Smartisan T1 to be Apple’s next rival?

Luo Yonghao, Smartisan Technology’s chief executive, unveiled his latest smartphone earlier this week. Dubbed Smartisan T1, the smartphone runs on Android, the Google mobile operating system. Smartisan T1 has a familiar slate appearance, being 141 mm tall, 68 mm wide and 8.23 mm thick . The phone’s design was made by Ammunition Group, which includes the former Apple designer Robert Brunner, while the packaging in which Mr. Luo invested quite a lot was made by the paper supplier James Cropper. The Smartisan T1’s presentation in Beijing looked very similar to one of Apple’s launches, so when Mr. Luo was asked about the similarities between his device and one of Apple’s iPhones, he denied an joked about it.

“If I ever die from work, I hope it won’t be pancreatic cancer, since people are always saying we copy from Jobs”, Mr. Luo said. Not a funny joke, if we may say so. Considering the Smartisan T1’s designer was a former Apple employee, it’s normal the device to have some iPhone-looking features. Jobs wasn’t the only one Mr. Luo mentioned at the presentation. Xiaomi’s Lei Jun was also mentioned, but this time Mr. Luo used a fine selection of words. “Suppliers are less doubtful when dealing with a guy who knows little about making mobile phones because of him”, ” I should Thank him” ,said Luo Yonghao about Mr. Lei.

The device features a 4.95-inch FHD IPS JDI screen with a 1080p  resolution and a 445ppi pixel density. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and comes with 2GB RAM and two internal storage options, 16GB or 32 GB. It’s great 13 MP Sony Imax214 rear camera features Acutelogic and Acrsoft technology.

As good as it looks on paper, the smartphone still has to prove itself. Considering its specs, the Smartisan T1 could turn out to be a worthy competitor to Apple’s iPhones. Whether this is a possibility or not, depends on how the smartphone actually functions and it’s still too soon to know. The Smartisan T1 costs about $485/$500 (3000/3150 Yuam) and according to its specs it should be high-end device. So it shouldn’t be very hard to compete with the flagships of the market, or is it?