Foldable phones are generally considered to be the next big thing in the smartphone market. In hopes of grabbing a piece of this growing pie, Pablo Escobar’s brother is entering the segment with the Escobar Fold 1.
Roberto Escobar is no stranger to weird products and bold statements. After having launched a flamethrower earlier this year which apparently inspired Elon Musk's, his sights are now set on the foldable smartphone market. And it isn’t supposed to be a product that was created out of a whim and has some serious intention behind it, as indicated by this statement he shared with Digital Trends.
"I have told many people that I would beat Apple and I will. I cut the networks and retailers, to sell to customers phones that can fold for only $349, phones which in stores cost thousands of dollars by Samsung and others. This is my goal, to beat Apple, and by doing it myself like I always have."
- Is this handset a re-branded Royole FlexPai?
- You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Fold right now
- Preview: TCL foldable concept phone
The cheapest foldable phone in the world
The Escobar Fold 1 is one of the first foldable phones in the world, and at a starting price of just $349 (£270, AU$510, ~Rs 25,000), it is by far the cheapest one. For the money, you get a 7.8-inch flexible AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1444 that folds outwards in half.
Roberto adds that the panel is made of “a special type of plastic” which is unbreakable and “tougher than the Samsung Galaxy Fold.”
On the inside, it is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 855 chipset with up to 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which can be further expanded via microSD. As for cameras, we get a 16MP f/1.8 primary camera and a 20MP secondary shooter. The outer shell has a gold lining with a fancy Escobar Inc logo engraved across the back.
The Escobar Fold 1 is carrier unlocked, works across all networks around the globe, and includes free worldwide shipping. Some speculation suggested that this is a rebranded Royole FlexPai. That does make sense as the design and specifications match, and it’s evidently not easy to manufacture foldable phones at a big scale.
However, Roberto justifies the low price tag to "effective production and no special deals with retailers". If you’re sold on the idea of "the best smartphone in the world right now" (not our words), the Fold 1 can be pre-ordered from Escobar Inc's website.
Considering what we know about foldable phones to date, and their various price tags, this offer does seem a little too good to be true. We'd advise anyone considering this handset do their research first, to ensure they know exactly what they're getting.
