Thermal cameras to dual displays: 4 futuristic phones with unique features
With new devices flaunting great specs being launched every other day, there haven't been better days for smartphone buyers. At a time when all price segments of the market are flush with phones that come bearing almost identical internals, it becomes a difficult task to zero in on that one device which you can call your own.
Fortunately, there still remain some devices which stand out from the crowd, thereby making this confusing task a bit easier. Here's our list of four phones that will catch your eye with their unique features.
Asus Zenfone AR
Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017, the Asus Zenfone AR comes not only with high-end specs but also interesting tricks up its sleeve.
Apart from being the first smartphone to be announced with 8GB RAM, the Zenfone AR also brings with it support for Google Tango Augmented Reality and Daydream Virtual Reality platforms. At the time of its global launch, incorporation of these technologies made the Zenfone AR the first smartphone to feature these AR and VR techs together in a single package.
Owing to its TriCam technology – a triple camera system with a 23MP rear camera, a secondary motion-tracking camera, and a third camera for sensing depth – the phone lets you interact with virtual objects plastered in the real world around you.
Essential Phone
Next up in the list is the Andy Rubin's Essential Phone. The man behind the Android revolution, Rubin, with the smartphone brings a number of interesting features to woo consumers. However, none of them managed to have the same effect as the modular capabilities of the Essential Phone.
Even though modular attachments for phones have been seen before on mainstream phones, but Andy Rubin's take on the feature is as innovative as it comes.
The Essential Phone is being marketed as a modular phone with support for multiple accessories which will be connected using two magnetic points that sit next to the phone's camera at the back. For now, only a 360-degree camera has been announced for the smartphone, but more attachments are expected in future.
The company is claiming the camera to be the world’s smallest personal 360-degrees action camera and has priced it at $199 (approx Rs 13,000).
YotaPhone 2
With a fresh design, high-end specs and bigger high-resolution displays – dual LED and E-Ink screens to be precise – the YotaPhone 2 created quite a buzz when it was launched. Even though it failed to find its way to key markets like the US and India, the YotaPhone 2 still remains one of the more unique phones out there in the crowded market. Don't believe us? Check out this picture below.
Cat S60
Remember Nokia 3310? No, not the reboot, but the original indestructible phone from your childhood that could be flung at unsuspecting enemies leaving them severely hurt? Well, next in the list is a phone that can even beat the antics of the 3310. Lo and behold, the Cat S60.
Unveiled at MWC 2016, the Cat S60 is a smartphone that is touted to be the most rugged smartphone available in the market. Created with a steel and carbon fibre frame that’s further strengthened by a tough aluminium chassis and an MIL-STD 810G rating, it can withstand extreme temperatures – -25 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius – this is one phone that you can defenitely use in a bar fight.
However, that's not where the fun ends. The Cat S60's highlight feature is the presence of the FLIR Lepton Thermal Microcamera Module on the rear panel. The feature, the company claims, can be useful for engineers and emergency workers, helping them to locate electrical faults or search for missing people.