 and A3 models. Both have all metal unibody exteriors, 1.2GHz quad-core processors and will cost $599 or $449 apiece.

Motorola have said that they plan to release the new iteration of their entry level phone the Moto E in the coming months. Though the company is yet to outline the exact release date and price, the Moto E (gen 2) will have the latest Android Lollipop software and 4G connection speeds -- impressive for an entry level smartphone.

The last Moto E had a RRP of $179 and though the new model has upgraded to a 1.2GHz quad core processor with 1GB of RAM, it should be only fractionally more expensive.

If you are looking to pick up a entry level smartphone or value for money Android you will have a few more options in the coming weeks, as these phones start rolling out.

  • Will any of these phones make our 10 best phones in the world list? Only time will tell.
Joel Burgess
Staff Writer

Joel Burgess is one of the Senior Writers on the TechRadar Australia team with over 9 years experience testing and reviewing laptops, gadgets and kitchen accessories from coffee machines to pizza ovens. Joel is the Australian PC Awards expert panellist for systems and laptops and is a permanent columnist and reviewer for Australia's leading PC magazine APC. 

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