Android or iOS, it’s a question virtually every shopper faces when they’re looking for a new phone. Each has its strengths and weaknesses making it difficult to choose between the two. The team at ESTI Inc. are looking to end the iPhone and Android wars by providing users with a convenient way to carry an Android device alongside their iPhone. It’s a device called Eye, and it’s an iPhone case equipped with a chipset that runs Android 7.1 Nougat OS.
Eye features a customized Android install which supports a few features such as native call recording, a real file explorer, recognition of unknown numbers, and real multitasking.
Unlike the iPhone which uses standard LCD technology, Eye’s screen uses AMOLED technology. This means all colors including real black are more vibrant on the screen. The resolution also is a bit higher than the iPhone. While the iPhone 6, 6s and 7 feature a screen sized 4.7” with a resolution of 1334×750, Eye’s screen is 5” and has a resolution of 1920×1080.
In addition to using the screen to run Android applications, the display also mirrors the view from the iPhone’s rear camera. This means that rather than relying on the front facing camera for selfies, users can easily take photos using the higher quality rear facing camera.
Another notable feature of Eye is the inclusion of two extra SIM card slots that support LTE cellular speeds up to 300 Mbps. This enables users to have three phone numbers – one inside their iPhone and two inside Eye. Eye doesn’t have a built-in microphone or speaker, so it instead uses the iPhones built-in sound systems.
As far as specs go, Eye contains 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 16 GB of onboard storage, an IR Blaster, NFC chipset, a/b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, and GPS technology. There’s a built-in gyro sensor, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor. The processor comes in two speeds: a 2.3 GHZ quad-core ARM Cortex-A53, and 1.6 GHZ quad-core ARM Cortex-A53.
With all these features, battery life is understandably a valid concern. Rather than running off the iPhone battery, Eye is equipped with a 2,800 mAh battery, which also charges the connected phone. Charging is simplified with the built-in Qi charging module that enables wireless charging.
So far the makers of Eye have raised over $376,000 via crowdfunding with estimated shipping dates starting in August 2017. Pricing for the device currently starts at $149 and has a retail price of $229. Each purchase includes a one-year warranty and two years of Android OS updates.
Users also can purchase a dedicated wireless charger for an extra $20. Eye comes in Jet White, Jet Black, Matt White, and Matt Black.
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Hi Charles,
Today I was searching for the best case for my Android OS smartphone which won’t cause it to heat up while charging. In your post, I got some cool ideas and wanna thank you for this helpful post.
Battery is too small. Not worth the time.
Boring. I just want a smartphone that will connect to a wi-fi network and a cellular network the next without barfing on itself.
Sorry, I cannot figure out why anyone with an Android phone would want ANYTHING from the iPhone near their phone. I am sure that is just my personal preference for Android talking.
The last time I caught wind of something like this i thought, “what a good idea”, but then it sort of slipped my mind. Now I am coming back to it and wonder how the company is doing?
I clicked to your post and it’s quite interesting and read your entire article and I genuinely like it.
What do you think about the product? I am still on the fence about it, however I do know people that carry around more than one smartphone and maybe this is a good solution for them?
The fact that you are given a one year warranty and two years of updates is a nice feature for this type of thing. As others have mentioned there are a lot of moving parts here and even though an enterprise individual might get the most use from it, data loss would be a problem.
There is a lot of technology going on here. Besides the battery life, what about the fact that the odds are now doubled for things to get all weird and glitch out on you?
Takes the BEST selfies?!? Well, consider it sold to millions of youngsters that cannot get enough of Instagram or Snapchat!
I would imagine that even though battery life is being addressed that it will be what makes or breaks this product. I like the idea of being able to have two different phones in one case, there are many that have two phones, but that battery life is top notch concern in this space.