The Moto E5 Play – released as a US exclusive – is coming to the UK, the company has announced.

The entry-level Android Go Oreo edition handset will be available from July 14 for the ultra-affordable price of £69 on pre-paid and £89 SIM-free. Sounds like the perfect back-up phone to us.

It’s available on the O2, EE and Three networks from Tesco, Amazon, Argos and Carphone Warehouse. It’s also going to be available in black and gold.

The E5 Play is then most modest handset in the Motorola line-up and will arrive in the UK with a 5.3-inch, 18:9 screen. Cameras are a basic 8-megapixels and 5-megapixels respectively. The handset has a 2100mAh battery, quad-core processors and 1GB of RAM.

Related: What is Android Go?

There’s a fingerprint sensor, but not a lot else to shout about.

The key selling point here though is the presence of the Android Go version of Oreo, which features fewer pre-installed apps and lightweight versions of Google’s core apps, like YouTube, Maps and Chrome. The idea here is to place less strain on budget hardware.

There’s also an Android Go section of the Google Play Store featuring compatible apps from third party developers.

The E5 arrives in the UK amid rumours Samsung is also plotting to bring its first Android Go phone to the UK. Recent speculation has tipped a similar spec sheet. It’s set to arrive rocking a 5-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 1.4GHz quad cor Exynos 7570 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 2600mAh battery. In terms of cameras, the leak suggests it would be an 8MP affair on the rear, and 5MP on the front.

Would you consider an Android Go phone as a secondary, back-up phone? Have you used the OS before? Share your thoughts with us @TrustedReviews on Twitter