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7 Brutal Truth Why Your Online Business in Kenya Is’nt Picking

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Times are tough due to the effect of COVID-19 and that is why to try to make ends meet, you decided to begin an online business in Kenya, either on Facebook, Instagram or you have an e-commerce site.

You thought that buy just sharing some items on your website, blog, Facebook page or Instagram pages would make the much-needed cash during these hard times.

But did it work the way you thought?

The truth is that the internet is a wonderful place and if you know what you are doing, you can make a very successful business online.

However, if you do not know what you are doing, then you will be wasting your time, and the frustration that is unbearable.

In this blog post, we bring you the truth why you online business will never take off and what you must do to redeem yourself.

7 reasons why you online business in Kenya will never take off

1. Not replying to customers’ messages

If there is anything that irritates customers is not replying to their concerns. Imagine a customer sending you a message inquiring about your products and you take like 2 days to reply.

Why waste time setting up a beautiful store, putting up your contact details, then when your customers reach you, you cannot address their concerns.

Remember customer do not need you, you need them.

Let me give you an example.

I was looking to have my laptop screen replaced, so I went online looking for a business that would offer me the service. After, identifying one, I sent them a message via Facebook. The business replied after four hours.

I was not pleased.

So we talked and asked about the costing and the expected service. The last message I sent was booking for the service at 8.00 am, on Monday the following week.

However, this dude did not reply. Mark you we were talking on Wednesday and by Sunday, there was no reply.

I never went looking for him; I went and go the service somewhere else. To cut the story short, if you are setting up an online business but you have no time to address customers concerns, then you are shooting yourself in the foot.

If you are running the business alone, then you will need someone dedicated to run your social profiles and reply to customers concerns.

Research shows that more and more people are shopping online. It is only those who will meet the customers’ demands that will make money.  

Customers have no obligation to buy from you. You are off shutting you online business in Kenya and doing something else.

2. Using the wrong Images

Now when you advertise, deliver what you additive. There cannot be two ways about this. Since your customers cannot be able to look at you goods and services as in a traditional store, you will need to upload images of your goods.

However, make sure that customers get what they see. Do not use images from the internet that are not the actual images of the product.

Even a slight difference in shade of colors is suicidal. Customers want they see, and are not there to entertain your explanations.

When you deliver something different than that you advertised, you not only lose credibility, but also loss the customers.   

If possible, take the images of the actual products using you phone camera. With skill and a good camera, you can take good images.

Because of this, customers are not keen to pay upfront, they would rather pay on delivery once the products matches there expectation.

3. Using images of whites

I see this mistake with most cloth vendors. You have some piece of cloths you want to sell online. Then, you have images of whites with those cloths on.

Am not being a racist here.

But you aren’t selling to whites here, you are selling to a different race together. It only make sense when you are selling to whites to use images of whites. The same applies to Africans.

I would rather you get some models to put on the cloths and have their images taken. When you do this, customers can relate to your product.

4. Not indicating the price of product or service

I have never understood why someone will take the trouble to advertise on Facebook or Instagram, put it lots of time and fail to indicate the price of the commodity.  

Some vendors even begin asking the customers what the price of the commodity should be. Others will want send that price to customers privately.

What that shows is that you have no business being in business, you would rather look for something else to do.

Prices of items should be in black and white for everyone to see!

This goes hand in hand with wrong pricing.

Take this example; you sell a product at Ksh.899.00 and you the then charge Ksh.300 for shipping (by the way that seems to be the standard shipping fee for small to medium items in Nairobi and its environs).

Now the same item sells at local store or supermarket at Ksh.949.00.

I hope you know where I will go buy it.

5. Not having a variety of items

I do not mean that you turn your business into some kind of a supermarket. All am saying is that you need to have a variety of items.

Let me explain myself.

Suppose you are selling some tracksuits, you will need to have different colors, sizes and for different genders.

I have seen vendors advertise items in different colors, or sizes, but in reality, they are not in stock. Advertise what you have.  

As I said earlier, save your customers the explanations.

6.  Items always out of stock

If you items are always are out of stock, then why are you in business to begin with. It only makes sense to do research and see how fast items are moving and put in place measures to restock before the current stock runs out.

