Nextbit Robin, the ‘Cloud First’ smartphone that was launched via a highly-successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter last September, will now be available for purchase in India, according to an official announcement from the company. The device will be officially launched in the country by the end of this month, and while nothing has been announced on the pricing front, that information will probably be revealed only when the device is actually launched in the country within the next couple of weeks or so. The smartphone currently costs $399 in the US, but a limited number of units were initially offered at just $299 for early-birds on Kickstarter. The smartphone is only compatible with GSM-based networks as the company earlier this year cancelled plans to release a CDMA version because of spiraling development costs.
For those unaware of the Nextbit Robin, it is a ‘Cloud First’ smartphone that is designed, developed and marketed by Nextbit, which happens to be a San Francisco, California-based tech company. The Robin is the very first smartphone launched by Nextbit, and comes with the promise of at least 100 GB of free cloud storage, something that sets it apart from its competitors in the highly-competitive Android smartphone market. What it means in essence is that it relies on the cloud to backup all the data on the phone but also has the ability to store directly to the cloud when it senses inadequate internal storage. The device went on sale earlier this year and started shipping to its original backers in February.
On the hardware side of things, the Nextbit Robin features a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS LCD display and comes with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage out of the box. The device is powered by a Snapdragon 808 chip from Qualcomm and sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with phase detection autofocus and dual-LED flash. As for the selfie-cam, the device comes with a 5-megapixel shooter on the front and carries a 2,680 mAh battery. The handset offers support for LTE connectivity, alongside Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and GPS. It also comes with a USB Type-C port that is used for charging and data syncing. The phone also has a fingerprint scanner and front-facing stereo speakers.