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Elephone Vowney goes up for pre-sale on official Elephone store

Robin MaxwellAugust 11, 2015

True to form, Elephone have started the presages of the Elephone Vowney smartphone ahead of release revealing the price to be $299.99.

The Vowney will be Elephone’s must up market phone so far and at a retail price close to $300 will be competing in a space filled with phones from OnePlus, Motorola and other smartphone makers.

Elephone might have the upper hand though (in hardware at least) as the Vowney has a surprisingly well stocked compliment of high-end specifications. Version A of the phone will be released with Mediatek MT6795 chipsets and Android 5.0 while the Version B will have the option to run Android or Windows 10 on a quad-core Intel chip.

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Both phones will come with a 5.5-inch 2K display, 20 mega-pixel Sony IMX230 rear camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB memory and large 3800mAh battery.

Presales only state a price of $299.99, we’re not sure if this is the price for Version A only or if both phones will go on sale for the same price. A final release date hasn’t been set yet, but as usual the Vowney is running over schedule.

[ Elephone Store ]

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About the author

Robin Maxwell
Hi, Robin Maxwell here! Mobile technology is my passions, and while I've been known to dabble with iOS devices I'm a firm Android convert, currently waiting for the Oppo Find 5 to launch!!

mf1gt3r
August 11, 2015
$300 aint bad. Elephone usually f**ks thaings up. Hope they get this right, they’ve taken aeons to design and optimize this one. It must be above average.
- Mesterio
  August 13, 2015
- Lars
  August 11, 2015
  Yeah, sides seem ok but top and bottom have a big black border in the picture above which will make it a huge phone considering the screen is 5,5″.
- MichaelM
  October 9, 2015
  They don’t look any bigger than the borders on my One M8 and I don’t hear anyone complaining about the design or screen on that phone.

Stef
August 11, 2015
If Version B supports MHL, imagine having your main PC around, because that is how it would be. Quad core Silvermont + 4gb ddr3 + almost ssd speeds is better than many laptops out there. All you’d need would be a monitor and voila! A full PC
E8hffff
August 11, 2015
It’s difficult to pre-order as one needs to know the scope of the two different models. Like is the Intel better than the Helio X10 for features. Maybe the Intel can’t drive a 20MP camera. Maybe the Intel runs the battery down fast. I want a review before purchasing. Elephone please supply GizChina with review units.

Owsley_66
August 11, 2015
Based on specs over at Device Specifications, it doesn’t get 4G in the U.S. I’m sure it’s going to be a nice phone but for that kind of $$ I want 4G. I’m sticking with the Ubik Uno for now as it is priced about the same, has comparable specs, and gets 4G in the U.S.
- E8hffff
  August 11, 2015
  I’ll need to check, by initially the Helio series was supposed to have World Mode modem.
Reggie
August 11, 2015
For that reason don’t buy this product….. BIG BLACK FRAME , I just want my real 5,5″
- ljan ryan
  August 12, 2015
xi7
August 11, 2015
what real price oneplus 2 with 64gb rom ? (USD)