Customers will not wait for you restock, they will move to your competitor.

7. You take ages to deliver items to customers

If your standard shipping time is one day, stick to that. If its three days, then let it be so.

What most online vendors do not understand is the most items they sell are also available at various local stores.

You will have to give customers a good reason to wait for three days or more.

Conclusion

More and more people are shopping online, and you can harness this to build an online presence that will keep customers coming back again and again.

Everyone is trying to sell online; you will need to stand out from them.

The truth is that the average person that sees your product is not interested in buying. If it were not so, all your Facebook friends or Instagram followers would be buying from you.

If only you can look at the seven concerns raised above, you will be able to sell and smile all the way to the bank.

If you need help managing your online business(es) in Kenya, please free to contact us.

Kenyans Who Earn Ksh. 150K and Below, To Get Mortgage at 7% per Annum

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Mortgage in Kenya: Kenyans who earn less than Ksh.150,000.00 per month will begin getting home mortgages at a rate of 7%  down from the current market rate of 11.5%.

The loans which will be given by Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC), will be channeled to customers through banks, Sacco’s and other financial institutions. These institutions will obtain the money from KMRC at a rate of 5% interest rate per year and then lend it out to customers at a rate of 7% per annum.

Kenyans earning less the Ksh.150,000.00 have been locked out of Mortgage due to the high interest of almost 12%. This development, which now is a 5% drop from the current market rates, will see more Kenyans take up mortgage in the coming years.

The Kenyan government through the National treasury backs the initiative, as it is keen to see more Kenyans own homes.

“The funds will be disbursed from September 2020 to enable more Kenyans to have access to the mortgage, “said Johnstone Oltetia, the CEO, KMRC.

“The funds will be disbursed from September 2020 to enable more Kenyans to have access to the mortgage, “said Johnstone Oltetia, the CEO, KMRC.

 “So far KMRC has mobilized nearly Sh. 40 billion, including Sh. 2.2 billion in equity capital, Sh. 25 billion committed by the World Bank and Sh. 10 billion from African Development Bank. It has plans to raise an extra Sh. 5 billion from the capital markets,” notes the CEO.

Aspiring home owners who earn less than Ksh.150,000.00 can now take the mortgage and own homes. This group has been locked out of the mortgage industry for years.  

Those earning more that Ksh. 150,000,00 will however continue to accessing mortgage at the normal market rates.

This comes even as the economy is being ravaged by the COVID-19, which has seen an uptake of rental space and housing units. Moreover, land prices have seen a marginal drop occasioned by the effects of COVID-19.

The New 2020 Land Rover Defender Launches in Kenya

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The new 2020 Land Rover Defender has been officially been launched in Kenya and already it has attracted a lot of interest from the wealthy in Kenya.

A unit of this machine costs up to Ksh. 21.6 million and those that own this country are fighting to have a piece of this engineering marvel.

And their fight for a unit is not far-fetched. The New 2020 Land Rover Defender is a car you will be proud to own in Kenya.

Specifications

For starters, Land rovers are known for their off-road maneuverability and Very comfortable to drive. For the Defender 90, there are two doors while Defender 110 has four. Moreover, there are six trim models – Defender, S, SE, HSE, First Edition, or Defender X.

Other features include an MHEV technology, which allows it to accelerate from 0 to 97 kilometers per hour in just 5.7 seconds. And it does stop there, it keeps it going all the way to its top speed of 208 kilometers per hour.

Already four units of the fifteen shipped into the country have been bought; this is according to Inchcape Kenya Limited, the dealers of the Land Rovers and Range Rovers in Kenya.

To own a unit, you will need between Ksh. 11 million and Ksh. 22 million. What do think of this magnificent machine?

Customers Seeking Ksh. 2000 and Below To Use M-Shwari

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Anyone seeking loans of Ksh.2000.00 and below on M-shwari will no longer be able to get them. Instead, customers will now get such loans on the Safaricom’s Fuliza platform.

M-Shwari,  a platform owned by Safaricom and NCBA has been giving out loans as little as Sh. 100 to the maximum limit for individual customers determined by transactions made on the platform.

