OnePlus is an interesting business. They introduced a 2014 flagship killer, the OnePlus One, based around a 2.5 GHz, quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and a 1080p, 5.5-inch display and either 16 GB or 64 GB of storage. It’s also very well priced and runs Cyanogenmod out of the box: this is a superb choice of device for those Android fans amongst us. And OnePlus’ marketing strategy, which was we believed as based around a budget of $300, has raised a few eyebrows over the course of the last seven or eight months but if marketing is measured by the scale of words in column inches and on lips, we can’t claim it anything other than a success. If only every manufacturer had a high end product at a fantastic price, right? But it seems that other businesses are interested in copying OnePlus’ success.
That’s perhaps what we’re seeing as a manufacturer called “xodiom” has cropped up offering a high value, high powered device. It’s based around a 2.7 GHz, quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, which is a slightly newer model compared to the Snapdragon 801. This is the same processor that lurks inside some versions of the Samsung Galaxy Note and the Google Nexus 6. The xodiom smartphone also includes 3 GB of memory, a 16 MP rear camera, an optically stabilized 5 MP front camera and a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display (just like the Note 4 and Nexus 6). There’s a 3,200 mAh battery and it’s available in 32 GB or 64 GB flavors. The handset has the expected high speed WiFi and 4G LTE networks, a very fast autofocus system and it is designed to be life-proof, being impervious to perspiration, liquids, sand and dust. The handset has ultraviolet, heartrate and blood oxygen sensors. It’ll run a skinned version of Android 5.0 Lollipop.
That sounds great, right? It’s as though xodiom have taken a look through all of the features that made the OnePlus One, Note 4, Nexus 6 great, thrown in a few of their own and wrapped it up with an inexpensive sticker price. So how cheap is this budget device? The 32 GB mode is just $329 and the 64 GB model is $379, available in back and shipping on the 5 January, 2015. Perhaps that sounds too good to be true and you know what… it might be. Xodiom are only accepting money via Bitcoin or wire transfer and we’re yet to see a real photograph of the handset – the image above is a render and it’s hardly illustrative of the design! There’s no contact information for xodiom besides the contact form so as tempted as you might be, I would absolutely recommend sitting on your hands.