Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

There’s no way this ‘dream’ Android phone on IndieGoGo is legit

Published Sep 29th, 2015 4:40PM EDT
Symentium Android Phone IndieGoGo Project
Image: IndieGoGo

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

When it comes to smartphone design, there are always compromises. If you want a high-resolution camera with OIS technology, you may have to put up with an unsightly camera bump. If you want a device with a big battery, you won’t get the lightest and slimmest device around. However, one IndieGoGo project is aiming to show that it can get around all these compromises… and we have a very hard time buying into its legitimacy.

FROM EARLIER: 5 reasons Android fans are already complaining about the Nexus 5X

The project is called Symetium: The no-compromise Smartphone PC and it’s promising a device that delivers a Snapdragon 820 chipset, 6GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, a 24-megapixel camera and a 4,000mAh battery… all delivered in a device that has an edge-to-edge display and is just 6 millimeters thin! Yes, that’s thinner than the iPhone 6. Not bad for a first-time smartphone manufacturer that no one has ever heard of before!

Here is the project’s list of challenges:

The challenges and risks that are ahead of us as we finalize the development and delivery of Symetium are related to manufacturing and logistics.

• There may be variations in the colors based on our transition from the prototypes used in the photos and video to the final manufactured product. Some colour options might not be available if demand for the colour is below factory minimum quantities or due to unavailability of material in that colour.

• There may be changes to the final dimensions or specifications of some of the parts as we optimize the design for mass production.

• There is the possibility that the delivery of the product to our contributors may be delayed due to unforeseen product changes that require additional development time or addition to the scope of our manufacturing timeline.

• There is the possibility that the delivery of the product to our contributors may be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances in international shipping and logistics.

Finally, the very nature of Symetium means the exact component list is fluid until we enter production to ensure we’re picking the absolute best available part at the time. If we are forced to change a major feature or component, it will ONLY be because we have come up with something better and more innovative to replace it with.

If there are any changes to Symetium, we will communicate these changes to our contributors in a timely manner.

There’s also the possibility that this entire project is vaporware. Donate at your own risk.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.