Electric carmaker Polestar is coming out with its own smartphone. Weird you might think, but it could be much crazier if we look at these phones.
Apple tried with the Apple Car, but it will probably never see the light of day. Xiaomi, on the other hand, is doing a lot better with the Xiaomi Car, and Sony is also working with Honda on its own car. These are all electronics brands making the switch from smartphones to electric cars.
Conversely, this is happening a lot less. We have yet to see a Tesla or BMW smartphone. Porsche does collaborate with Honor, but this has purely to do with appearance. But a full-fledged smartphone? For that you have to be with Polestar. Still, there have been even more remarkable attempts in smartphone land from non-car makers.
This is the Polestar Phone
The Chinese electric car brand is releasing a smartphone appropriately named Polestar Phone. For this it is partnering with Meizu, which already produces electronics. This is not a strange move, as both brands are under Chinese carmaker Geely.
Looking at the exterior, it looks like a stretched model of the Samsung Galaxy S24, but with a larger LED flash. On the front is a 2K+ 6.5-inch screen with a 21:9 ratio, 1250 nits brightness and a refresh rate of 120Hz.
(Image: Polestar)
Under the hood of the Polestar (Phone) is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB of RAM and 1 TB of memory. There is also room for a 5050 mAh battery. Rear cameras include a 50 MP main camera with image stabilization, a 13 MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 10 MP telephoto lens. On the front is also a 32 MP selfie camera.
Beyond the specifications and design, AI is the main focus, and perhaps most importantly, integration with your electric car. It should be like an extension of your car. Indeed, some of the brand’s electric cars come with the phone completely free of charge. However, this only applies in China, as that is where the smartphone is released.
5 other crazier phones than the Polestar Phone
While it may seem strange, there have been numerous smartphones released in the past that we never thought would appear.
Heineken Boring Phone
A recent example of distinct phones is Heineken. The company, in collaboration with HMD, has released a phone that may be the most boring phone ever. And that’s exactly the intention, because the beer brand wants people to spend less time with their smartphones in order to get more social interaction.
The dullest phone. (Image: Heineken)
Bang &Olufsen’s remarkable efforts
We know Bang & Olufsen primarily as an audio brand, but in the 2000s it tried to gain a foothold in the smartphone market with some remarkable models at even more remarkable prices.
For example, the Serenata was a slide-out music player and phone in one. It had a round button at the top and a touchscreen underneath. It partnered with Samsung and sold for $2,000. This was in 2007, while the iPhone 15 Pro is still considerably cheaper 17 years later. Not surprisingly, it was not a success.
Earlier they also came out with a folding phone that was controllable with a kind of iPod wheel with numbers around it. This one too was not a success. Fortunately, the Polestar Phone still seems quite normal by comparison.
Bang & Olufsen Serenata (Image: Bang & Olufsen)
Haier: a smartphone instead of a washing machine
Haier is best known today as a white goods brand, but in 2004 it also tried to release a smartphone. This one was quite striking, as it almost looked like a pregnancy test. With the small screen and conspicuous buttons, it was quite difficult to operate.
There was also a 0.3-megapixel camera on the back. Still, this phone did have one advantage: the battery lasted about six days on a full charge.
(Image: Haier)
Not a Polestar but Pablo Escobar
In 2019, it was possible to order the Escobar Fold. A smartphone inspired by Pablo Escobar. However, this smartphone was as criminal as the drug king himself, because it was simply a Samsung Galaxy Fold with an Escobar coating. And no, it was not white.
By the way, the idea came from Roberto De Jesus Escobar Gaviria, Pablo’s biological brother. Like his little brother, he was not averse to the shady business, as it turns out it was a scam. He offered a Galaxy Fold far below the purchase price. That deal was actually too good to be true.
(Image
Expensive but ugly: Caviar and Vertu
Not to mention brands like Caviar and Vertu. These are companies that pimp existing phones with gold, silver, platinum, Rolex watches and anything else expensive. The result: hideous smartphones that, despite the price, you really don’t want to be seen with.
Recently, Caviar released a phone inspired by the Tesla Cybertruck. But whether that was a success…
Caviar’s Tesla phone. (Image: Caviar)
Compared to the five previous phones, the Polestar Phone is not even that crazy. It seems to be a very solid device. Now let’s hope it comes to the rest of the world so we too can test it out.
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