This now means that to get a loan of less that Ksh. 2000.00, you will need to use Fuliza. This now makes it hard for customers to default on loans as Fuliza automatically deducts the outstanding amounts whenever money is deposited into the Mpesa account.

This move is seen as a way of reducing the number of loan defaulters who seek below Ksh.2000.00 and who are the majority of borrowers.  However, the move may see many customers shun the below Ksh.2000.00 borrowing.

“These changes will bring a clear product differentiation for borrowers. Data analysis shows that loan amounts below Ksh. 2000.00 were for unplanned expenditures that are now better served with Fuliza,” said NCBA Group managing director John Gachora while speaking to the Business Daily.

“Loan amounts below Ksh. 2000.00 were for unplanned expenditures that are now better served with Fuliza,” John Gachora, NCBA Group Managing Director.

Ksh.81 billion was borrowed through Fuliza in just 6 months, which contributed immensely to M-pesa growth of 12.4% for the year ending December 2019.

M-shwari attracts a 7.5% monthly interest, hence for a loan of say Ksh.1000.00, you will need to pay 1075.00. On the other hand, Fuliza, changes a daily fee of Ksh.1.038% until the loan is paid in full.

This clearly shows that Fuliza is more expensive; moreover, you can only use Fuliza when you are short of cash in your Mpesa wallet.

No one knows how customers will take this latest move by Safaricom and NCBA.

itel Kenya Announces One Month of Free Services To Its Customers

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You will now get a month of free services by itel Kenya after the company announced that its customers could now access the services across the country. Beginning 10th August to 10th September 2020, itel customers can walk into any service center listed below and have their devices checked.

You can do these at any Carlcare centers or itel Kenya stores countrywide. Simply walk in with your smartphone and have your device checked.

Itel Kenya Service Centers

Carlcare Centers

  • Mombasa – Carlcare-Mombasa, 2nd Floor, Alibhai Essa Plaza, Gussi Street, Opposite to Judan Mosque, behind No-Maneno Bazaar.
  • Nairobi – Carlcare-Luthuli, 2nd Floor, Complex House, Luthuli Avenue and Carlcare-Nairobi, 2nd Floor, Caxton House, Kenyatta Avenue.
  • Nyeri – Carlcare-Nyeri, Room 104, Ground Floor, Prestige Plaza, Kimathi Street.
  • Nakuru – Carlcare-Nakuru, 4th Floor,Masters plaza, kenyatta avenue.
  • Thika County – Carlcare-Thika, Room 405, 4th Floor, Johana Center, Kwame Nkrumah Road.
  • Eldoret – Carlcare-Eldoret, 4th Floor, alongside Safaricom Customer Care, Wing B, Metro Towers, Oginga Odinga Street.
  • Kisumu – Carlcare-Kisumu, 1st Floor, above Parking 3, Wing B of Nakumatt Mega Plaza.
  • Kericho County – Carlcare-Kericho, 2nd Floor, Bethany Investment Trust Ltd, Opp. Family Bank, Kericho.
  • Kisii County – Carlcare-Kisii, Groud Floor, Ouru Complex, Kisii-Kisumu Road.
  • Meru – Carlcare-Meru, 1st Floor, Town Mobile Center(Next to Uchumi Supermarket), Ghana Street

Itel Kenya Stores

  • Central Electronics, Nairobi
  • Orchards Communications, Thika
  • Stargate Communication, Thika
  • Ropem, Nakuru
  • Digitronics 2, Nakuru
  • Gadgets world 2,Meru
  • Quicom MERU, Meru
  • Babdis, Mombasa
  • Wireless 2, Mombasa
  • Airtel express : Moi Avenue, Nairobi
  • Dhaval emporium, Eldoret
  • Kieoron Enterprises, Eldoret

Services to provided during the one month

All the Kenya Carlcare Service Centers you will be able to get the following services.

