Thursday 5 May 2016

Intex Aqua Fish smartphone specs

Intex releases entry-level smartphone with Sailfish OS in India 

On February 22, 2016, Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, Intex introduced the 2nd official Sailfish OS smartphone ever to be released later in spring to the markets in India. Intex aims for a budget phone to begin with their own story on this OS.

On May 5, 2016: Launch has been delayed to the coming months. Intex Aqua Fish Full specs updated.


Intex Aqua Fish smartphone specs


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Top: Jolla Phone
Below: Intex Aqua Fish
Photo by Jolla Users
Intex Aqua Fish
  • Display: 5 inch TFT screen, 720p resolution
  • CPU: Snapdragon 212, 1.3 GHz quad core
  • GPU: Adreno 304
  • RAM: 2 GB, DDR3
  • Internal memory: 16 GB (10.3 GB user space)
  • External memory: MicroSD card up to 32GB (card not included)
  • Back facing camera: 8MP with flash
  • Front facing camera: 2MP, no flash
  • Battery: Li-Ion 2500 mAh, MicroUSB charge (charger and cable included)
  • Audio connectivity: Standard 3.5mm headphone jack (earphones included)
  • Mobile networks: Dual MicroSIM, 4G LTE supported (DSDS)

    - 4G: band 3 (1800MHz), band 5 (850MHz), band 40 (2300MHz) Country wiki
        - nice support in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania
        - some parts of Latin America and Caribbean
        - "Telus" band 40, British Columbia and Alberta in Canada
        - "U.S. Cellural" band 5, on some areas in US
    - 3G: band 1 (2100MHz), band 8 (900MHz) Country wiki
        - exactly the same as with Jolla Phone
MicroSD and Dual SIM.
Photo by The Mobile Indian

  • Other connectivity: USB 2.0., WLAN n (2.4 GHz), Bluetooth 4.0
  • TOH: Not supported (single, two colored body in the prototype)
  • LED: Yes
  • Operating system: Sailfish OS 2.0.2 Aurajoki with Super Apps (earlier referred as PartnerSpace)
    (This version of the OS is yet to be released by Jolla, Finland)
  • Price: Not announced*
  • Launch date: "coming months", announced by Jolla on May 3, 2016**
  • Availability: Exclusive via Snapdeal online marketplace in India***
  • Official site

*About the price
Left: Jolla Phone,
Right: Intex Aqua Fish.
Photo by Jolla Users

The specs above suggests that Intex Aqua Fish will be an entry-level budget phone planned for customers in India. Earlier announcement by Intex was "in a price group below INR 10 000", given on July 2015, based on Q4/2015 launch. Now that the launch takes place much later, my speculation goes as low as INR 5000.

To help the price speculation, on March 2016 Intex released a very similarly spec'd phone Cloud Crystal 2.5D for INR 6899 carrying larger 3GB of RAM and a curved glass. This phone could be seen in slightly higher price group than the upcoming Aqua Fish.


** About the launch date (latest update on top)
  • May 3, 2016: Intex Aqua Fish "is set to enter the Indian market during the coming months" (source: Jolla press release)
  • April 26, 2016: The system update planned to include Dual SIM support won't make it yet to April. Jolla is currently working with another Early Access release of Sailfish OS 2.0.1 and it'll be released for test users for a while before a public release. 2.0.2 will be the next update after that. Intex Aqua Fish has been showcased running a demo version of 2.0.2 (source: James Noori, Community Manager at Jolla to us)
  • February 24, 2016 Sanjay Kalirona, Head of Mobile business at Intex Technologies: "We are announcing launch of this product on 25th morning. There is no announcement on price yet.." (source: email from Intex, replied to my request to confirm April 2016 launch)
  • October 22, 2015: The launch was delayed to Q1/2016, announced at BRICS meeting of the communications ministers, Moscow, Russia. (source)
  • July 15, 2015: The original launch date was set to October 2015, shared during MWCS15 event, Shanghai, China where Intex Aqua Fish smartphone was first announced (source)

***About the availability
photos by Jolla ES

Sailfish India is an alliance founded by Jolla. Intex Aqua Fish is made available in co-operation between Jolla (os development), Intex Technologies (hardware), TimesInternet (Super Apps) and Snapdeal (Super Apps, retailer)

While announcing the phone for the first time on MWCS15 on July 2015, it was shared that Snapdeal has exclusive rights in India for selling the phone. However, announcement back then promises more for later: "Together with the Sailfish India ecosystem partners we believe that we can provide an exciting alternative for smartphone lovers in India and later globally as well."

In any questions, just leave a comment below.


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By: Sailfish OS Reviews
Photo courtesy: Jolla Users on Twitter, Jolla ES blog (Spanish)The Mobile Indian
Sources for the launch date and mobile network frequencies: Intex Technologies (email to us), James Noori at Jolla (April 26th update)
Published: 2016-02-22 14:30 UTC
Updated: 2016-05-05 01:00 UTC

42 comments:

  1. Poor specs and it would be better that jolla doesnt give any release years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The specs are carefully picked for the target audience in India to reach a certain price group.

      Jolla has not shared another release date, but Intex has shared an approximation of that via email to us.

      Delete
    2. TOH: Not supported :/

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    3. If this comes around 6-8k INR, surely it will be a hit. Still JOlla & intex can release one more mobile with higher spec adding SD 414/425 + expandable 64GB + WiFi ac + NFC + Fingerprint scanner + 12MP & 5MP + gorilla glass protection.

