Are you confused after reading the headline? Don’t worry, so is everyone else who’s had a chance to look at this latest device from Korean mobile giant Samsung. Their latest smartphone for the Chinese market is powerful, modern, and sports a vintage design. Apparently Samsung is trying to capitalize the affinity many consumers have for the flip phone, or clamshell, design by combining its form factor with a modern twist in the new SCH-W2013. Did you think there would be a time when we would call the flip phone design unique?
The device is not the most powerful device on the market, but it’s certainly up-to-date and packs more of a punch than one might expect from such an old form. It’s definitely not a standard device that you’re going to see millions of Chinese users carrying, particularly because of its fairly outlandish price tag; coming in at a steep $3,000. You read that right.
It’s actually not the first time that Samsung has pushed a super expensive smartphone/flip phone combination in China. Just a year ago the company launched the W999, which also featured two screen and the Android OS. Before that was the W899, so really the company has a fairly established history of pushing this design style, despite how foreign it may seem in other markets.
How does a giant mobile device company pitch such a different device to the growing Chinese market? By enlisting the services of Mr. Jackie Chan. He’s not merely the spokesperson for the device, the phone was actually designed for him specifically. The device was unveiled at a charity event, during which the movie star was handed his own W2013 and kicked off their marketing campaign.
So what kind of specs can consumers expect from this device? Here are the details straight from Samsung China:
- Clamshell Design
- Dual 3.7-inch Super AMOLED
- Quad-Core 1.4GHz Processor
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB Storage
- GSM 900/1,800/1,900MHz
- CDMA 800/1,900MHz
- Android 4.0
- 800×480 WVGA Resolution
- Bluetooth 4
- Wi-Fi Capable
- 8MP Camera
- 1.9MP Front-Facing Camera
- 195g
- Size 117.8 x 60 x 16.83 mm
The device is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich along with Samsung’s own TouchWiz UI. The OS will undoubtedly need a few adjustments to accomodate the design, and there’s no clear indication of how much functionality each screen will give users. The phone also features connectivity to both the GSM and CDMA networks, each with their own SIM slots.
There’s no official plan to release this device in other markets.
Source: Samsung