There are many phones in the global market which you never get to see in India. This is a guide to 15 of the most interesting of those.
Cat S60
Caterpillar’s S60 is a phone which comes with an inbuilt thermal camera. It’s the world’s first smartphone to have such a camera, and also, it is waterproof for 5m in depth and drop-proof up to 1.8m making it the perfect choice for engineers. But why the thermal camera? The idea is to let users peek inside electrical panels, structures, vehicles or other enclosures and detect heat sources. The thermal camera also works in pitch black by detecting heat points. Cat S60 is priced at $599 (roughly Rs. 42k) which is not a bad deal at all for a phone with that list of features.
Specifications:
Display: 4.7-inch with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution; Processor: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53; Storage: 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard; Camera: 13MP rear and 5MP front; Battery: 3800 mAh; USP: Thermal Imaging, temperature spot meter, heat palettes.
Lumigon T3
After the great success of Lumigon T2 HD, Lumigon launched T3 which is another masterpiece by the company. The company claims that the T3 is manufactured using ultra-hard molybdenum and marine-grade stainless steel, so you don’t have to worry about the phone not being solidly built. It’s got a whopping 128GB of internal storage, and unless you’re the type who likes to carry around tonnes of music and full HD movies or videos, this ought to have most people sorted. Priced at $740 (about Rs. 50,000), this is a high-end smartphone. It’s even got a night-vision camera, and is available in a 24-carat gold variant. Obviously that costs a “little’ more.
Specifications:
Display: 4.8-inch with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution; Processor: 2.2 GHz 64-bit octa core; Storage: 3GB of RAM, 128GB onboard; Camera: 13MP/4K back and 5MP/2K front; USP: Stainless Steel Body, 128 GB internal memory, Night Vision Camera.
Jupiter IO 4
Ever wanted a phone you could smoke? There is only one in the world, so it’s not like you have a choice in the matter anyway. The Jupiter IO 4 comes with an inbuilt vaporizer (the kind used in e-cigarettes). The phone has two batteries – one for the phone and the other for the vaporizer. The innovation is that if you’re not using the vaporizer, its battery can be used for the smartphone (upto 16 hours on both batteries we’re told). To puff or not to puff, that is the question. The variant in the picture is the 4G model that is available for pre-order for $499 (Rs. 34,000 approx). There are flavoured liquid cartridges available, priced at $15 (Rs.1,000 approx) including mint, peach and coffee. Vaporcade, the manufacturing company, claims that each cartridge can provide about 800 puffs. Remember, smoking (even just flavoured e-cigarettes) is a terrible habit, and we advise you to quit immediately.
Specifications:
Not yet released by the company, and the phone still isn’t available in the market for us to buy.
Oukitel K10000
Everyone’s pet peeve, when it comes to smartphones, is the battery life. When it comes to mAh, we’re of the opinion that you just can’t have enough. Or so we thought, until we came across this crazy phone. Oukitel, a Chinese company, decided enough is enough and crammed a 10,000mAh battery into a smartphone. So what does a 10,000mAh battery get you? How does 15 days on a single charge sound? Take it with a pinch of salt, but still, we think it certainly ought to get even heavy users through one day (3 days of simple use). That’s good enough for us!
Specifications:
Display: 5.5-inch at 1280x720; Processor: 64 bit MediaTek MT6735 clocked at 1GHz; Storage: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM; Camera: 8MP (S13MP) back + 2MP (S5MP) front; Battery: 10000mAh, Flash Charging at 9V/3A; USP: 10000mAh battery.
Kyocera Digno Rafre
No matter how careful you think you will be with your phone, you are bound to spill a liquid (usually water, or coffee) on it. For the clumsy ones who spill icky-sticky-stuff, here’s a phone you don’t have to worry about, because you can actually wash and scrub it clean! The Kyocera Digno Rafre is a smartphone which is not just waterproof, but can also be washed with soap. See, soapy water has a lower surface tension than regular water, and seeps into even waterproof phones (but not this one). For just $460 (Rs. 31,000 approx), you can choose to forever have a sparkly phone that’s clean enough to eat off of!
Specifications:
Display: 5-inch x 1280x720; Storage: 2GB + 16GB; Camera: 13MP rear, front unknown; Battery: 3000mAh; USP: Washable Smartphone.
Desay Magical Mirror X5
Although sapphire screens have been hyped, there aren’t too many smartphones that come with them. The Desay Magical Mirror X5, however, is one such phone. The sapphire screen display is made out of sapphire crystals, which is the second hardest metal after diamond. The Magical Mirror X5 sports a 5-inch 720p HD display, p[owered by a quad-core MediaTek processor supported with 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. This device is priced around $160 (roughly Rs. 11,000). If you want a tough screen but are strapped for cash, you’re not going to get too many sapphire screen devices in this price range.
Specifications:
Display: 5-inch at 1280 x 720; Processor: quad-core MediaTek; Storage: 1GB RAM + 16GB; Camera: 13MP rear + 5MP front; Battery: 2050mAh; USP: Sapphire Screen
Sharp Aquos Crystal
For those of you who hate bezels, here’s a phone to go along with your bezel-less TVs and monitors. The Sharp Aquos Crystal is the first smartphone to deliver a striking looking bezel-less screen. It sports a 5-inch 720p display, which has a sharp edged look (obviously). The colours of the 720p display are well saturated and the display is pretty bright. Videos and pictures look gorgeous, but you’re going to have to sacrifice being able to see whats under the edges under your fingers as you hold the phone. That said, its a worthy sacrifice to have something this quirky.
