Eastman Kodak along with the Bullitt Group announced a new smartphone a few days ago. Dubbed “Ektra”, the phone is the first smartphone to carry the Kodak branding.
The phone is a revival of Ektra brand of Kodak’s consumer cameras from the 1940s, catering to the photography enthusiast. The overall design somewhat resembles the original lineup from the 1940’s complete with a large lens assembly and dedicated shutter button.
Kodak went through a pretty bad phase starting from early 2000’s when new competitors emerged. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and sold off its assets to its rivals which included patents. After coming out of the bankruptcy the company decided to focus on commercial products and services. In 2013, they demonstrated their first micro four thirds camera made by a third party. They also announced their venturing into smartphone arena in 2014.
Coming to the specifications side of things the Ektra is a device powered by Helios X20 SoC coupled with 3GB of memory and 32GB of storage. Other components include a 802.11ac Wi-Fi + BT 4.1 wireless module, a 4G/LTE Cat4 modem. To round up the package we have a 3000 MaH battery and a 5″ FHD screen.
Kodak Ektra |
|
|---|---|
| SoC | MediaTek Helio X20 (MT6797) 2 × Cortex-A72 at 2.3GHz 4 × Cortex-A53 at 2.0GHz 4 × Cortex-A53 at 1.4 GHz ARM Mali T880 MP4 GPU at 780 MHz |
| RAM | 3 GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 32 GB + up to 128 GB microSD |
| Display | 5″ 1920 × 1080 with Corning Gorilla Glass |
| Network | GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100; HSPA; LTE: 1/3/7/20 (Cat 4); |
| Dimensions | 147.8 × 73.35 × 9.69 mm 14.02 at camera lens |
| Weight | 163.8 grams |
| Rear Camera | Sony Exmor RS 21 MP sensor with F2.0, PDAF, OIS and dual-LED flash. The lense is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass. |
| Front Camera | 13 MP with F2.2 PDAF |
| Battery | 3000 mAh (5V, 2A charger) |
| Sensors | Ambient Light, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor |
| OS | Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Software | Kodak Camera software Snapseed app for photo editing Super 8 app for video Prints app MobiSystems OfficeSuite AVG AntiVirus FileCommander |
| Connectivity | 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, USB-C, 3.5mm for audio, FM Radio |
| Navigation | GPS + GLONASS |
| SIM Size | Nano SIM |
| Colors | Black |
| Launch Countries | E.U. |
| Price | €499, £449 |
While most of the components are mainstream, the lens and camera assembly of the Ektra needs to be looked into.The main (rear) camera of the phone uses Sony’s 21 MP Exmor RS IMX230/IMX338 sensor which is found in many high-end phones. As we have said before, Kodak developed the camera software with enthusiast photography in mind, so the software will have HDR, landscape, portrait, macro, sport, night-time, panorama, bokeh as well as a smart auto mode. In addition, we will have a manual mode just like cameras. The front camera has 13 MP sensor with an f/2.2 lens.
While the camera will certainly have the Kodak touch, whether the execution is done right by Kodak will only be known after the phone releases.
Wow do we really have full HD batteries now?
Sorry bout that! This is what coffee deprivation does to you 🙁
Let’s wait for the price first