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Philips appears to be in the process of preparing a new budget smartphone for the consumer market. The device has been recently certified by China’s regulatory agency TENAA where it’s been identified by the model number S329, and as expected, the smartphone’s specifications and exterior design characteristics have been largely disclosed by TENAA. We’re looking at a 5-inch smartphone running Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and drawing energy from a 3,000mAh battery.
According to the source, the Philips S329’s 5-inch IPS display carries a resolution of 1280 x 720, and the device relies on an unspecified system-on-chip (SoC) housing an eight-core processor clocked at up to 1.5GHz. The smartphone accommodates 3GB of RAM, 16GB of onboard memory expandable via a microSD card slot by up to additional 64GB, and supports 4G LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, as well as VoLTE (Voice over LTE). The regulatory agency also confirmed the inclusion of a 13-megapixel main camera which appears to be paired with an LED flash, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing sensor. The smartphone’s exterior has been treated with a Navy Blue finish, however, the materials used in manufacturing the case are not specified, so it remains to be seen whether it will present a metal or polycarbonate case. The smartphone tips the scale at 145 grams (5.11 ounces) and its overall dimensions clock in at 143.4 x 70.4 x 9.15mm (5.64 x 2.77 x 0.36 inches).
Also unspecified is whether the 3,000mAh battery is or isn’t user-removable, but considering the fact that the smartphone’s back panel accommodates a fingerprint sensor right below the main camera and flash, it’s very likely that the Philips S329 will feature an enclosed design. Evidently, there’s no telling when the Philips S329 will hit the shelves, but nevertheless, this is a rather unexpected turn of events for the Dutch tech company considering that its last two smartphones to enjoy a market release were the Philips Xenium X588 introduced earlier this year, and the Philips S307 announced back in September 2015. By the looks of it, the company is now planning on launching its second smartphone this year, but only time will tell when and where the mysterious Philips S307 will make its debut.
