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[Qvoth]

Just get a Chinese phone, probably plenty around with even cheaper price

 

[LinkSlayer64]

Why not just get the Redmi Note 4X from Xiaomi or am I missing something?

There is no way a kid from Ottawa can beat the economies of scale from China.

Redmi Note 4X $160 on Aliexpress, 5.5", octa core, 4gb ram and 64gb rom.

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...060.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.2995e5c0N6eMv6

thanks for this, if only it was USB c so my current cables didn't go to waste

edit - well ,and the fact it doesn't seem to work with any of my carrier options

 

[tim.mbp]

The $200 smartphone market seems pretty crowded. Moto E & G5, Axon 7 mini, Idol 5S, Nokia 6, Honor 6x, plus whatever Blu phone.

 

[Jimrpg]

thanks for this, if only it was USB c so my current cables didn't go to waste

edit - well ,and the fact it doesn't seem to work with any of my carrier options

Maybe that's why no one is talking about it in the US then. Works fine in Australia.

There are xiaomi phones that work in the US - but I think you have to check the bands. But Xiaomi seems to be offering the most bang for the buck. Cheaper than that and you run into some really average phones under $100 that are just not worth it for the price. Like 720p screen, plastic back, 1gb ram, 8gb rom and just real junk. The Xiaomi Redmi 4X is probably where it's at least decent.

Other than that Oppo, Vivo also have some decently priced phones.

 

[yanipheonu]

Yeesh, the writing on this IndieGoGo post tho. Someone loves saying fuck.

"Good Guys" "Not the Good Guys" 🙄
You're selling a phone, guy.

 

[liquidtmd]

The $200 smartphone market seems pretty crowded. Moto E & G5, Axon 7 mini, Idol 5S, Nokia 6, Honor 6x, plus whatever Blu phone.

.

The Moto E4 plus has just come out, I can buy it for the £139 and the battery/experience is fine (5000mah battery is aces)

 

[Sinfamy]

>MediaTek
DROPPED

 

[sohois]

As others have noted, this is just any Chinese branded phone. There are any number of Chinese manufacturers offering the same or superior specs.for that price. Just a matter of finding one that works on your network.

 

[Chris R]

This looks nice... if it gets made I'd probably grab one if it was 100% stock Android.

Back looks clean enough with the fingerprint bs on the front. Camera being flush would make it 100% awesome

 

[DOWN]

Yikes. Wonder how they’ll respond now that their exact phone has been discovered on AliExpress.

 

[magnetic]

#FUCKTHEBIGGUYS

You know theses guys are serious because they are dropping those muddafudging f-bombs and don't give a flipping heck! Fuck you Brandon, you're not my real dad.

 

[Metalmarc]

How are the Moto G phones these days? Not had one since 1st gen

 

[Stop It]

No he's not. He's just pre-selling an existing device.

The specs listed in the OP can be had on OEM hardware.

Bingo.

You can get a dozen Chinese Mediatek powered phones with these specs for the £150 range the Indiegogo is currently asking for.

This is frankly a non thing, but not a scam. Just another Chinese phone with a silly name.

 

[Yohane]

Is this a rebranded chinese phone?

 

[Timeless]

Can someone crowdfund a 4 to 4.5 inch phone? kthx.

Please. I'm getting sick of iPhones and the 5/5s/SE design has stagnated.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

You can buy a samsung galaxy J3 fpr $140 straight up no contract. It is a perfectly good phone. Its only drawback is the camera, which is 5mp and not as good in low light as the flagship phones. But as long as you dont need thr latest and greatest $800 phone every yeae or two, there are great phones out there for under $200 brand new. This crowdfunding idea is a waste of time and $$.

 

[NoFaceNico]

I'm using a crowdfunded phone right now, a NextBit Robin. I got it off Amazon a few months ago on sale for like $100. Not bad for an unlocked phone. I needed to replace my ancient 4s but I didn't need anything special. Apparently this phone is a LG Nexus underneath but with an unlocked boot loader and an extra gig of ram. This fit the bill for me, it was very cheap, surprisingly good build quality and all in a neat little package. I don't have a lot to complain about, aside from the lack of a micro SD card slot.

