Motorola’s XT531 brings Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the unwashed masses

Motorola has taken the wraps off of its latest budget-minded Android smartphone, the XT531. The XT531 will be targeted to the lower end of the market when it arrives in Asia, Europe, and Latin America this month and later this fall.

Despite its budget phone stature, Motorola managed to put Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the XT531, something that other manufacturers can’t manage with even their most high-ranking of smartphones (I’m looking at you, LG). The XT531 sports a 3.5-inch, HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) resolution display and is powered by an 800MHz processor. It has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and a flash on the back, with a VGA camera up front for video calls. There is 512MB of internal storage, and the XT531 supports microSD cards up to 32GB in capacity. A 1540mAh battery provides up to 8 hours of talk time or 28 days of standby life. Motorola also threw in an FM radio and notification light.

The XT531 runs Motorola’s custom interface on top of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and it also has the Moto Switch UI that allows users to easily switch between work and play home screen setups on their phones.

Chinese customers can expect to see the XT531 to arrive on shelves this month, while the other parts of the world will see it later this fall. Pricing is subject to specific markets, but whatever it is, we expect it to be low.