The company will need lots of luck and savvy to succeed here.
If you take a look at who's making reasonably priced unlocked phones for the US, you'll see Chinese names like ZTEand Huaweipop up a lot. Freetel — a Japanese smartphone maker — wants in on that game, and it hopes a touch of Japanese design philosophy will help it stand out in a far-flung market that's notoriously tough to squeeze into. That's partially the idea behind announcing the Rei, a $249 Marshmallow-powered device that they expect to launch in the US within 6 to 7 weeks.
Gallery: Hands-on with Freetel's Rei smartphone | 12 Photos