EE has introduced the Hawk smartphone, a wallet-friendly device at £150 that is Cat 6-enabled, meaning it can support 4G+ download speeds up to 300mbps. The Hawk has already proven to produce download speeds of 238mbps at London's Wembley Stadium on the EE network.
It's unlikely you'll get download speeds anywhere near that on a regular basis, but for such a budget price, the Hawk is more future-proofed than other budget, and even some more expensive phones.
Elsewhere you shouldn't expect flagship-like specs, but you do get a 5-inch 720 x 1280 HD display, 1.5GHz MediaTek octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable memory, a 13-megapixel camera on the back and an 8-megapixel camera on the front. EE says the built-in rechargeable 2,500mAh battery is capable of powering the Hawk for 10 hours on a single charge. Other features include a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, NFC for enabling Android Pay and Android 7.1 Nougat.
Sharon Meadows, Director of Devices from EE said: "We’ve built the most advanced mobile network in the UK and we want as many people as possible to enjoy the benefits."
"The Hawk gives customers superfast 4G+ speeds, 4G Calling and WiFi Calling, plus a range of features typically associated with flagship smartphones – all at a fraction of the price. We believe this latest addition to our EE-branded range offers one of the best value smartphone experiences available today – reinforcing our position as the number one for the latest handsets."
The EE Hawk will be available from 1 December for £149.99 on EE Pay As You Go or from £14.99 on a 24-month contract. Every Hawk will come supplied with a free pair of JBL headphones, three months of free access to BT Sport and six months of free Apple Music. Read more about it here.