A beverage company crossing over to smartphone manufacturing? That was unheard of, until now. Well, sort of.
A month ago, it was reported that Pepsi will be presenting a handset soon. And now, the buzz has become reality, with an aluminum body and a "5.5" 1080p screen (with 2.5D glass) and an octa-core MT6592 chipset," according to GSM Arena.
"The phone itself is manufactured by Shenzhen Scooby Communication Equipment," the tech news portal said. "The software is called dido OS and is based on Android 5.1 Lollipop."
Further, the device, called the Pepsi Phone P1, features a 13MP rear camera with an f/2.0, 1/3.06" aperture and a 5MP front-facing camera. It also has a fingerprint scanner and is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery. It's also dual-SIM and is LTE-capable.
Additionally, it has 2GB of RAM and has a 16GB internal storage capacity that can be extended by a microSD.
"The handset is available right now on JD.com for CNY 699 ($110/€100), though that's a limited offer for 1,000 users (an early bird offer for CNY 499 already ran out)," GSM Arena said. "The P1 will come with a charger, cable and a protective case."
Right now, the P1 is being crowdfunded on JD+ (JD.com) in China and will be launched after the project hits its $470,000 goal (about 3 million yuan, according to Quartz) by December 3. The first batch of pre-orders, which had the early bird price of $78, was already sold out, Phandroid said.
"Pepsi is making 4,000 units available. The first 1,000 pledgers can purchase the P1 phone at 499 yuan (about $78)," Quartz said. "The next thousand can purchase the P1s, which is identical to the P1 save for an extra SIM card slot, at 699 ($110)."
"The next thousand can buy the P1s for 999 yuan ($156), and the final thousand can get it for 1,299 yuan ($203)," it added.
Should the project reach its target funding, all who had pre-ordered will get a unit.
The site also provided more details about the P1's look. It has the Pepsi logo on the back and has a Pepsi-themed wallpaper. If it's not yet obvious, this device is only available in China.
This development had some observers noting how easy it is to make a smartphone in China that even a beverage company can have it made and marked with its brand.
"Smartphones are so easy to make that they're no longer cutting-edge technology-they're swag," Quartz pointed out. "That means that high-profile brands like Samsung and LG aren't just competing with Apple or Xiaomi for sales-they're also competing with no-name brands, or perhaps even a soda maker."
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