Macate Group, a US company which said it “designs and creates state-of-the-art cybersecurity phones and secure financial transaction devices”, announced it is moving into the UK market with its first device set to launch “later this year”.

While secure smartphones have been the focus of a number of other vendors, these have often come with hefty price tags. Macate’s first device is a mid-range smartphone retailing at £249.

It said AES256 compatability means the device offers the maximum security level currently available to consumers. It also features the NetMe secure communication app.

The smartphone, Genio, has a 5-inch HD screen, 13MP rear and 5MP front camera, and runs “pure Android 7”. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quadcore MediaTek processor, with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (with microSD slot).

Available SIM-free, it comes in white, gold, black and champagne.