The long-awaited Ubuntu phone will finally hit the streets starting next week in Europe. The phone will feature the Ubuntu Touch OS, which was first unveiled in 2013 and has been in development since then.
We previously heard rumors of a Meizu phone powered by Ubuntu launching at CES 2015, but that didn’t happen. Canonical, the company behind the OS, is now launching the first Ubuntu phone in partnership with Spanish manufacturer, BQ.
The device will be based off Aquaris E4.5, a low-budget Android powered phone by BQ. The Ubuntu Edition of the device will have a 4.5 inch qHD display, 1GB RAM, Quad-core MediaTek A7 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz, Mali 400 GPU, 8GB internal storage (expandable upto 32GB) and a 2150 mAh battery. The phone will feature a 8MP camera on the back and a 5MP camera on front. There’s no LTE support on the device.
The specifications are very similar to that of Android One devices by Google, but however, the Ubuntu phone will go sale for a relatively high price €169.90 ($195 US).
The phone will be sold only in the Europe initially with the flash sales model like Xiaomi’s. Canonical and BQ have teamed up with a few European retailers to host the online sales, and will announce the dates at their respective Twitter accounts, @ubuntu and @bqreaders.
Discussion