  • Half Price Accessories Purchasing From Carclare – 50% discount for any itel customer purchase accessories from Carlcare center with itel service moth raffels.
  • FREE itel Smartphone System/Software Update – Now you can surf with the most updated features.
  • 100 Days Free Replacement – If your itel smartphone is not artificially damaged and the issue can’t be solved by software upgrade, within 100 days from the original date of purchase, it can be replaced with the same model or repaired with no charge.
  • Half Price Screen Replacement – This policy applies to screen replacement of models including A56, A36, and P36.
  • FREE itel Phone Cleansing and FREE Smartphone Protector – Of course, you can get the same kind of services as in itel stores.

At selected stores, you will be able to;

  • FREE Smartphone Protector – Particularly for people with the A56, A36, and P36 models.
  • FREE itel Phone Cleansing – Ethanol wipes to keep your phone germ-free.

If you have an itel phone, you can take advantage of the one-month free service to give your device a new lease of life.

Equity Group Purchases Ksh. 10.3 Billion Stake in Congolese Bank

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Equity bank has completed a purchase worthy Ksh. 10.3 billion to complete the acquisition of 66.53 percent in Commercial Bank of Congo (Banque Commerciale du Congo).

In a statement on Tuesday, the bank noted, “Equity Group Holdings is pleased to inform its shareholders and the public that conditions precedent to the acquisition including the receipt of corporate and regulatory approvals have been fulfilled and/or waived and the acquisition was completed on August 7, 2020.”

The deal, which doubles on the local bank’s presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), follows the completion of a share purchase agreement earlier with George Arthur Forrest- the bank’s majority stakeholder.

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Equity Group reveled that its payment of Ksh 10.3 billion for controlling the stake, was down from Ksh 11. 4 billion following a discount of Ksh.1.1 billion occasioned by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following this takeover, Equity Group will now merge its operations in Democratic Republic of Congo with the existing subsidiary, as the Commercial Bank of Congo will now become another subsidiary of Equity group.

The Equity Group’s recent move goes along with its goal of becoming a Pan-African Bank with a presence in several African countries. Equity bank is found in countries such as Kenya and South Sudan. With the takeover of the Atlas Mara, which is yet to take place, Equity will be in Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique.

In Kenya Equity is the Second largest bank by asset base and it is the bank that revolutionized the banking sector as we know it today. Customers can open accounts at the bank at Zero deposit. Moreover, Equity agents are dotted all around the country, giving customers access to financial services. Customers can also make transactions using there mobile phones or online.

Toshiba Officially Quits Manufacturing Laptops

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Toshiba the giant Japanese laptop maker that has been a huge brand name in the business has officially quit the laptop manufacturing business.

In a press release, the company said that it is done with the business after transferring their shares held at Dynabook to Sharp. In the move, 19.9% of shares were transferred to Sharp from Dynabook, hence making the later a subsidiary of Sharp.

During the press release, Toshiba said, “On June 30, 2020, under the terms of the share purchase agreement, Sharp exercised a call option for the remaining outstanding shares of Dynabook held by Toshiba, and Toshiba has completed procedures for their transfer.”

It should be remembered that In June of 2018, Toshiba transferred 80.1% of outstanding shares of Toshiba Client Solutions Co Ltd (TCS) that was their wholly-owned subsidiary in the PC business. TCS then changed its name to Dynabook in January of 2019. The company ended up selling 80.1% of its laptop business to Sharp for only $36 million, which drastically reduced its share.

It has been 35 years since Toshiba manufactured its first laptop that was a 3.5 inch flop disk and 256K memory called the T1100.

The company has been successful over the years and the brand name Toshiba was been a name to behold in the laptop world in the ’90s and 2000s.

Toshiba lovers will not be happy with this news, as the laptops have been famous all over the world. Personally, I take the hit knowing that over the years, I have known no other laptop but Toshiba. In fact, I wrote this article on a Toshiba laptop, which has served me through the years without issues.

Today laptop markets are dominated by Lenovo, which as of 2018, had a market share of 23%, followed closely by HP with a market share of 22%. Dell, Apple, Asus, and Acer follow with market shares below 10%.

Infinix Hot 10 Leaks; Here Is What We Know So Far.

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After the Infinix Hot 9, hot on its heels is the Infinix HOT 10, which has now leaked before the official announcement.

Many online listings are awash with what we should expect from the net HOT device, coolly named as the Infinix HOT 10.

