Robin By Nextbit

                                           

Next bit Robin is an Android smartphone manufactured by Next bit through crowd funding. The phone is marketed as "Cloud-first" where it utilizes cloud storage to store data which are not used for a long period of time. It was revealed and also launched the crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter on September 1, 2015.

Next bit Robin is now available for Rs 19,999 in India starting May 30, 2016 exclusively on flipkart.

                                                               

As the company boast on its site "the first Android phone that makes running out of space history. With the cloud integrated into Android OS, your on-board storage is merged with the cloud, so you always have the space you need."

The USP is cloud storage which has not been tried by any other phone makers as yet nexbit provides 100gb of store in its cloud.

Design

As Nextbit says "Everyone’s phone looks the same. That’s boring. It’s time for something different".

I totally agree with their point it’s a beautiful phone, when you hold it in your hand people are bound to ask you about this phone. It's attractive, dynamic and shaped perfectly sharp and edgy. This phone is made up of polycarbonate with a matte finish which is smooth to hold.

I just loved the design of this phone. This phone looks like a beautiful rectangle box with very slightly curved edges and Texture that feels great in your hand.

It's a very simple design a rectangle with 2 stripes at each end, beautifully paired circles on either end which are speakers , also on top is a camera and a proximity sensor. The display of the device is 5.2 inches with Corning Gorilla Glass 4, IPS LCD with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and pixel density of 424 ppi.

The device features a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 system-on-chip. In storage it has 3 GB RAM with 32 GB Onboard memory and 100 GB Online cloud base storage.

It comes in 2 eye-catching colors, white and a turquoise-green shades called Mint and other in dark grey that’s called Midnight.

Mint  and Midnight 2 eye catching colours of ROBIN

On the back, the 13MP camera is placed on top of strip of the phone body with dual-tone LED flash. Just beneath the camera is the cloud logo with 4 white LED lights which blinks when data is being transferred to the cloud. The NEXTBIT branding name is located at the bottom.

Led light blinks when cloud back is in progress

It has been designed for comfort as Square sides make it easy to grip while gently rounded edges give it comfort in hand. Robin’s weight is balanced so it always stays centered in your palm. Everything about the design is perfect and carefully planned from the front and back to the right and left, top and bottom.

The Thing which I liked the most about this phone is the power button placed on the side of the phone which is also a fingerprint sensor. Leave your finger there for a split second and our phone is unlocked. There is a nano SIM card tray, placed right beneath the power button and two round buttons on the other side of the power button are for volume. The 3.5mm audio jack is on the top and USB Type-C port at the bottom on one corner with a mic and an LED indicator beside it.

Nexbit OS

Nextbit Robin comes with Nextbit OS which is quite close to Stock Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the Nextbit OS skin. It comes with very few system specific apps with the Google suite of apps which are basic as in any stock android.

          

there is no app drawer on ROBIN ,
So all your apps are on the front

Best feature of the Nextbit OS is its integration with cloud.

The Nextbit OS integrates the cloud with the newest Android. It continually adapts to how you use it, so your experience keeps getting better. Whenever Robin’s plugged in and connected to WI-Fi, it syncs with the cloud to create space on your device, so it keeps identifying the data or the apps that you have not used in days and then it automatically backs it up on a cloud which is phenomenal as I never check what pic’s or docs or app I have not used for god knows how long.

Four tiny lights on the back let you know that Robin is busy solving your storage issues.

As they say "the cloud is integrated right into Android OS, Robin can seamlessly expand your storage." 

Months before you ever run out of storage, Robin anticipates you’ll need more space and continuously syncs your apps and photos. By default it syncs whenever it’s plugged in and on WiFi, so you don’t have to worry about battery drain or excess data charges.

You can check the space available
on cloud and storage

Robin OS keeps learning and updating itself on what you use, when you use it. So, when you need space, it archives the things that you use least, so you always have space for what you want most. Since everything is already synced, Robin can even free up space in airplane mode.

What i like the most is the fact that even if my apps are archived on cloud it is not deleted from my system All your apps are always at your fingertips. Even the ones that have been archived. In just a click any app restores just where you left off. The same is true for every photo you’ve ever taken. Pictures are down sampled to screen resolution and remain linked to the full-size version in the cloud. You can also select certain photos or the apps that you want to backup and share them on cloud manually as well.

The OS keeps its self very secure and makes your life easier with it Fingerprint identity, Encrypted storage, Google Authentication and Secure transmission.

The most disappointing part about cloud is it does not archive videos, currently it only archives photos, apps, data and games.

The auto-backup happens when the phone is on Wi-Fi and is charging. You will notice those four lights blinking, indicating a backup is in progress.

Tech Specs


Screen 5.2″ 1080p IPS LCD Gorilla Glass 4

Cameras 13 MP Rear-facing with phase detection
        autofocus, dual-tone flash
        5 MP Front-facing

Storage         3 GB RAM
        32 GB Onboard
        100 GB Online
Dual front-facing speakers with dual amplifiers

Bands GSM (for AT&T and T-Mobile networks in the US; best choice for all                                       international users including Canada)
        GSM 850/900/1800/1900
        HSPA 850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100
        LTE Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/28

Android Pay Ready Fingerprint ID sensor
         NFC

Other Stuff Qualcomm™ Quick Charge 2.0
        USB Type C
        Bluetooth 4.0 LE
        Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac


What’s in the box.

Robin Android Smartphone
USB Type A to Type C cable (1m)
SIM eject pin

Quick start guide

Although It baffles me why only give the type -c cable and not a connector, I don't think we all have spare connectors lying around in our house.

So what makes this phone different from all the other phones available in the market today , Its definitely Cloud but for an Indian consumer my verdict with slow internet average speed and charges of internet being on higher side , cloud storage is not quite the USP for the Indian audience, although i like the looks of this phone and it has some good hardware also its in the same price band as one plus 2 and Mi 5 and various other phones available in the market with similar features, i would still like to see the performance of this phone compared to one plus two or Mi 5. My Verdict is to go for the phone just for the looks of it.