At a time when smartphone makers are working on making phones bigger, one Japanese company did just the opposite. NTT Docomo claims to have launched the world’s thinnest phone with 4G LTE connectivity, and it is small enough to fit inside a credit card holder.
Exclusive to Japan
With a 2.8-inch display, it is even smaller than the Palm Phone, which was announced a few days ago with a 3.3-inch display. It is not only the world’s thinnest phone, but also the lightest smartphone with 4G LTE connectivity.
People often prefer to watch videos and play games on their smartphones, so phone makers are releasing bigger phones, but some still prefer handsets they can easily carry, NTT Docomo President Kazuhiro Yoshizawa said at a press conference when unveiling the company’s new winter and spring products.
“As smartphone screens become increasingly larger, many people asked for a simple, easy-to-carry mobile phone,” Yoshizawa said.
The phone Yoshizawa was talking about is the Kyocera KY-01L, which features an E-Ink display similar to the Amazon Kindle e-book reader. The handset does not have a camera. It will be released some time next month. The Kyocera KY-01L is priced at JPY 32,000 ($300) and will come in black only. The handset will be exclusive to Japan and support NTT Docomo’s network only.
In addition to the 2.8-inch display, the handset features a 380 mAh battery. Its physical dimensions are 91 x 55 x 5.3 mm, while it weighs just 47 grams. The handset has a built-in browser but no app store. It features apps like Settings, Browser, Dialer, Contacts, Calendar, Clock, Calculator and Messages. It comes with IPx2 drip water resistance. Further, the company claims the phone consumes zero power on standby mode.
Is it really the world’s thinnest phone?
Even though NTT Docomo claims it to be the world’s thinnest phone, there are doubts about whether this is true. The Vivo X5 Max is just 4.75 mm thick, while the 2016 Mozo Z and Oppo R5s are both under 5.3 mm in size. Nevertheless, the fact remains that such phones target those who want only to make calls and occasionally check text messages and browse the web, or those who want to keep two phones.
Speaking of smaller phones, the new Palm Phone was launched recently. The handset features a 3.3-inch HD LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC and sports 3 GB of RAM. The Palm phone boasts 32 GB of on-board storage, a USB Type-C port and an 800 mAh battery. Like the Kyocera KY-01L, the Palm Phone is exclusive to the U.S. and Verizon Wireless.
“A fully connected product that is in sync with your existing smartphone, so all of your connectivity can go where your smartphone can’t,” the marketing material for the phone states.
Mate 20 X seems perfect for gaming
While in one part of the world, NTT Docomo launched the world’s thinnest phone, in another part, Huawei launched a smartphone with a massive 7.2-inch bezel-less display. Huawei CEO Richard Yu describes the Mate 20 X as the “best portable gaming machine” on the market.
The Huawei Mate 20 X features the powerful 7nm Kirin 980 processor, which is a massive improvement over the previous-generation 10nm chips. The Kirin 980 includes a dual neural processing unit (NPU) system for AI apps. The chipset also includes GPU Turbo technology to boost gameplay performance and improve power efficiency.
“We bring you an extra display, extra power and also extra performance,” Yu said.
However, the handset’s most attractive feature is the 2,244 x 1,080 OLED display, which should impress most gamers. Additionally, to allow gamers play for long durations, the Mate 20 X has a 5,000 mAh battery. It also sports graphene film cooling technology, which will keep it cool even under intense gaming workloads.
Further, to woo gamers, the Mate 20 X also supports a gamepad, which can be attached to the left side of the phone. The supported gamepad features a D-pad and a thumb stick. The handset features 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage.
When detailing the Mate 20 X, Yu also compared it with the Nintendo Switch. According to Yu, the Mate 20 X has a bigger screen, larger battery and higher resolution than the Switch.