Now that the phone has leaked, this is what we know so far. For starters, it has a 4GB RAM as expected and which is now the standard for many mid-range phones. More it has a HD+ display with a 1640*720 resolution.

The other thing to note is it huge battery, which is a 5100mAh battery, the phone runs the Mediatek Helio G70 processor.

Leaks show that the device could come as a HOT 10, a HOT 10 Lite, and a Hot 10 Play, as was the case with Infinix Hot 9 that has been in the market for some time now.

So far, we know nothing about the cameras from the leaks, at this point, we can only speculate, however, the X682C and X682B model numbers also popped-up in a TUV Rheinland certification.

With the leak, we can now look forward to the official announcement. When that happens, we will bring you the full specifications and price in Kenya.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Price in Kenya and Full Specifications

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This post brings you Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Price in Kenya and full specifications. The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a device of its kind and a superior phone to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

The phone has been announced in Kenya by Samsung Kenya at costs Ksh. 137,000.00. It is one of those high-end phones we are going to see around for a while.

From the 14th August 2020, pre-orders can be made by anyone willing to own this piece of art. Here below are the full specifications.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Full Specifications and Price in Kenya.

Summary

performanceSnapdragon 865
storage256 GB
camera108MP + 13MP + 12MP
battery5100 mAh
display6.9″ (17.53 cm)
ram12 GB
Launch Date in KenyaAugust 5, 2020 (Unofficial)
Price In Kenya Ksh. 137,000.00

Key specs

front camera40 MP
battery5100 mAh
processorQualcomm Snapdragon 865
display6.9 inches
ram12 GB
rear camera108 MP + 13 MP + 12 MP

Special features

other sensorsLight sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope
fingerprint sensor positionOn-screen
fingerprint sensorYes

General

quick chargingYes
operating systemAndroid v10 (Q)
sim slotsDual SIM, GSM+GSM
modelGalaxy Note 20 Ultra
launch dateAugust 5, 2020 (Unofficial)
brandSamsung
sim sizeSIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano (Hybrid)
network5G: Supported by device (network not rolled-out in India), 4G: Available (supports Indian bands), 3G: Available, 2G: Available
fingerprint sensorYes

Multimedia

audio jack3.5 mm
loudspeakerYes

Performance

chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 865
graphicsAdreno 650
processorOcta core (2.84 GHz, Single core, Kryo 585 + 2.42 GHz, Tri core, Kryo 585 + 1.8 GHz, Quad core, Kryo 585)
architecture64 bit
ram12 GB

Display

display typeDynamic AMOLED
bezelless displayYes with punch-hole display
pixel density488 ppi
screen size6.9 inches (17.53 cm)
refresh rate120 Hz
screen resolution1440 x 3040 pixels
touch screenYes Capacitive Touchscreen

Storage

internal memory256 GB
expandable memoryYes Up to 1 TB

Camera

camera setupSingle
settingsExposure compensation, ISO control
camera featuresDigital Zoom, Auto Flash, Face detection, Touch to focus
image resolution12000 x 9000 Pixels
main cameraYes 108 MP, Auto focus
autofocusYes Phase Detection autofocus
shooting modesContinuos Shooting, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
resolution40 MP Primary Camera
optical image stabilisationYes
flashYes LED Flash

Battery

user replaceableNo
typeLi-Polymer
quick chargingYes Fast
usb typecYes
wireless chargingYes
capacity5100 mAh

Network connectivity

wifiYes Wi-Fi 802.11, b/g/n/n 5GHz
wifi featuresMobile Hotspot
bluetoothYes v5.1
volteYes
usb connectivityMass storage device, USB charging
nfcYes
network support5G supported by device (network not rolled-out in Kenya), 4G (supports Kenyan bands), 3G, 2G
gpsYes with A-GPS, Glonass
sim 14G Bands:TD-LTE 2300(band 40) FD-LTE 1800(band 3)3G Bands: UMTS 1900 / 2100 / 850 / 900 MHz2G Bands: GSM 1800 / 1900 / 850 / 900 MHz GPRS:Available EDGE:Available
sim sizeSIM1: Nano, SIM2: Nano (Hybrid)
sim 24G Bands: TD-LTE 2300(band 40) FD-LTE 1800(band 3)3G Bands: UMTS 1900 / 2100 / 850 / 900 MHz 2G Bands: GSM 1800 / 1900 / 850 / 900 MHz GPRS:Available EDGE:Available

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Price In Kenya and Full Specifications

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 has just been launched in Kenya, here is the price and full specifications. But first, a look at the phone shows that it closely resembles the Note 10 lite.

