Surprising everyone, Kodak launched its first ever smartphone, the Kodak Ektra back in October 2016. The device then went on sale in Europe in December but, there was no indication as to when it would be available in the U.S. and in Canada. Initially, the device was expected to debut in America by April but it got delayed due to unknown reasons. However, now it has finally started retailing in the country.
The smartphone will be available in the unlocked variant only from Kodak stores. When the mobile phone was launched last year, Kodak revealed that it would be priced around $549, which was too high considering the mid-level specs this device featured.
However, the price of the Ektra has been revised to $400, which is much more reasonable.
Kodak Ektra specs
The first smartphone from Kodak will sport a 5-inch Full HD display. Under the hood. it will house 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The memory can be further expanded up to 128 GB through the use of a microSD card. The handset will be powered by a MediaTek Helio X20 Deca-core processor.
However, the main draw of the smartphone is obviously its camera, since it has been developed by Kodak. The 21-megapixel primary camera is able to record 4K videos and it even supports eight distinct scenes, which can be selected by the user. These scenes include Smart Auto, Manual, Landscape, Panorama, Portrait, Sport, Night and Bokeh.
The rear camera also supports 6-axis optical image stabilization. The device also includes a 13-megapixel selfie shooter.
Other features include a 3,000 mAh battery and the standard sensors like ambient light, accelerometer, gyroscope, e-Compass and proximity sensor. Another important fact to note is that the Kodak Ektra runs on the older Android 6.0 Marshmallow and will likely never receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update.
The Kodak device only supports GSM networks and this means that owners of the phone will not be able to use Verizon or Sprint and will be limited to AT&T and T-Mobile. It is not known why Kodak has designed it to work only in GSM-based networks, but anyone planning to buy the device should keep this fact in mind.
Should you buy the Kodak smartphone?
While the specs of the Ektra can only be classified as mid range, its main attraction lies in its design aspect and its superb camera quality. People who take a lot of pictures on their phones or make a lot of videos will be happy with this device. However, if one is not that interested in photos, there are better mid-range smartphones which may suit their needs.
