Spain’s best kept secret

My trusty old HTC phone died last week, in a work related accident and I found myself avidly scanning the internet for a replacement.

It’s never easy, as there are now so many to choose from, each manufacturer trumpeting about their latest features and proprietary software. The forums are filled with fanboys and fangirls arguing endlessly about the merits of their favourite phone.

I really wanted to get a phone and a tablet but ended up choosing one of Spain’s best kept secrets, in a sort of two for one deal.

Better than 5 J Jamon Iberico http://www.lacasadeljamon.com.es/en/iberian-ham/10-acorn-iberian-ham-5-jotas.html , better even, than a bottle of 1998 Vega Sicilia http://www.ebuywines.com/vega-sicilia-unico-1998.html

The Aquaris E6 made by bq. It looks like the kind of phone Godzilla or King Kong might use, but it is amazing, once you get over the initial size shock.

Bq are a small Spanish company based in Madrid who have taken on Samsung and Apple, they are quietly making great phones and selling them at shockingly reasonable prices. So reasonable you begin to wonder just how much profit other companies actually enjoy?

They make tablets, 3d printers and something that all children (or your inner child) will love, educational robotics. Yes Santa, that’s right… Educational Robotics! http://www.bqreaders.com/es/robotica-educativa.html

While they may not win any awards for aesthetics, they are clever enough to use pure android, so all phones and tablets are refreshingly free of bloatware, skins and those annoying carrier restrictions.

I am unsure as to what score they get on antutu or indeed ice storm for that matter and frankly I couldn’t care less, I have yet to meet anyone who has actually run one of those tests?

With 16 gigs of space and an sd card slot to expand your memory by up to 32 gigs you can fit all your important stuff inside.

With 2 gigs of ram the phone is quick and very responsive and should last for quite some time before being outclassed by newer competitors.

The camera is good too, 13 megapixels… whatever they are, means that you need not worry about taking photos or videos, any time, anywhere.

It has a 4000 mah battery so you can use it all day long without a worry, although you will now be unable to tell your mother, girlfriend, mistress or wife (delete where applicable) that you were out of battery.

My only complaints and they are minor niggles, is that the volume button is a little small on a phone of such size and no earphones are included.

Check out http://www.bqreaders.com/gb/ for Europe’s most reasonably priced smartphones and tablets, you will be very pleasantly surprised.

Viva Espana!