Got tiny hands? This startup wants you to buy its hexagon-shaped smartphone

By Kyle Wiggers Published July 14, 2016

If you thought curved phones and square phones were weird, you haven’t seen the Keecoo K1. It’s a hexagonal-shaped Android smartphone from Keecoo Mobile, a Chinese startup, that’s designed specifically to “fit the small hands of women.”

The K1 features distinctive, V-shaped edges along its top and bottom bezels and bright silver accents, and it’s apparently as functional as it is visually … unique. It sports an 8-megapixel front-facing camera that uses special software to “automatically make your skin look delicate and smooth,” and its display can be adjusted to “prevent eye fatigue” by “reducing blue light exposure.” Plus, it’s got serious camera skills: a 13-megapixel rear-facing Sony sensor with “quick autofocus,” an LED flash, and the ability to record videos in 1080p at up to 30 frames per second.

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Otherwise, though, the K1 is decidedly middle-of-the-road. Its 5-inch IPS screen is a disappointing 720p (1,280 x 720 pixels) in resolution. Its processor is an older quad-core MediaTek MT6735P chip clocked at 1.3GHz. It’s got just 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which is thankfully expandable with a MicroSD card. The battery is relatively small at 2,300mAh, and it’s running the aging Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system.

The K1’s underwhelming specs don’t come as a surprise, though. It’s Keecoo’s first foray into the smartphone market — the company’s known best for its line of inexpensive, rugged action cameras. And as the Verge points out, the K1 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Meitu V4, a higher-end phone which launched in China early this year. It’s possible that Keecoo’s angling to position the K1 as the V4’s budget counterpart, but it’s a point that Keecoo neglected to mention in its press release.

The K1’s pricing and availability haven’t yet been announced, but the company promised to reveal more in the coming months. When the handset does launch, it’ll be available in three colorful configurations of white, red, and green.

Former Staff Writer

Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…

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