Now this guy on the other hand, he's clearly just reselling Chinese junk phones to oblivious fools on Indiegogo, if he delivers at all.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Android Police yet again with the superb detective work.

tl;dr, this is probably a scam or a really bad investment.

"Frank." isn't just a phone, it's a phony

Red flag #2: The design

So naturally, you would expect that the phone was completely designed by the Frank team. The images of whiteboards and sketches on the campaign page reinforces this idea. There's just one problem - the Frank phone uses an existing OEM reference design. If you take a look at Alibaba, a brand name called 'Leegoog' is selling a phone nearly identical to the Frank phone for $125-135 per unit (you have to order them in batches).

Red flag #3: The software

Bringing a new version of Android to a device is a lot of work, one that most OEMs dedicate entire teams to. The Frank project only lists one person as an engineer, Ahmed Ammar. I was able to find a person with the same name living in Ottawa, Canada, but according to his LinkedIn profile, he's currently employed with Broadview Networks as a Senior Systems Engineer.

Assuming that's correct, the Frank phone doesn't even have one full-time engineer. The rest of the team only consists of marketing people and the youth leadership coach helping 17 year-old Moe Omer release this phone. So we're led to assume that one engineer will develop and release Android updates for this phone in his spare time.

If you just hate reading and you skipped all the way to the end for the conclusion, it's simple - don't back the Frank phone. You're simply buying a generic Android phone that already exists, with the promise of support from a student going to college and his youth leadership coach.

 

[MadJackChurchill]

I'll wait for the 16 core 32GB RAM 4K display model for $30.

Spoiler

BOM won't let this happen. Companies need a margin.

 

[Vuze]

Who are the idiots that pledged anyway? If you're on a budget or budget-conscious (clearly who they are targeting, no?), you shouldn't risk your money on shady indiegogo projects.

 

[orochi91]

Android Police yet again with the superb detective work.

tl;dr, this is probably a scam or a really bad investment.

"Frank." isn’t just a phone, it’s a phony

Well, shit.

That obliterated all of my hype for this product.

:/

 

[blame space]

I trusted you, Frank.

 

[shandy706]

Wow.

Those specs are phenomenal, especially at that price.

Phones are severely overpriced / marked up. Going from 32gig to 64 gig, for example, only costs a few dollars. Yet phone companies tend to hike the price quite a bit for the "upgrade".

Even if this doesn't work out, would be nice for somebody to shake it up.

 

[Ghost]

I was going to say this looks like an OEM phone with a small markup, looks like that's been confirmed now. Chinese manufacturers have been pumping out good (on paper at least) mid-range phones for a quite a while.

 

[sixteen-bit]

they should license Frank for the Fassbender movie to be the mascot

 

[Vanillalite]

Phones are severely overpriced / marked up. Going from 32gig to 64 gig, for example, only costs a few dollars. Yet phone companies tend to hike the price quite a bit for the "upgrade".

Even if this doesn't work out, would be nice for somebody to shake it up.

Shake up what? There are a ton of phones in the $100-$300 price range.

This is literally just repackaging of what's already out there.

I'm also leery of the performance due to core clocks. You need to be more in the 1.8-2ghz range with A53s.

 

[Monkeyball]

Such an edgy name.

.

 

[Carlius]

xiaomi ftw. only brand i trust when it comes to lower end phones.

 

[mackattk]

Mediatek processor? I'll pass.

Android Police yet again with the superb detective work.

tl;dr, this is probably a scam or a really bad investment.

"Frank." isn't just a phone, it's a phony

Well it is an indiegogo campaign for a new phone. Red flags right from the start.