For starters, it has a1080p max display resolution, and as we expected it does not have the refresh rate panel.

Samsung Kenya announced that the phone would cost Ksh. 107,000.00 and that you can pre-order the phone from August 14th, 2020.

Here below are the full specifications.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Full Specifications and Price In Kenya

Summary

performanceSamsung Exynos 9 Octa
storage128 GB
camera108MP + 48MP + 12MP
battery4300 mAh
display6.9″ (17.53 cm)
ram12 GB
Launch Date in KenyaAugust 5, 2020 (Unofficial)
Price in KenyaKsh. 106,000.00

Key specs

front camera40 MP
battery4300 mAh
processorSamsung Exynos 9 Octa 990
display6.9 inches
ram12 GB
rear camera108 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP

Special features

other sensorsLight sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope
fingerprint sensor positionOn-screen
fingerprint sensorYes

General

quick chargingYes
operating systemAndroid v10 (Q)
sim slotsDual SIM, GSM+GSM
modelGalaxy Note 20
launch dateAugust 5, 2020 (Unofficial)
brandSamsung
sim sizeSIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano (Hybrid)
network4G: Available (supports Indian bands), 3G: Available, 2G: Available
fingerprint sensorYes

Multimedia

audio jack3.5 mm
loudspeakerYes

Performance

chipsetSamsung Exynos 9 Octa 990
graphicsMali-G77 MP11
processorOcta core (2.73 GHz, Dual core + 2.31 GHz, Dual core, Cortex A76 + 1.95 GHz, Quad core, Cortex A55)
architecture64 bit
ram12 GB

Design

width75.3 mm
waterproofYes Water resistant
thickness8.5 mm
ruggednessDust proof
height161.8 mm

Display

display typeSuper AMOLED
bezelless displayYes with punch-hole display
pixel density488 ppi
screen protectionCorning Gorilla Glass
screen to body ratio calculated97.05 %
screen size6.9 inches (17.53 cm)
refresh rate120 Hz
screen resolution1440 x 3040 pixels
touch screenYes Capacitive Touchscreen, Multi-touch

Storage

internal memory128 GB
expandable memoryYes Up to 512 GB

Camera

camera setupSingle
settingsExposure compensation, ISO control
camera featuresDigital Zoom, Auto Flash, Face detection, Touch to focus
image resolution12000 x 9000 Pixels
main cameraYes 108 MP, Auto focus
autofocusYes Phase Detection autofocus
shooting modesContinuos Shooting, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
resolution40 MP Primary Camera
flashYes LED Flash

Battery

user replaceableNo
typeLi-Polymer
quick chargingYes Fast
usb typecYes
wireless chargingYes
capacity4300 mAh

Network connectivity

wifiYes Wi-Fi 802.11, b/g/n
wifi featuresMobile Hotspot
bluetoothYes v5.0
volteYes
usb connectivityMass storage device, USB charging
nfcYes
network support4G (supports Kenyan bands), 3G, 2G
gpsYes with A-GPS, Glonass
sim 14G Bands:TD-LTE 2300(band 40) FD-LTE 1800(band 3)3G Bands: UMTS 1900 / 2100 / 850 / 900 MHz2G Bands: GSM 1800 / 1900 / 850 / 900 MHz GPRS:Available EDGE:Available
sim sizeSIM1: Nano, SIM2: Nano (Hybrid)
sim 24G Bands: TD-LTE 2300(band 40) FD-LTE 1800(band 3)3G Bands: UMTS 1900 / 2100 / 850 / 900 MHz 2G Bands: GSM 1800 / 1900 / 850 / 900 MHz GPRS:Available EDGE:Available