Globally, Micromax may not be a frequently heard of brand. However, in India, the brand has a wide audience and the brand is very popular for their handsets, mainly because they cater to a very wide consumer base. With their tag line, ‘Nothing like Anything,’ the brand in the past have launched a range of handsets with neat features, such as dual SIM capabilities, handsets that feature above average battery life and other interesting attributes. As per an exclusive report by The Mobile Indian, it appears that the brand is going to introduce a new feature on their upcoming and yet unnamed handset by adding a solar panel that allows one to charge the phone easily.

As per the report, Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Micromax has stated, “We have been at the forefront of innovation. We were the first to launch long battery life phones, dual SIM phones and many more. Our next innovation is to get rid of the mobile phone charger by including a solar panel in our next phone. This solar charger will top up the charge in 3 hours to support 1.5 hours of talktime."

As of yet, no other details have been let out about this upcoming handset, but Rahul Sharma has informed the Mobile Indian that it will not be a smartphone and will instead be a feature phone. For those not in the know how, feature phones are basically mobile phones by manufacturers that are not considered to be smartphones. They may possess various features and capabilities that are not found in general mobile phones, but additional features put them slightly above basic mobile phones. They usually have a JAVA-based operating system, as opposed to Android or Windows Phones and are generally cheaper than most smartphones.

This is not the first mobile phone to implement a solar panel as a means of charging as in the past, Vodafone have released the VF 247 priced at Rs.1,500. The launch of the Micromax handset is scheduled to take place within a week and when it is announced all the features of the handset will come to light.