On April 23, EV manufacturer Polestar will launch its first-ever smartphone.
That phone will initially be released only within China – where its EVs are manufactured – and is being produced in partnership with a Chinese consumer electronics maker Xingji Meizu.
It’s worth noting here that Xingji Meizu and Polestar have a common parent company in Geely.
Specs, features and pricing of the smartphone will be released later today. But images that have come out ahead of its launch show that its cameras are placed in a straight line and are significantly raised from the surface. However, it has a thin and symmetrical bezel around the screen. A previous teaser stated that the bezels are only 2.2mm thin for a 91.5 per cent screen-to-body ratio. It has been speculated that since it has a 74mm width, the display should be bigger than 6.5 inches.
By all indications, the phone isn’t expected to directly compete with smartphone OEMs, but instead create a connected ecosystem for Polestar’s cars.
Here in Australia, Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 are widely available across the country, and bookings have opened for Polestar 4, with deliveries expected to commence in August. Pricing starts at A$81,500 for the Long Range Single Motor model, and A$93,050 for the Long Range Dual Motor variant of Polestar 4.
Taking exactly the opposite approach as Polestar, smartphone maker Xiaomi recently launched its first electric vehicle – the SU7 – which will have a range of 700km. It reportedly got more than 50,000 orders for it within the first 27 minutes that sales opened.
Another smartphone major – Apple – hasn’t had as much luck though. This year, after spending nearly a decade on the idea, Apple is believed to have killed the project to build its own car.