 

[FyreWulff]

I'm gonna be rich

blink twice if your family members are trying to plug a SIM card into your ears

 

[Jill Sandwich]

they should license Frank for the Fassbender movie to be the mascot

I doubt even Frank Sidebottom would endorse this snake oil.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Android Police yet again with the superb detective work.

tl;dr, this is probably a scam or a really bad investment.

"Frank." isn’t just a phone, it’s a phony

So he's probably just rebranding existing phones and reselling them?

Kid's got a bright future in marketing/sales ahead.

 

[NewFresh]

Seems like a Chinese phone repackaged and given a silly name...

 

[dcll]

There are tons of cheap Chinese phones with similar specs, this is pointless

edit:just read the second page, late

 

[BetterThanNothing]

I love how "(the good guys)" conveniently leave out the fact that equivalence in specs does not mean equivalence in quality or even performance.

You get what you pay for. Those expensive phones would be a lower price, if possible(not counting the extra markup by your cellular providers), and even then, they are made with slave labor.

This is a lot of bullshit.

 

[ZOONAMI]

The catch is you will never actually get a phone

Seriously this looks like a high schooler's PowerPoint slide.

The leeco s3 is basically already this phone (and there are other Chinese phones as well) but cheaper.

 

[RuGalz]

frankly it's better to get something that will get security patches in timely manner.

 

[willow ve]

xiaomi ftw. only brand i trust when it comes to lower end phones.

The recently announced Xiaomi A1 looks great.

 

[mashoutposse]

Selling on price is one of the most uninspiring pitches.

 

[jstripes]

So he's probably just rebranding existing phones and reselling them?

Kid's got a bright future in marketing/sales ahead.

Yup. There's plenty of no-name companies on Alibaba that will print your logo on generic electronics that they manufacture, but you have to buy in bulk. That's exactly what's going on here.

Can't really fault the kid here. The only thing he's doing wrong is pretending he designed the phone.

 

[shandy706]

Shake up what? There are a ton of phones in the $100-$300 price range.

Was thinking more along the lines of the big boys. I'd love to see something exactly like the Note 8 for example....but not so expensive.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

So he's probably just rebranding existing phones and reselling them?

Kid's got a bright future in marketing/sales ahead.

Probably just buying that Leegoog phone in bulk for 125 a piece then selling it for 180.

 

[Retro Edge]

Well, I bought the Galaxy A5 2017 (in the comparison) for 199€ last week and while the 4gb ram sounds good for the "Frank", the 1.5ghz octacore does not.

A5 is still one of, if not the best middle class smartphone you can get.


Does it has a Super AMOLED display like the A5?
Because I could not live without one anymore, what a great invention.

 

[Cymbal Head]

Young entrepreneurs are the future.

 

[CazTGG]

frankly it's better to get something that will get security patches in timely manner.

I see what you did there.

 

[Condom]

Young entrepreneurs are the future.

Well by definition they are, until capitalism finally collapses.

But people that 'invent' copy cat crap like the phone in the OP are not the future. You might as well get an existing phone like Xiaomi's or Motorola's offering.

 

[hobozero]

Does it have an FM antenna? I would like to listen to my favorite station: FRANK!

Turn your crank... to FRANK!

 

[CazTGG]

Late update (wasn't brought to my attention until today) but the frank. team responded to the Android Police article:

We started out working on a design of what specs we wanted within a phone and what we were willing to compromise. We went to manufacturers with our designs and desired specs, along with our calculated approximate price point, but because we didn't have the capital to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a custom mould, we worked with many manufacturers on matching different moulds to find one closest to our design, and tested out several different prototypes before settling on this one...

We've also been working closely with the manufacturer's quality assurance engineers, as well as our own Ahmad Ammar who worked for Blackberry for seven years, to make sure everything is up to our standards.

 

[Stinkles]

Late update (wasn't brought to my attention until today) but the frank. team responded to the Android Police article:

Not exactly a denial about the internals either

 

[snap]

Not exactly a denial about the internals either

nor did they explain how they plan to go from 6.0 to 7.0 on a mediatek phone, esp with no full time engineers