Ruby
August 11, 2015
(Drum roll…) And now, introducing Elephone’s weekly annual flagship device! The new and improved… avalable for presale now!
Send them your money so they move forward from photoshop to development!
It’s amazing people still fall for this crap!
- Stef
  August 11, 2015
  To be fair that’s the first phone in existence with an IMX 230 sensor given for cheap.
  Also (if model B is to be ever released) this is the first phone running Desktop software in the history of phones (for the last 40 years or so)…
  So yeah, you could say that most elephones are business as usual, but if they deliver with this model it’s probably a historic release (espec if model B is released).
  - E8hffff
    August 11, 2015
    - Stef
      August 11, 2015
      It’s not running a desktop softtware. My Moto Razr I runs Intel too, in fact many phones do. Only Elephone “promised” to use dual boot.
      That (desktop software) is the first in the history of phones.
      - Manu
        August 16, 2015
        Stef
        August 17, 2015
        No hardware acceleration, and lacks most of the needed drivers. Also no MHL/HDMI on Zenfone 2 so it mostly goes wasted… (unless you can work on a 5.5 inch screen). It’s fine as a proof of concept, but it is not much more than than I’m afraid…
        If this Elephone is ever released it would be the first “Desktop-phone” (native support of all of its functions, probably even the phone will work in Windows)…
  - Michael McGreevy
    August 11, 2015
    Well not really the first. The windows 8.1 phones would probably take that crown, but if it is the first usable model then yes, it will be. It’s going to be like having a mid-range sandybridge i5 pc with a built in phone. And if someone were to come up with a wireless monitor, it’s a game changer as far as home computing is concerned.
    - Stef
      August 12, 2015
      Windows 8.1 phones cannot run desktop software, no?
      That’s why I wrote the first “Desktop phone” instead of the first “Windows phone”…
      As for wireless monitor. There’s WiDi already. Here: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/microsoft-wireless-display-adapter,review-2400.html
      Apparently it’s great for everything except FPS games (latency issues). But you can play strategy games, and of course work on the desktop no problem.
    - Stef
      August 12, 2015
      Also being the first phone supporting Desktop software and depending the the screen/sensors’ quality it could/would support a lot of the occulus rift software natively:
      Imagine playing Half Life 2 on your phone on sth like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleCardboard/comments/2kr79s/my_40mmlens_google_cardboard_mod_doubled_fov/
      High PPI (higher than occulus Rift) + High FoV + Little Latency as everything’s on a singe device
      Of course for that to work it would need to have great gyroscope and accelerometer. If they go cheap on those components then VR would be a disorienting experience.
      But yeah it would be the first phone with potentially robust VR…
      It would be a 4 in 1 device:
      1) Smartphone
      2) PC
      3) Camera of (possibly) Point-and-shoot quality
      4) VR (w proper software)
- Michael McGreevy
  August 11, 2015
  And offer early pre-sales buyers a crappy “real pu leather” (plastic in other words) flip case or bog standard film screen protector, when the release date is missed again. And again. I really want to like Elephone, I really do. But it needs to learn that to swim with the big fish, it needs to look at its marketing. Why announce a handset with, frankly, drool inducing specs when they know there is no chance of keeping to its publicised release date. Having said all that, would I buy this phone? Hell yeah!

George
August 11, 2015
- Michael McGreevy
  August 11, 2015
  - musbau
    October 8, 2015
Michael McGreevy
August 11, 2015
I think this is the “must have” phone of the year, in either the A or B model (other reports say the B model will have 4gb ram, not 3, and will cost over $400) as both are more than capable of blowing any of the mid-range phones out of the water, including the over-hyped and under-specified OnePlus 2. But it would be nice if Elephone could keep a promised release date for a change.

The Special Juan
August 12, 2015
Had my fingers burned with the p7000. Was taken in by the specs, and i also liked the looks…yet the device was delayed, and then when i got it, it started to develop white pressure spots qucikly. Clearly used a cheap screen/lcd. Also the battery would run down from 20% to empty in around 5 mins (literally!) – Elephone have not managed to fix that one yet.
The phone has since been sold and replaced by my MX5 – which i am very happy with.
Sorry Elephone, I want to like/trust you…but you need to up your game when it comes to build quality and ROM optimisation. Otherwise all the promised specs mean nothing

ljan ryan
August 12, 2015
Except MT6795,It is said that this is a more power consumption and heat a lot of chip.Look like SD810,
So Ulefone Be Touch 2 is good choose , MT6752 front fingerprint 3GB RAM .
Especially front fingerprint!
- Adam Irvine
  August 12, 2015
  The Be Touch 2 would get my vote if the bottom bezel really was that thin (silly big black frame above it instead…) and if it had a Notification LED…
E8hffff
August 12, 2015
UPDATE. First Release = Elephone Vowney Release Date Update: 2015-09-30

Max
August 12, 2015
fucking HUGE black borders… they must be out of their minds! 300$ for 5mm thick black borders? god damnit, elephone…
honestly, just look at that picture! that is worse than the p7000. O.O
E8hffff
August 12, 2015
If they take too long to release the X20 will be out.
Tommy
August 27, 2015
i saw the phone has 3GB Ram + 64GB Rom from elephone.cc, it’s 32GB Rom or 64GB Rom?which one is correct
- R. Tina
  August 31, 2015
  - Tommy
    August 31, 2015
MichaelM
October 9, 2015
Are you all aware that the dual-boot android/windows version of this phone has vanished in the ether? Elephone yet again announcing specs it had no intention of ever producing in an effort to get people interested in its products. The Vowney still looks good value at $300, but the LeTv Le One Pro has come down to the same price and it is an amazing phone with excellent features like 4k video output, USB 3 C, hifi audio output, 2560×1440 screen, 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810.