After Firefox, Sailfish and Tizen, now Ubuntu OS will try and break the Android-iOS monopoly of the Indian smartphone market. The first smartphones running on Ubuntu OS have been officially launched in India – BQ Aquaris E4.5 and BE Aquaris E5 HD. Both the smartphones will be available exclusively via Snapdeal by the end of this month.
Made by BQ, the Spanish smartphone manufacturer, Aquaris E4.5 and Aquaris E5 HD smartphones have been priced at Rs. 11,999 and Rs. 13,499 respectively. The dual-SIM phones will be available in Black and White color variants.
As the name suggests, Aquaris 4.5 features a 4.5-inch display with screen resolution of 960×540 pixels with pixel density of 240ppi. The phone is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek’s quad core processor with 1GB of RAM. It has an 8 MP rear facing camera with BSI sensor and a 5 MP front facing camera.
It has 8GB of internal storage capacity but users can expand the storage through a microSD card. It offers offers Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G (HSPA+), GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB with OTG, and FM radio connectivity options. It is powered by a 2,150 mAh battery.
The Aquaris E5 HD features a 5-inch HD display and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, paired with 1GB of RAM. It sports a 13 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, BSI sensor and Largan lens, and a 5 MP front-facing camera.
It supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G (HSPA+), GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB, and FM radio connectivity options and features 16GB of internal storage. It also has a microSD card slot. It is powered by a 2,500 mAh battery.
Ubuntu OS comes with the Scopes feature, using which users can access music, video and social quickly with swipes from the home screen itself. In India, the company has included a few India-specific Scopes which will show information by apps such as Zomato, Star Plus, Zee TV, Eros Now, etc.
Ubuntu smartphones however, have already debuted in other parts around the world, most notably Europe. However, everything has been pretty much quiet for the newest OS in the smartphone ecosystem. Let’s see how things work out for Ubuntu in India — which is perhaps going to be the toughest smartphone market for this OS to crack — looking at how brands like Xiaomi, Micromax and even Apple for that instance, have started to see rapid increase in sales volumes.