Specifications:
Display: 5.0 inches at 720 x 1280 pixels; Processor: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7; Storage: 1.5 GB RAM + 8 GB; Camera: 8 MP Rear, 1.2 Front; Battery: 2040 mAh; USP: Bezel-less display
LG G5
We have been hearing about modular smartphones but they were only concepts, until LG launched the G5 that is. The phone’s design has been changed from plastic to microdized metal. You can change the modules with components or ‘Friends’ as LG terms it. The additional components that can be added apart from the battery are a separate shutter button, a jog dial for zoom, and a DAC, which gives you 32-bit audio and an extra headphone jack.
Specifications:
Display: 5.3-inch at 1440 x 2560; Processor: Dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo; Storage: 4 GB RAM + 32 GB + expandable to 200GB; Camera: 16 MP (f/1.8) rear + 8 MP (f/2.4) front; Battery: 2800 mAh; USP: Modular Smartphone
Blackphone 2
For whatever reason, everyone seems to be seriously paranoid about privacy these days. Maybe it’s because people are clicking too many pictures of themselves in birthday suits? It’s baffling to us, but if you’re a pervert, intelligence operative, have a large collection of tin-foil hats, or if your surname is Snowden, here’s a phone you might finally consider secure. The Blackphone 2 comes with SilentOS, which is basically Android but without bloatware and data leaking apps.It’s black, obviously, and comes pre-installed with applications that put you on control of your privacy and security. If you trust Blackphone, that is.
Specifications:
Display: 5.5-inch, HD; Processor: Snapdragon Octa-Core; Storage: 3GB RAM & 32GB internal storage; Camera: 13 MP rear + 5 front; Battery: 3060 mAh; USP: Privacy focused smartphone
Saygus V Squared
If the 128GB phone we talked of earlier is not enough for you, here’s one that may have only 64GB of internal storage, but it’s expandable up to a whopping 400 GB. You know, if you’re the type who likes to store full HD videos of cats being cute, or maybe videos of naughty kittens? Either way, the Saygus V Squared makes sure you have pretty good specs, and a lot of storage. We just wish it looked a little better. You can buy a developers version that gives you root access from the get go. At just $650 (Rs. 44,000) this device is a good buy.
Specifications:
Display: 5-inch, 1920 x 1080p; Processor: Snapdragon 801; Storage: 3GB RAM + 64GB onboard + expandable 400GB; Camera: 21MP rear + 13MP front; Battery: 3100 mAh; USP: High end smartphone for low price.
Turing Phone
This is a phone that’s made of Liquidmorphium, or basically a Liquid Metal alloy that’s supposedly stronger than titanium or steel. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass IV, and is a full HD 5.5-inch display. Although built on Android, the phone runs what the company calls Sailfish OS 2.0. It has a custom UI, is a 4G phone, but most importantly, it’s supposed to have world class security with end-to-end encryption. It has a fingerprint sensor on the side, and will ship with Bluetooth earphones, and the proprietary connector and charging cable, because it has no headphone jack or USB port. That’s the compromise you make for a waterproof phone.
Specifications:
Display: 5.5-inch at 1920 × 1080; Processor: Snapdragon 801; Storage: 3 GB + 16GB ,64GB ,128GB; Camera: 13MP rear and 8MP front; Battery: 3000 mAh; USP: Liquidmorphium
Marshall London
This is a phone made by guitar amplifier manufacturer Marshall. The Marshall London is an absolutely stunningly design phone. It’s perfect for musicians and music appreciators. It has a dedicated music button and a gold-plated audio controller to complement its Wolfson WM8281 Audio Hub and Marshall Mode in-ears. If you’re the type who lives music and want to stand out from the crowd, this is a phone you can bet very few others are going to have.
Specifications:
Display: 4.7-inch; Processor: 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 410; Storage: 2GB + 16GB; Camera: 8 MP Rear + 2MP Front; Battery: 2500 mAh; USP: Amazing audio quality & 2 x (3.5 mm audio connectors).
Vertu New Signature Touch
You can’t have an article about eccentric phones and not have a Vertu in it. The Vertu New Signature Touch is a phone that has high-end specifications with a premium design. You get to choose from 11 different colours and design variants. Storage is expandable to 2 TB, which is good because this is the last phone you will buy for the rest of your life. You also get 24x7 worldwide Vertu assistance. Depending on the specs you choose, the variant, the body material, etc, the phone costs between GBP 6,500 and GBP 13,700 (that’s between Rs. 6.5 to Rs. 13.8 lakh).
Specifications:
Display: 5.5 inch at 1080 x 1920 pixels; Processor: Snapdragon 810 64 bit Octo-core; Storage: 4GB RAM + 64GB onboard + 2000GB expandable; Camera: 21MP Rear and Front; Battery: 3160mAh; USP: High End performance, Stunning Design.
This article was first published in our 15 year Anniversary Special June 2016 issue of Digit magazine. To read Digit's articles first, subscribe here or download the Digit e-magazine app. You could also buy the Anniversary Special June 2016 issue here.