Kogan's latest "flagship" smartphone costs less than $200

E-tailer Kogan is back with another home-brand smartphone: the Kogan Agora 8. Dubbed a flagship, the $199 device has many of the features you'd expect from a more expensive phone, including a glass-and-aluminium build and a fingerprint reader on the back. But putting the pretty exterior aside, the Agora 8's internals are very much in line with other phones in its price range.

Key specifications include a 5-inch 720p display, a MediaTek MT6737 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a rear-facing fingerprint reader, a 2,400mAh battery said to last to all day, and a 13MP rear-facing camera.

While the Agora 8 ships with Android Nougat, it's worth noting that Kogan hasn't had a great track record when it comes to supporting its home-brand devices with software updates after launch.

Dual SIM capabilities are also on offer, but the second SIM is limited to 2G connectivity. Given that Australia won't have any 2G networks left by the end of the year (Telstra's is already dead), you'd only really get utility out of this when overseas. For example, if you were to get a local SIM at your destination for data, and keep your Australian SIM in the 2G slot for talk and text.

Kogan's Agora 8 is available for preorder now (exclusively through Kogan) ahead a June 9 shipping date.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio