I already reported more than once on the advent of Ubuntu Phones, which seek to bring the open-source popularity and ubiquity of Linux-based computing to mobile platforms. Now devices based on the platform are finally coming to market. And one of the first out of the gate is the bq Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, offered by BQ, a Spanish company hitherto mostly associated with 3D printers and portable devices.
BQ emphasizes heavily the Ubuntu Phone’s new features, such as Scopes, “individual quick start screens that give you access to everything you need: music, videos, social networks, etc. without having to go from one application to another.” These are supported, though, by pretty ordinary technical specifications, including a Quad Core Cortex A7 MediaTek CPU up to 1.3 GHz, and a qHD 540 x 960 240 ppi screen, as well as 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard memory, with MicroSD slot expansion up to 32 GB.
The BQ Aquaris E4.5 is available for €169.90 ($179.63), in the European Union only, which hardly makes it a wallet buster. It’s hard to be sure yet how well the new platform and the new hardware will work out, but at that kind of price, I can anticipate many tech enthusiasts picking one up purely to try it out. As a longtime Ubuntu user, I’m certainly tempted.