Google-owned manufacturer Motorola has unveiled its latest handset, the 4.5” Moto G.

The handset looks solid, running on Android 4.3 (Jellybean), with an upgrade to 4.4 (KitKat) promised at the start of next year, powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor. But the real star is the price, which starts at $179 (£112).

Tellingly, while the handset isnt launching in the US until January, it will be available in Brazil and parts of Europe this week. Next on the roadmap are the rest of Latin America and Europe, as well as Canada and parts of Asia, showing that Motorola is targeting less traditional markets with the rollout.

“The smartphone industry has relegated hundreds of millions of smartphone buyers to second-class status, preventing them from experiencing the mobile internet at its best,” the official statement reads, making a pretty clear dig at the competition. “That’s because price-conscious consumers who don’t want to pay $600 or more for high-end smartphones have been left with two bad options. The first is to buy cheap, new smartphones made with second-rate technology that don’t do justice to modern apps and experiences like navigation, video chat and games. The second is to buy low cost versions of premium products that were released two or three years ago and are already obsolete.

“We think there should be a better option. Everybody deserves to be on the mobile internet, and price shouldn’t stand in the way of anyone having a truly good smartphone to get them there.”

As well as being available through operators and traditional retailers, the Moto G is following in the footsteps of previous Google phones and being sold unlocked, direct from the manufacturer. In the US, buying an 8GB device this way will cost $179, and a 16GB $199.