Philips has taken up smartphone making too

May 14, 2015 12:23 GMT  ·  By

When you say Philips, you think hair driers, cooking utensils or smart, eco-friendly lightbulbs, but certainly not smartphones.

But as it turns out, more and more companies are trying to diversify their product portfolio, and the mobile environment seems like the best place to turn to. So watch out for a Philips smartphone coming soon.

Remember how Chinese video streaming company LeTV launched two bezeless handsets not so long ago? Well, Dutch company Philips is getting ready to do the very same thing.

It appears Philips is prepping a high-end smartphone which has already passed through China’s FCC equivalent website, TENAA, revealing most of its specifications.

Specs of the upcoming Philips i999

We are looking at a phone (called the Philips i999) that arrives with a 5.5-inch QHD display (2560 x 1440 pixel resolution) and a quad-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz (although we don’t know which manufacturer is behind the silicone).

The handset will arrive with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (no microSD card slot included). On the imaging front, we’re pleased to inform you that the phone will don a 20MP main camera with dual-LED and dual tone flash, plus an 8MP snapper for selfie taking.

Even if the i999 seems to have some features worthy of a flagship, like the QHD display, the quad-core processor spoils the soup.

On top of that, the model should arrive with Android 4.4.3 KitKat, so Philips will have to provide the Android 5.0 Lollipop update at some point after launch. But given the fact that Android M is on its way, we’re not sure if it is worth the wait.

This week, a couple of official press renders have leaked in the Chinese media via IT168, showing us what we should expect from the Philips handset and revealing some extra info in the process.

As you can see for yourselves from the photographs, the phone is equipped with 3 capacitive buttons located below the display, including back, home and recent apps / overview. But here’s something we didn’t know: there’s also a rear-facing fingerprint scanner that will be living below the camera sensor and LED flash.

And that’s all for the time being. There is still no official launch date for the phone and we don’t know how much it will end up costing. But we’ll keep you updated on the matter, when fresh information arrives.

Philips i999 handset (2 Images)

Philips i999 frontal look
Philips i999 back view
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