Smartisan is everything but a household name in the West. Even in its home turf of China it isn’t as known as major handset makers. But that doesn’t stop this company from pushing its ambitious agenda.
And that agenda reminds us on what Xiaomi and Oppo are doing. Smartisan doesn’t want to be “yet Another Chinese handset maker” — it wants to be a platform provider as well.
So they’re launching their very first smartphone, Smartisan T1, alongside the Smartisan OS 1.0. Like that’s the case with Oppo’s ColorOS and Xiaomi’s MIUI, Smartisan OS runs on top of Android and includes a simplified users interface that shows app tiles rather than icons to keep visual clutter to a minimum.
The OS itself was launched in April when owners of select Samsung smartphones were able to test it out. We’re sure that’s just the start with more device getting support in the near future.
Back to the Smartisan T1. The phone looks pretty sexy to us, and it’s also powerful. Inside, we have Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 801 chip, Sony’s 13 megapixel camera sensor, and 16 or 32 GB of built-in storage. In addition, the unit rocks a JDI-made 4.95-inch full HD screen.
The price of a 16GB model is set at 3,000 Yuan (about $481), while the 32GB variant costs 150 Yuan more for an equivalent of $505. These are 3G-only model, with LTE-enabled versions coming later in the year for 3,500 (~$562) and 3,650 (~$586) Yuan, respectively. Unfortunately, we’ve no idea whether Smartisan will ever bring this bad boy to the Western hemisphere. I know at least one person who would like to test it out. 😉