American technology company, Kodak has entered the Indian smartphone market with its new offering – Kodak Ektra. The company launched its LED TV in the market last year, and now Kodak is actually doing what it is meant to.Bullitt Group, a Kodak licensee for mobile devices, announced the smartphone in India at Rs. 19,990. The smartphone has been available in the US and Europe markets for quite some time now. The smartphone is available on Flipkart for purchase.
Called the ‘camera-first smartphone’, it features some best-in-class camera features like fast-focus, imaging and editing capabilities. It features a 21MP sensor at the back with f/2.0 aperture and a 13MP sensor at the front.
“Kodak carries a strong brand legacy in India, and with EKTRA, we aim to enhance the skills and experience of Indian photo-enthusiasts. The KODAK EKTRA Smartphone is all about capturing the moment, telling a story, and revelling the experience of photography. Our latest features and performance adjustments include RAW support, all of which will help drive our customers’ creativity,” said Peter Stephens, CEO, Bullitt group.
Take a look at the specifications below –
- 5-inch 1080p display
- 2.3GHz deca-core MediaTek MT6797 Helio X20 Processor
- 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM expandable up to 128GB for the photos you take
- Android Marshmallow 6.0 which is a letdown
- 21MP rear camera with dual flash, fast-focus, f/2.0 aperture and optical image stabilisation, Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) and HDR imaging technology
- 13MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and PDAF
- 3,000mAh battery with USB Type-C port
It can be seen that the only thing going for this smartphone is its camera. Kodak boasts of DSLR-like photographs, a camera that can capture neat portrait photos and 4K videos. This smartphone also supports RAW files in manual mode.
The phone comes with Snapseed built-in so that you can edit the raw images there itself. The camera app also has a DSLR-like ‘Scene Selection Dial’ so that you can easily switch the camera mode you’re using.
Having said that, other than the camera the phone doesn’t have the top-of-the-line processor or even the Android version that it can use to the maximum. 3GB RAM is common in smartphones two notches down, and the battery is small as well, considering it is camera-focussed.
To stir things up, Kodak should have at least offered users an option of upgrading to the latest software out of the box or could have upgraded the smartphone with a Qualcomm processor, along with an improved design with minimal bezels. However, not many phones under Rs. 20,000 focus on the camera and most focus on just providing the best value for money.
If you’re an avid photographer and don’t want the hassle of carrying your camera around, then this can be your best bet. However, do keep a look out for Chinese smartphone makers as they’re easily giving a tough time to their Korean and American counterparts.
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