A bunch of rumors and news reports over the past few months regarding the so-called ‘Pepsi Phone’ suggested that the American beverage and fast food giant PepsiCo was about to jump into a whole new product category, by launching an Android-powered smartphone.
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Remember when we wrote about a rumour surrounding a Pepsi-branded smartphone, complete with a Pepsi-themed Android skin?
The site is one of China’s answers to Kickstarter and the Pepsi Phone started raising capital on 18 November.
Now early contributors can get the device with a contribution of 699 Yuan (£70). The next 1000 units will be priced at CNY 999, and after that at CNY 1,299. The goal for the crowdfunding target is set for December 3rd, so the total target needs to be met by that date for it to go into production. What they will get for their money is a decent specced mid-range phone: 5.5 inch 1080p screen, an octa-core 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 chipset complimented with 2GB of RAM. Other specs include a 3,000mAh battery and 13- and 5-megapixel cameras back and front.
When it comes to connectivity features, the phablet offers support for all the usual standards such as Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and 4G LTE/3G networks. The Pepsi Phone P1 /P1s is a dual SIM phone (second nano SIM slot as microSD) and has an aluminum unibody build. The phone has a fingerprint sensor on the rear and features a 2.5D curved glass display. For that, you will enter a lottery where 1 of 500 supporters will win a Pepsi Phone.
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The smartphone will run on a custom Android ROM called dido OS 6.1, which is based on Android Lollipop 5.1. Instead, it has roped in Shenzhen Scooby Communication Equipment Co. For now, it will sell at China Unicom carrier (as P1s), but an unlocked version is available too as Pepsi Phone P1. The device is now available in Blue, Gold and Silver, and will start shipping in January.
