In a sort of reverse move to Xiaomi, a well known smartphone manufacturer, starting to make cars, Polestar has gone into the smartphone business. It’s not in a big way (yet?) and mainly in China where the lifestyle accessory is offered.
Collaboration with Xingji Meizu Group
Polestar’s global design team collaborated with the Xingji Meizu Group (a joint venture between Geely’s tech firm Xingji Shidai Technology and Meizu) to design the smartphone based on Meizu’s 20 Pro model. Meizu is a smartphone and technology company which the Swedish carmaker teamed up with last year to develop an operating system (OS) for Polestar’s vehicles sold in China.
Known simply as ‘Phone’, the smartphone has a premium look and feel like Polestar’s electric cars. Its surface has the feel of terrazzo stone with highlight accents of electroplated gold.
The casing is of aerospace-grade aluminium (NP66) and crystal-polished glass, is said to be especially tough and besides being shockproof, it also has anti-deforming properties. The glass back is of soft-sand-made crystal which reflects light in a way to enhance the design on the rear face.
The large OLED screen on Polestar’s first-ever smartphone has a ratio of 21:9 with 2K visual quality, and the 6.79-inch screen to body ratio creates an almost bezel-less appearance around the narrow case. It is available only in Polestar White.
Proprietary OS
As for technical aspects, the Phone runs on Polestar Phone OS which is adapted from the ‘FlyMe Auto’ OS developed by the Xingji Meizu Group. This will give seamless compatibility with the infotainment system on Polestar EVs as well as those of Lynk & Co which will also use the OS.
The OS, which also has AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities, enables easy interfacing of smartphones with the car’s infotainment system and even locate the car for the owner. Its AI capabilities include knowledge query, image search, image generation, and can also be used as a Digital Key.
Powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, it comes with 16GB RAM/1TB of storage. Though having a proprietary OS, it is listed as a supported device for Google Play.
50MP, 3-camera system
The 50-megapixel camera system comprises a 23 mm equivalent main camera for standard pictures, 70 mm telephoto, and 15 mm ultrawide lens. There is, of course, also a front-facing camera (32MP) for selfies.
The battery has a capacity of 5,050 mAh and can be fast-charged by cable (up to 80W) or wirelessly (up to 50W). The Phone can also be used as a powerbank as it has 10W reverse charging capability.
Those who buy the latest Polestar 4 can get one free with their purchase, and it is also available for RMB7,388 (around RM4,850) from dealers of the brand which is jointly owned by Geely and Volvo.
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