CREO is a company we’ve talked about quite a few times thus far. This company has managed to secure $3 million in funding a while back, and has announced several months ago that they’re planning to introduce their very first smartphone in April, along with the company’s very own Android-based skin. Well, the day has come, CREO introduced their Mark 1 smartphone, and Android 5.1-based Fuel OS in India, read on.
The CREO Mark 1 is made out of metal, it sports three capacitive buttons below the display, and in sheer terms of the design it is not exactly groundbreaking, but it does look quite nice. The device features a 5.5-inch QHD (2560 x 1440, 534ppi) LTPS display, along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card). This handset is fueled by MediaTek’s Helio X10 64-bit octa-core processor, and a 3,100mAh non-removable battery is also a part of this package. The phone comes with fast charging as well, and the company says you’ll get 2 hours of talk time after 10 minutes of charging. The 21-megapixel snapper is placed on the back of this device, and it does come with PDAF, and can shoot slow motion video at 120 FPS in fullHD. HDR, Panorama… and a number of other modes are available in the camera app. The 8-megapixel shooter (f/2.0 aperture, 86-degree field of view) is available on the front side of this device, and the dual-LED, dual tone flash can be found on the back of this phone as well.
The CREO Mark 1 comes with two SIM card slots (nano + micro SIM), and offers 4G LTE connectivity. Android 5.1 Lollipop comes pre-installed here, and on top of it, you’ll find the company’s Fuel OS. The Mark 1 measures 155.4 x 78.1 x 8.7mm, while it weighs 190 grams. The device comes in Gun Metal Black color option only, and is priced at Rs. 19,999 ($301) in India, and will be available through CREO’s official website (creosense.com), and via Flipkart. “We’ve been working long and hard to put out a product that redefines the way we look at hardware. In our fearless endeavor to make a smartphone that is more than just the sum of its great specs, we’ve built FUEL – an Operating System that’ll give a new phone experience every month, with features that deliver on both, performance and functionality. What makes these features better every month, is the first-of-its-kind, community inclusive update system that stems from feedback and suggestions from users. With their invaluable input, we will be able to deliver on our promise of making Android better,” said Sai Srinivas, the CEO and Co-Founder of CREO.
The Fuel OS that ships on top of Android is an all-new Android skin developed by CREO. There are quite a few features available within the OS, but the company put an emphasis on three of them, Sense, Echo and Retriever. Sense is essentially a feature which lets you find anything on your phone by double tapping the home button, no matter what app you’re in on your device. This feature will basically index everything on your phone, from settings and apps, all the way to messages, photos, etc. Echo, on the other hand, will make sure you never miss a call, in a way. Echo can answer phone calls for you if you’re not available, it’s kind of an answering machine of sorts, it lets you pre-record your response to callers in specific situations. And finally, the Retriever feature. This feature will detect theft, and will automatically trigger alerts to your Email ID when a new SIM card is inserted into your Mark 1 smartphone. Retriever does not require the phone to be connected to the internet, which makes it quite useful if you’re into extra security. That’s pretty much it, this is the CREO Mark 1 handset, and there are quite a few images available in the gallery down below.
