 If you're used to spending $600, $700, $800 on a phone, then you're used to seeing specs like octa-core processors, 4 gigabytes of RAM, 64 gigabytes of storage. Just really top tier stuff that's going to run great. But there are a lot of huge markets, like India, where people can only afford much, much cheaper phones. We're talking $100 or so. And in those markets, Android doesn't work so well. It can be sluggish and unresponsive. Now Google is trying to fix that $100 phone experience with something called Android Go. Technically Android Oreo Go edition, but that's a mouthful. It's a new stripped down version of Android that's supposed to make the operating system run better on phones without a lot of processing power and RAM. Here's how it works. First, even though Android Go looks just like normal Android, it's been optimized to work for phones that have one gigabyte of RAM or less. This is actually the first time the Google Assistant has been able to run on hardware this basic, which is an important addition. Now I've been testing these phones for the past few days and they don't run as smooth as a Pixel, but that's not the point. They still run pretty well. And in the past, phones this cheap have had trouble just opening apps. The real question though is how they're going to perform a year from now. And right now that's just impossible to say. The second big change we can see much more clearly. Android and Android apps now take up way less space. The default install size is a little over three gigs. That's as opposed to five or six gigabytes beforehand, which is a huge savings, especially considering these phones likely had eight gigabytes of storage to begin with. A lot of that storage saving comes from apps. Google has replaced all of Android's default apps with Go edition apps. So there's Maps Go, Gmail Go, Google Go. They're just like the normal version of the apps for the most part, but Google has stripped away extraneous features that it thinks won't be that useful in these markets. And in doing so, they're able to bring the size of them way down. If you do have a Go edition phone, it's not like you're limited from getting the normal versions of these apps either. You can still go and download the full Gmail if you want it. It's just going to take up more space. These apps also help you save on mobile data. One of the big ones is YouTube Go. It lets you download videos for offline viewing and it'll tell you exactly how much data you're going to use when you go to stream a video. That's a huge help if you're in a country with a very limited and expensive data plan. Here at Mobile World Congress, Google introduced the first six Android Go phones. It's expecting a lot more in the future. So far, my favorite is the Nokia 1, which has these colorful interchangeable back shells. It's not the nicest phone in the world, but it has a decent screen and a nice design. And compared to some of the other options, that's definitely a standout. Ultimately, performance still comes down to the hardware manufacturer and how much extra software they choose to bog down the phone with. Android Go isn't a silver bullet for all the problems with low-end Android phones. Most Android Go phones will be in the $50 to $130 range. They'll be sold everywhere, including in the US. But Google is really targeting markets where people are buying their first smartphones and even a $200 phone is seen as a luxury. Android Go needs to run well enough to convince people to not go and buy another feature phone. If all this sounds familiar, it's probably because you're thinking of Android One. That was a similar program Google started a few years back to help manufacturers make good, cheap Android phones. But the program kind of died off and it's since been revamped as a stock Android program, which is cool, but not at all what the program started out as. Google seems to have learned from that failure. Instead of approaching things from the hardware side, it's now going in through software. And after all, software is Google's strong suit. Android Go isn't going to fix cheap smartphones overnight or even this year, but it does seem to be moving Android in the right direction. Now, Google just has to convince consumers that Android Go is a good thing to have on their phone. Hey, thanks for watching this video in surprisingly frozen Barcelona. It's been wonderful. Please subscribe at youtube.com slash the verge. Visit theverge.com. We've got more there.
 If you're used to spending $600, $700, $800 on a phone,
 then you're used to seeing specs like octa-core processors,
 4 gigabytes of RAM, 64 gigabytes of storage.
 Just really top tier stuff that's going to run great.
 But there are a lot of huge markets, like India,
 where people can only afford much, much cheaper phones.
 We're talking $100 or so.
 And in those markets, Android doesn't work so well.
 It can be sluggish and unresponsive.
 Now Google is trying to fix that $100 phone experience
 with something called Android Go.
 Technically Android Oreo Go edition,
 but that's a mouthful.
 It's a new stripped down version of Android
 that's supposed to make the operating system run better
 on phones without a lot of processing power and RAM.
 Here's how it works.
 First, even though Android Go looks just like normal Android,
 it's been optimized to work for phones
 that have one gigabyte of RAM or less.
 This is actually the first time the Google Assistant
 has been able to run on hardware this basic,
 which is an important addition.
 Now I've been testing these phones for the past few days
 and they don't run as smooth as a Pixel,
 but that's not the point.
 They still run pretty well.
 And in the past, phones this cheap
 have had trouble just opening apps.
 The real question though is how they're going to perform
 a year from now.
 And right now that's just impossible to say.
 The second big change we can see much more clearly.
 Android and Android apps now take up way less space.
 The default install size is a little over three gigs.
 That's as opposed to five or six gigabytes beforehand,
 which is a huge savings, especially considering
 these phones likely had eight gigabytes of storage
 to begin with.
 A lot of that storage saving comes from apps.
 Google has replaced all of Android's default apps
 with Go edition apps.
 So there's Maps Go, Gmail Go, Google Go.
 They're just like the normal version of the apps
 for the most part, but Google has stripped away
 extraneous features that it thinks won't be that useful
 in these markets.
 And in doing so, they're able to bring the size of them
 way down.
 If you do have a Go edition phone,
 it's not like you're limited from getting the normal
 versions of these apps either.
 You can still go and download the full Gmail if you want it.
 It's just going to take up more space.
 These apps also help you save on mobile data.
 One of the big ones is YouTube Go.
 It lets you download videos for offline viewing
 and it'll tell you exactly how much data you're going to use
 when you go to stream a video.
 That's a huge help if you're in a country
 with a very limited and expensive data plan.
 Here at Mobile World Congress, Google introduced
 the first six Android Go phones.
 It's expecting a lot more in the future.
 So far, my favorite is the Nokia 1,
 which has these colorful interchangeable back shells.
 It's not the nicest phone in the world,
 but it has a decent screen and a nice design.
 And compared to some of the other options,
 that's definitely a standout.
 Ultimately, performance still comes down
 to the hardware manufacturer and how much extra software
 they choose to bog down the phone with.
 Android Go isn't a silver bullet for all the problems
 with low-end Android phones.
 Most Android Go phones will be in the $50 to $130 range.
 They'll be sold everywhere, including in the US.
 But Google is really targeting markets
 where people are buying their first smartphones
 and even a $200 phone is seen as a luxury.
 Android Go needs to run well enough to convince people
 to not go and buy another feature phone.
 If all this sounds familiar,
 it's probably because you're thinking of Android One.
 That was a similar program Google started a few years back
 to help manufacturers make good, cheap Android phones.
 But the program kind of died off
 and it's since been revamped as a stock Android program,
 which is cool, but not at all
 what the program started out as.
 Google seems to have learned from that failure.
 Instead of approaching things from the hardware side,
 it's now going in through software.
 And after all, software is Google's strong suit.
 Android Go isn't going to fix cheap smartphones overnight
 or even this year,
 but it does seem to be moving Android
 in the right direction.
 Now, Google just has to convince consumers
 that Android Go is a good thing to have on their phone.
 Hey, thanks for watching this video
 in surprisingly frozen Barcelona.
 It's been wonderful.
 Please subscribe at youtube.com slash the verge.
 Visit theverge.com.
 We've got more there.