During a special event that took place in China today, Gree’s boss, Dong Mingzhu showcased for the first time a brand new, all metal Gree phone.
For the unaware, Gree is actually the world’s largest residential air conditioner manufacturer and they also make household items and commercial ones. The list of items they make includes Electric fans, water dispenser, rice cookers and air purifiers. Dong Mingzhu is a Chinese businessperson and the chairman of Gree, and has been given title of “Woman in the mix” by Forbes Asia in 2013.
The new smartphone looks very industrial in terms of design and has a full metal rear. It does resemble what a full metal Oppo Find 7 would look like to some extent, but overall the phone looks pretty unique and sticks out quite well in the already congested smartphone market. Unfortunately for us, the specifications, pricing and release date have not yet been revealed, so nothing is set in stone just yet and the phone could still change.
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The rear of the phone has a smooth metal finish and features a main camera that sits flush in it’s case, a noise cancelling microphone and an LED flash, followed by the unattractive Gree logo engraved on the bottom. A look at the front reveals the display, the in call speaker, a front facing camera and some not very subtle bezels. Finally, the right side of the phone holds the volume rocker and a rounded button that could either be a power on button like the Xperia phones or a camera shutter button.
With this, one more electronic company enters the smartphone race. Clearly, they feel that there’s still room for new players in this already crowded Chinese smartphone market. What do you think? Can Gree possibly succeed in a market dominated by other aggressive competitors, or will they run out of steam half way through?