Mobile Technology

Startup touts sub-$299 Galaxy-beating smartphone, the Sion V1sion

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Sion hopes to launch its V1sion smartphone for under $299
Sion hopes to launch its V1sion smartphone for under $299
The V1sion has a 0.3-megapixel front camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera
The V1sion's current specs include a 4.5-in 1280 x 720 display (at 326 ppi)
Sion hopes to launch its V1sion smartphone for under $299
The V1sion's camera boasts a ring flash, inherited from its ill-fated forebear, the ADzero
Sion has turned to crowdfunding, and the number of backers will determine the V1sion's final price
The V1sion's benchmarking data, according to Sion
The V1sion's benchmarking data, according to Sion
The V1sion's benchmarking data, according to Sion
The V1sion's benchmarking data, according to Sion
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Mobile start-up Sion has developed a quad-core Android smartphone named the V1sion that it hopes to bring to the market unlocked and without a contract for under US$299. The company claims its performance bests that of a Galaxy S3 thanks to its Samsung Exynos 4 Quad (aka Exynos 4412) processor. The company says that the compelling bank-for-buck ratio is possible using crowdfunding, and that the number of backers will determine the final price.

Approaching market readiness, the phone's current specs include a 4.5-in 1280 x 720 display (at 326 ppi), 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage (though in an email to Gizmag, Sion's Jerry Lao suggests that this will be raised to 32 GB). The V1sion has a 0.3-megapixel front camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera, which Sion claims beats the performance of a certain leading smartphone's iNtegrated camera.

The phone measures 134 x 68 x 11.8 mm (5.28 x 2.68 x 0.46 in) and weighs 134 g (4.7 oz), a little under the S3 on all counts except for thickness. At 2,050 mAh, the battery is a squeak under the S3's 2,100 mAh of storage.

Though not LTE-enabled, the V1sion is nevertheless geared for HSPA+/WCDMA and GSM connectivity. It's also Wi-Fi enabled (802.11b/g/n), and packin' in the sensor department, with GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and ambient light sensor all included.

Sion has turned to crowdfunding, and the number of backers will determine the V1sion's final price

Sion says the V1sion will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an upgrade to 4.2 Jelly Bean planned for the future.

Lao is part of the team behind the promising yet ill-fated ADZero project to create a bamboo smartphone. Comparing specs, it appears that the V1sion basically is the ADzero, but without the bamboo skin. The details are nearly identical, down to the dimensions, battery storage and the main camera's use of a ring flash.

According to Lao, Sion is seeking funding to assist with final manufacturing costs. At the time of writing it's possible to snag a "super early bird special" which guarantees a V1sion for $199. The next best option is the regular early bird, limited to 200 backers, which guarantees a maximum price of $299. This will be reduced if sufficient units are sold. Otherwise backers place a $199 deposit, and pay the difference when the final price is set. The campaign is US-only.

Sion thinks it will need to ship more than 5,000 units to achieve a final price of $299 for all backers, and over 10,000 to come in under that figure. So far the project has a very long way to go towards its $300,000 goal. It's certainly an ambitious target, but no less so than the project's aim overall. Certainly the market would be no worse off for an affordable contract-free high performance smartphone, should Sion secure its funding.

Sources: Sion, Indiegogo

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3 comments
Phyzzi
I think this is going to have a hard time going against the nexus 3, especially without any better details on the screen (daylight visibility is REALLY important on cell phones, and a big reason that Samsung has consistently creamed competitors) and the probability that the Nexus 4 phone is a better phone for the same price (unless the higher goal really is reached) is going to make this a hard phone to sell.
dave be
I may get several. Getting a phone like this without a contract is key. They really should have more prize levels in their indigogo though. They didn't really put much fun into it, which is often what really pushes a project into superfunding status.
pmshah
This is like reinventing the wheel. We in India already have had such a device available for a while now and that too at a retail price better than what is being offered here! Around $ 270/=
http://www.micromaxinfo.com/mobiles/smartphones/canvas/A116-canvas-HD
BTW They are doing fantastically well. Absolutely all the GSM phones sold in India are without any contracts.