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Stella Reynell

Pepsi Smartphone Finally Launched

Remember the Pepsi smartphone? PepsiCo surprised everyone by confirming in October that an official Pepsi Phone would be coming in the near future for China and after much speculation, the company has officially taken the wraps of its much-speculated smartphone named Pepsi Phone P1 and Phone P1s.

In order to get to market, the soda maker has licensed its brand to Shenzhen Scooby Communication Equipment Co. Ltd. in China to develop the very first smartphone sporting the iconic logo on the back. The brand will be found not only on smartphones but also on smartphone accessories. The partnership that came into existence through a Chinese crowdsourcing campaign.

Specifications of Both Models

  • 5-inch (1080 x 1920 pixels) Full HD 2.5D Curved Screen display
  • 7 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor with Mali 450-MP4 GPU
  • 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, microSD expansion slot
  • Hybrid Dual SIM (second nano SIM slot can also be used as microSD slot)
  • dido OS 6.1 based on Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
  • 13MP rear camera with LED Flash
  • 5MP front-facing camera
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • Dimensions: 152.2 ×76.2×7.7 mm; Weight: 158g
  • 4G LTE / 3G, WiFi 802.1 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
  • 3000mAh battery

Differences between Pepsi Phone P1 and Phone P1s

The company has launched two versions of its first smartphone: Phone P1 is the regular version while the Phone P1s is compatible specifically with China Unicom’s FDD-LTE support. P1 that comes with TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA support for China Mobile and P1s with FDD-LTE and WCDMA support for China Unicom and other worldwide carriers. There are no other differences in specifications between the two variants. Both versions are available in aluminum body and Silver, Gold and Blue color options.

Price

The new Pepsi phone is currently listed on crowdfunding website JD Finance (said to be China’s answer to Kickstarter) and has been given to early bird backers at $78. The company intends to raise a capital of $46,9950 (3 million yuan) by December 3.

The early bird price of 499 Yuan (US $78) has already been sold out. Available in blue, gold, and silver, you can still order a piece for 699 Yuan (US $110) though only about 400 of the 1,000 pieces are remaining. Once that sellout, the phone will be available for 999 Yuan (US $156). and is bound to carrier China Mobile, and the P1s (AU$153/US$110/£72), which is still available and open to the rest of the world’s radios.

Pepsi is only working with the licensing partner Scooby Communication to market a line of mobile phones and accessories in China, but it has no plans to get into the mobile phone manufacturing business as it said earlier.