What you need to know
- Swedish EV maker Polestar has debuted its first smartphone amid a slowdown in its vehicle market.
- The Polestar Phone has arrived exclusively for the Chinese market with a 6.7-inch display, a triple camera array, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC.
- Polestar missed its projected 60,000 target for vehicles in Q4 2023 and the company is reportedly preparing to cut 450 jobs.
Swedish EV (electric vehicle) maker Polestar has debuted its first smartphone aimed at the Chinese market.
According to Bloomberg, Polestar debuted the new phone at an event in Beijing, China, ahead of an auto show it plans to attend. The move appears to be part of a technological shift between automakers and smartphone OEMs.
Polestar states that its device is the culmination of work between its team in Gothenburg, Sweden, and China's smartphone manufacturer, Xingji Meizu Group.
Xingji Meizu's chief executive officer, Shen Ziyu, noted that the move was something of a "defensive measure due to Huawei and Xiaomi starting to make cars" and that the phone is the result of a shift as the "auto industry incorporates more intelligent technologies and consumer electronics."
The Swedish company states its "Polestar Phone" is its first "AI-designed flagship phone" for Chinese consumers. The device features a 6.7-inch display with a 21:9 aspect ratio and an 1250 nits of peak brightness. Powering the device is Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC.
The device's AI features include image generation, image search, and text summaries.
On the back, the Polestar Phone provides a vertical triple camera setup. Consumers will discover a 50MP primary lens with OIS (optical image stabilization), a 13MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP telephoto lens. The front contains a 32MP punch-hole selfie lens.
A 5,050mAh battery will keep the lights on throughout the day, with support for 50W Super Wireless charging. Additionally, consumers can pack up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage in the Polestar Phone.
Elsewhere, the company teases a strong marriage between the phone and its EVs. Polestar has equipped the device with software developed based on Meizu's "Flyme Auto." Polestar states this will create a "seamless interconnection between mobile phones and cars."
Moreover, this pairing allows messages, calls, music, and videos to be displayed on a Polestar vehicle's dashboard while driving. The device's "Polestar Link" functionality lets users utilize their phone as a UWB digital car key.
The Polestar Phone starts at 7,388 yuan in China, which is roughly $1,019.
Polestar's entrance into the smartphone space may seem odd; however, other Chinese makers like Nio Inc. have done the same. More importantly, smartphone OEMs like Huawei and Xiaomi have gone the opposite way, entering the EV industry with their own cars. Similarly, Waymo, owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, operates an array of self-driving cars.
Polestar reported in January that its EV sales have hit a slump. Polestar missed its 60,000 vehicle sales projection as it tallied 54,000 by the end of Q4 2023.
Additionally, the publication notes that Polestar is cutting 450 people to help cover its losses.
