BQ Aquaris E4.5 is the first official Ubuntu Phone -- will anyone actually want it?
When it comes to smartphones, it is important to remember that they are not religions. All smartphones have data connections, a display, a web browser and for the most part, a camera. The underlying operating system is the big difference, but even that does not matter much, other than to be secure. In reality, for many consumers, it is simply a means to run apps.
Windows Phone has a great user interface, but it lacks apps; this is why the platform is unsuccessful. Today, the world's-first Ubuntu Phone device is announced and it will be coming soon. The BQ Aquaris E4.5 is a dual-sim affair with a fairly low price tag. The question is, who wants it? From an app perspective, it will be behind even Microsoft's mobile OS. Other than the absolutely biggest Ubuntu followers, I cannot see an educated consumer making the purchase.
"The world’s first Ubuntu phone -- the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition -- will be available across Europe from BQ.com through a series of Flash Sales over the coming weeks. The BQ Ubuntu smartphone, which puts content at the heart of the experience, is the perfect balance between price and specifications and will cost 169.90 Euros. The date, time and URL for the first Flash Sale will be announced through @Ubuntu and @bqreaders on Twitter as well as Ubuntu G+ and Ubuntu Facebook within the next week", says Canonical.
The company further explains, "the sleek, 8GB Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition comes in black. It features a five megapixel front camera and eight megapixel rear camera with autofocus and dual flash and full HD (1080p) for super-sharp video. The rear camera is also equipped with high-quality BSI sensors and a Largan lens. It features a MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7 processor running at up to 1.3 GHz and 1GB RAM for a faster experience".
The BQ made phone has nothing going for it from a hardware perspective -- even at 169 Euros, you can do better with an Android or Windows Phone at the same price.
The Linux community is so fragmented, that users of other distros would scoff at owning an Ubuntu Phone. Linux users wear their distro as a badge of honor, and a Fedora or openSUSE fan for instance would not likely want a phone bearing the name of a competitor. Don't forget, Android is already representing Linux too.
With all of that said, there are quite a few Ubuntu fans, and maybe they will be interested from a curiosity or developer perspective. Even then, buying the phone won't be easy, as it is being sold in a convoluted European-only flash-sale format that will likely lead to frustration and disappointment.
Would you buy this Ubuntu Phone? Tell me in the comments.