The New Smartphone of Nextbit Release on Kickstarter

The cloud-based Nextbit Robin smartphone reached its Kickstarter goals on October 1, managing to raise $1.3 million in thirty days. The startup recently added another $100,000 to the amount raised through pre-order sales on its new site, which includes all first-party accessories.

Nextbit, founded by former head of Android business development Tom Moss and former head of Android power management Mike Chan, set up shop three years ago to free people from the current limits of today's mobile technology. This ambition culminated in the Nextbit Robin, a new mid-range Android smartphone with a difference.

What sets the Nextbit Robin apart from other smartphones is its ability to take apps, photos and all other forms of media and store them automatically in the cloud. Nextbit is capable of moving apps that haven't been used, freeing up space that can be used to download more apps, store more music, and take more photos.

Using the latest version of Android, Nextbit has created a program that automatically makes space for more media and apps. On top of the 32GB of onboard storage, it has 100GB of cloud storage where all of the inactive apps, photos, and videos are stored. When you want to use the app again, you tap on it, let it download, and load it up.

That pitch won enough people that were willing to pay $350 for the Nextbit Robin on Kickstarter, despite no previous smartphone launches under the company's name. The phone is now available for $400 pre-order on its own site, a $50 increase on the Kickstarter release, which Nextbit confirmed would happen in the original Kickstarter.

The chief product and design officer Scott Croyle — responsible for overseeing the design of the HTC Evo, One M7, and One M8 — crafted the Nextbit Robin. The full-HD 5.2-inch polycarbonate phone, available in Mint or Midnight, stands out notably in the stale land of black, silver, and gold metallic smartphones. Two front-facing circular speakers sit on the top and bottom of the device, alongside a 5MP camera with LED flash. On the back is a 13MP camera with dual-tone flash and a cloud icon with four lights to tell users when they're connected to the cloud.

On the pre-order page, Croyle has also designed the Scratches Case, Bumps Case, and Bruises Case. A quick charger, screen protector, vinyl mascot, and the smartphone are also available. Nextbit has an estimated launch date of February 2016 for these pre-ordered devices, the same as its goal on Kickstarter for devices beyond the early adopter special.

The custom Nextbit ROM can be switched out for any open-source ROM, like Cyanogen or stock Android, without voiding the warranty. Nextbit promises it has not added any third-party apps to the smartphone. Nextbit wants to make this a truly open smartphone, with an unlocked Nextbit SIM card that can be switched at any time.

Power management is another core area on which Nextbit has focused, fitting a 2680mAh battery inside. Other specs include Qualcomm's hexa-core Snapdragon 808, 3GB of RAM, NFC, USB Type-C, a fingerprint sensor, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, and LTE. It is surprising that Nextbit announced specs in September, considering Qualcomm plans to launch the Snapdragon 820 by the end of the year; a more powerful and well-optimized processor.

Perhaps we will get an update to tell us the Snapdragon 820 is coming later in the year, but even without the boost in processing performance this looks like a serious competitor in the under $400 market — one of the most stacked areas of competition for Android manufacturers at the moment.