The one problem with the Nubia Alpha watch that think its a smartphone

Nubia, an adventurous Chinese smartphone company always on the spotlight with their production of high-end innovative smartphones like the M2, M2 lite, M2 play, N2, Z11 minis and N1 aims might just have been in the woods again with the unveiling of their new wearable- the Nubia Alpha, a bendable phone that just wraps right around your wrist.

Do you remember that nutty Lenovo wrist phone concept released last year that was slapped to wrap around the hand of its wearer during a presentation last year, and touted as the future of mobility? Well, a brand off ZTE has created off their shelves and released to the public a similar wearable phone.

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress (MWC2019), Nubia lays down their ambitions “to bridge the gap between wearable and smartphone with the Nubia Alpha, a device with all the features and functionality of a phone but which wraps around the wrist like a fitness band”.

**Their my first problem with them starts…

I mean like how the heck is it conducive for me to stream Netflix on a 4-inch WATCH SMARTPHONE! Who does that?

Well, If you call it a glorified smartwatch, I’ll beg for a change of opinion, as it’s a glorified smart bracelet. I ran a post on Facebook requesting for the best name to give out to this device, and these are what I got…

Nubia Alpha Specs and Features

The wearable device sports a flexible 4-inch screen, 960×192 OLED variety to be precise, and 4G LTE cellular connectivity, so you can answer calls, use apps, and browser notifications. 

**Boooo! We’ve seen that somewhere…in our smartwatches

The Nubia Alpha doesn’t exactly have smartphone specs although it comes kitted with a 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory, and…a 5MP front-facing camera running on a 500mAh battery power 5MP front-facing camera.

Another downside to the Nubia Alpha is the OS, with the Nubia wearable running Nubia’s very own operating system, designed more as a wearable OS than a smartphone one. It can also store and play music, using the Nubia Pods.

**A new Apple-like derogatory in town?

Smartphone Eligibility rating = 40%

If you use wearables for their fitness tracker possibilities you’ll find the Alpha sporting all the necessary functions like heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking. It can also store and supports Bluetooth connectivity so, you can play music using the Nubia Pods. These wireless earphones are launching along with the Nubia Alpha, and link with the device.

Nubia suggests the device will last 1-2 days of regular use, or a week on standby, which is pretty much okay for a disguise smartwatch. However, one interesting feature of this is air controls, which let you scroll through, or backtrack out of, a menu just through hand gestures.

**Someone remember LG G8 ThinQ?

Nubia Alpha Pricing & Availability

Two versions of the device are available for launch- the Bluetooth and eSIM models. The Nubia Alpha Bluetooth model will launch for €449 (roughly N185,000) in Nigeria.

However, the eSIM versions will be available a little later, releasing in April in China followed by a cryptic “Q3” for Europe and “Q4” for North America. Available in black and gold variety, the black version is set to cost €549 (around N226,000), and for the 18K gold variant, you get to pay a whopping €649 (about N267,000).

**Trying to out-price even the normal phones, can we go home now? I mean like if am going to get a smartwatch that is a phone, it should be something like this…

Con-Clusion

The Nubia Alpha smartphone watch is a pretty innovative concept that just fits in right into the design craze gracing 2019 tech market but, many questions still remain unanswered.

In the quest to bridge the gap between smartphones and smartwatches, unique features asides giving a 5MP selfie-centric camera with 4-inch OLED screen will surely be needed to gain an audience in the market pool. How about taming the ridiculous price which is sure to price their new wearable out of the market when one can easily get a more unique smartwatch with almost or more features. The Nubia OS integration is sure to set alarm bells ringing as compatibility issues with Android will surely be questioned.

The Nubia Alpha (nubia-α) has come to stay and with quite a crazy wrist phone concept and hefty pricing to go. Drop your comments in the OTHER ROOM let’s join hands and give it a befitting verdict.