      Delete
  2. Interesting experiment, this. Don't expect it to have any appeal in western markets. Without a successor Jolla is losing its complete installed base.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting to see how the customers in India will take this. While Jolla does not manufacture hardware by themselves any more, they are announcing new partnerships in just two days from now. Follow up!

      Delete
    2. Indeed. A good test case for Jolla's strategy with their partner customizing option in the OS. But a cheap India Phone is not going to interest anyone in more affluent markets.

      Delete
  3. Any idea what bands the Aquafish operates in?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The phone has integrated X5 LTE Global Mode modem. Bands: LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WCDMA (3C-HSDPA, DC-HSUPA), CDMA1x, EV-DO Rev.B, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE

      Delete
    2. Which frequencies would be a better question. Would we in the US be in the same boat where we're on 2G with a 4G phone?

      Delete
    3. Ok... asking around a bit for those too. Might take a while, but so does the launch still ;)

      Delete
    4. 3G and 4G frequencies are now updated to the post, wiki links too. I got the frequencies directly from the Product Manager of Smart Devices at Intex. In short:

      4G
      - nice support in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania
      - some parts of Latin America and Caribbean
      - "Telus" band 40, British Columbia and Alberta in Canada
      - "U.S. Cellural" band 5, on some areas in US

      3G
      - exactly the same as with Jolla Phone

      Delete
  4. And now something completely different, I want same secure sailfish phone.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What is fascinating in this Intex Phone is that it is a true Jolla design. By this way, the Intex seems to be the true Jolla Succesor

    ReplyDelete
  6. My only remaining hope is that puzzlephone or fairphone2 get Sailfish AND they start selling in America... sounds like such a stretch that I might have to start considering a Blackberry BB10 OS while they still exist.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This budget $100 phone has over double the CPU power and double the ram of the original Jolla TOH. Since I've loved my Jolla I'd buy this. Of course I want something amazing but as long as this one is an improvement over my Jolla I'd still buy it. Every day I worry that if I drop the Jolla one more time I may have to use Android or iOS or try to get a Tizen phone from India.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So how does the screen compare?

      Delete
    2. Just 6% bigger with 78% more pixels, definitely better. Great photos by JollaES and this video by JollaFR are worth checking too.

      Delete
  8. Finally we might get another official sailfish-os phone :D. Hope it can support the brands in China.

    BTW the Chinese translation : https://jolla.comes.today/intex-aqua-fish-smartphone-specs/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello my friend, I was looking forward for your comment :) I hope so too, I'm currently figuring out the supported frequencies. Which would those be for China?

      Delete
    2. You have to buy tax/delivery and custom take also some money after that its not anymore just 100$...btw you cannot buy it to civilized worl this phone is for poor bastards :)

      Delete
  9. it seems like people in the third world countries can have a smartphone with a better OPEN OS and better UI/UX. I envy them!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Can not wait for a phone running Sailfish that works in the US. My Nokia N9 is gradually deprecated by Nokia & MS shutting down services (i.e. AccuWeather, Store apps, etc.).

    My main question is, will the Intex Aqua Fish support US frequencies?

    T-Mobile uses:

    LTE Frequencies:
    1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
    1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
    Lower 700 MHz band 12 (in development) / in service in selected areas

    3G/4G Frequencies (WCDMA):
    1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
    1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)

    2G Frequencies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE):
    1900 MHz PCS band 2

    Source: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4988

    From what I found so far, the Intex Aqua Fish is not including some of those frequencies.

    Networks
    4G (LTE)
    4G (HSPA+)
    3G (HSDPA/CDMA)
    Edge/2G (GSM/GPRS)
    GSM Networks

    900 MHz
    1800 MHz
    2100 MHz
    UMTS Networks
    2100 MHz

    Source: http://reviewjolla.blogspot.com/2016/02/intex-aqua-fish-smartphone-specs.html

    If that is correct, it's missing 1700 and 1900.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am also interested in running this phone in the US and if it can use those frequencies, I would definitely buy one and support this platform.

      Delete
    2. Exact frequencies are now added to the post. Not much luck for North America, with few exceptions.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the update.
      That leaves out the US in frequencies - too bad.
      Will have to make my N9 last a bit longer (good thing I have an N9 backup...)
      Will wait to the next phone.
      Thanks for checking

      Delete
  11. Is there a FM radio ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some sites in India are saying yes, but personally I'm assuming not. Based on that Sailfish OS does not have an FM radio app, and I haven't heard of an official app being developed either. Not out of the question, but should be confirmed.

      Delete
  12. Any update on the release date? I have been waiting to buy a phone since long...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The latest information I have is still the same: "on 25th morning" according to Intex (email), and on April according to Jolla (press release). Monday morning will be intetresting.

      Delete
    2. passed, no news. as one of our proverbs says: "it must be serious since it would be too harsh to be a joke..."

      Delete
  13. I'm from india and it is 25th almost over nothing happened :( very eager to get one :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Received the same reply from their team.on Facebook... stay tuned to our page for more updates.. wondering should I wait any longer?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Launch delayed, update on the post

    ReplyDelete
  16. Still worse for me than my old Nokia N9. Too big screen (4.5 inch max is OK for me), and... STILL NO AMOLED!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Any updates on the release date?

    ReplyDelete
  18. hi,I wonder is there any way to get one of this platform? I'm in China, Thx!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Launched.. But is Intex hardware worth it?

    ReplyDelete
  20. IS SUPPORT ANDROID APLLICATION???
    SUPPORTING XENDER OR NOT??

    ReplyDelete
  21. Is support android apps??
    support xender or other transfer file or not?

    ReplyDelete