In a partnership with Bullitt Group, American imaging company Kodak on Monday launched a new camera-centric smartphone, dubbed as the “Kodak Ektra” in the Indian tech market at Rs. 19,990. To recall, Kodak entered the smartphone market in the US back in January 2015 with the launch of its first Android 4.4 KitKat-powered smartphone, Kodak IM5. The Kodak Ektra is the successor to the company’s previous Kodak IM5, which was launched in Europe in October last year. Carried a such an attractive price tag, the new Kodak Ektra smartphone will be made available for purchase starting July 18 (Tuesday), 2017 at 4:00 PM exclusively via e-commerce website Flipkart.com in Black colour option. The company claims that the camera-oriented Ektra smartphone is designed for aspiring photographers, from enthusiasts to experts to capture exceptional pictures.
In terms of design, the Kodak Ektra sports a well-crafted body frame with metal-edges all around and a curvy bump at the very bottom side of the handset, giving it an overall fresh and modern look. It also has a leather-like finish on the outside for a better grip, which fits perfectly in your hand. The volume rockers, the power/lock buttons and a dedicated dual press physical shutter button are all placed on the right-hand edge of the smartphone. The Kodak Ektra also features three capacitive navigation buttons, located just below the display panel. The rear panel of the device houses a 21MP camera with dual LED flash unit, while the front upper panel of the device bears a 13MP camera and the earpiece.
As far as specifications are concerned, the Kodak Ektra comes equipped with a 5-inch full-HD IPS display with a screen resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels and a scratch resistance Corning Gorilla Glass coating on top of the display. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 2.3GHz MediaTek Helio X20 deca-core processor coupled with Mali-T880 MP4 image processing unit (GPU) to handle the graphics. In terms of memory, the Kodak Ektra is backed up by a 3GB of RAM and 32GB of native storage, which can be further expanded up to 128GB via a microSD card. On the software front, the handset runs on Google’s Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system out-of-the-box.
Talking about its main USP (unique selling point), the Kodak Ektra sports a 21-megapixel Kodak camera at the rear with non-reflective lens cover, Sony IMX230 sensor, an f/2.0 aperture, 6-axis OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation), autofocus, Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF), HDR (High Dynamic Range), dual LED Flash and 4K video recording support. On the front, the Kodak Ektra houses 13-megapixel front-facing shooter with an f/2.2 aperture, Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF).
The Kodak Ektra smartphone’s camera User Interface (UI) comes with a DSLR-like Scene Selection Dial that allows photographers to access different shooting modes like HDR, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Macro, Night-time, Panorama and Bokeh mode, alongside a Smart Auto mode which auto-selects the best conditions for your photographs. The rear camera also supports advanced manual controls that allow users to adjust exposure setting, ISO, focal length, white balance and shutter speed with the results being visible on the screen as changes are detected. Further, the main camera blends high-quality low light and night-time photography, utilising “ARCSOFT Night Shot technology” combined with a Kodak certified lens coating that delivers more light to the camera sensor, while brightening underexposed areas, reducing ISO noise, and stabilising blur effects from slow shutter speeds. The Kodak Ektra also comes pre-loaded with Google’s SNAPSEED photo-editing app, that provides best photo editing tools to edit images instantly and the Super 8 app for applying professional effects similar to Kodak’s Super 8 film stocks.
In terms of connectivity, the camera-centric Kodak Ektra offers various connectivity options including 4G with VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS/A-GPS, and a USB Type-C port for superfast charging and data transfer. On the battery front, the Kodak Ektra comes packed with a decent 3,000mAh battery with fast charging support. Dimension wise, the handset measures 147.80 x 73.35 x 9.69 mm (height x width x thickness).
Commenting on the launch, Mr Peter Stephens, CEO Bullitt Group, said, “Driven by the enthusiasm from customers globally, we are thrilled to bring the KODAK EKTRA to photo enthusiasts in India. Kodak carries a strong brand legacy in India, and with EKTRA, we aim to enhance the skills and experience of Indian photo-enthusiasts. The KODAK EKTRA Smartphone is all about capturing the moment, telling a story, and revealing the experience of photography. Our latest features and performance adjustments include RAW support, all of which will help drive our customers’ creativity.”
