Sirin Labs Solarin
How much do
you value your privacy, and how worried are you that your calls and text
messages are under observation? If the answer to both questions is
"lots," then perhaps you'd be interested in Israeli startup Sirin
Labs' first smartphone, the Solarin.
The device is a titanium-clad Android
gadget that lets you quickly toggle between a regular Android device and a
secure, locked-down communications tool. The headline detail here is that it
costs US$ 14,000 (plus tax), or £9,500 in the UK. At that price, it's intended
mainly for titans of industry and the jet set: people with secrets worth
stealing. In many ways, it's the first phone that's been specifically designed
to keep the personal data of the 1 percent safe from everyone else.
Wwith a high-end
Snapdragon 810 chip and a healthy 4GB of RAM. You'll also get 120GB of internal
storage (no memory card slot) and a 23.8-megapixel, Sony-made camera and a
quad-LED flash. Hold the 5.5-inch device in your hand and the first thing
you'll notice is how hefty it feels. The unobtrusive styling, coated in black "technical
leather", means Solarin
oozes the sort of ultra-masculine charm that business types probably fetishize.
The 5.5-inch,
QHD IPS LCD display boasts fantastic viewing angles and beautifully rich
colors. Like the Snapdragon 810 chip, it isn't brand new, but the compromise
there was intentional. The year-old chipset was chosen to ensure that the
company had a year to ensure it was secure. Likewise, the Solarin may not have
a 4K display, but the comparatively lower resolution here is surely gentler on
the 4,040 mAh battery.
Of course,
members of the jet set are so called because they're often found touring the
world. The company promises that the device will work with more LTE carriers
across the world than any other device on the market. Regardless of the network
you choose, you'll insert your SIM into a single, hot-swappable microSIM card
slot on the upper-right hand side. Connectivity-wise, the phone also packs
gigabit WiFi and MIMO in order to handle multiple connections at once.
