BOB (Blok on Blok) is the world's first modular smartphone powered by blockchain and developed by Pundi X, which is one of the largest decentralized cryptocurrency sales networks. The phone was showcased during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 and is also the CES 2020 Innovation Award Honoree.
The company has an XWallet cryptocurrency service as well as an XPOS (point-of-sale) device for buying, selling, and accepting digital currencies. However, the BOB, previously called the XPhone, offers an entirely decentralized ecosystem for users to have absolute control over their data.
BOB runs on Function X OS, which is an open-source operating system. As it uses the blockchain ecosystem, every task on the phone, be it sending texts, making calls, browsing the web, and file sharing, all happen on a decentralized network, making it highly encrypted and thus secure. Each unit of the BOB is a node that supports the entire Function X blockchain system.
Additionally, the phone runs on Android 9.0 Pie in the traditional mode, which offers all the functions as on a regular Android phone. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset with Adreno 512 GPU and paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Users can expand the storage by up to 512GB.
BOB features a 4.97-inch AMOLED screen with a Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The phone has a 48MP primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture and a front-facing 16MP camera for selfies.
The battery capacity is 3,300mAh, and it also supports wireless charging. It also has a fingerprint sensor, a 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC, Bluetooth, and support for dual nano-SIM cards.
Moreover, it's a modular phone, meaning users can customize it with different components to give their phones a unique look. Every unit of BOB ships with a MOD assembly kit with some standard components, and users can further purchase custom parts from the company's website.
BOB is up for pre-orders and retails for USD599. It's available to order on the XWallet app and Kickstarter.
