Carbon fiber when used in smartphones has great properties yet has one big downside – it blocks radio waves, hence reason why it is used sparingly. The Carbon Mobile team in Germany spent years working on the issue and they have cracked it. Meet the Carbon 1 MK II – the world’s first smartphone with a carbon fiber monocoque.
Table of Interests
Carbon 1 MK II Specs and Features
Design and Display
This means that the external shell provides the structural integrity, there are no internal supports). This has made the device very light (125g) and thin (6.3 mm).
The key is the proprietary HyRECM technology – Hybrid Radio Enabled Composite Material – which was developed over four years. It combines high quality carbon fibers sourced from Germany with a composite material that allows radio waves to pass through.
Back in 2017 it took 3 hours to create a shell, now that the process has been optimized and it only takes 30 minutes. Even after this 6x speed up the process still involves an experienced engineer hand-cutting material and overseeing the molding process.
Since the monocoque design has no internal frame all components are attached to the carbon fiber itself. Plastic makes up less than 5% of the materials used in the phone’s construction. Also, every Carbon Mobile phone can be disassembled and converted to raw materials.
The Carbon 1 MK II features a 6†AMOLED display with 1,080 x 2,160 px resolution (18:9). It is protected by the thinnest panel of Gorilla Glass Victus yet – it measures just 0.4 mm.
Performance
The phone will launch with Android 10, but the 11 update is coming in the second quarter. Carbon Mobile is promising 2 years of software updates and monthly security patches.
The MK II is powered by the Helio P90 chipset (12 nm, 2x Cortex-A75 @ 2.2 GHz + 6x A55 @ 2.0 GHz, PowerVR GM 9446 GPU). It is paired with 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256 GB of UFS 2.1 storage. The hybrid dual card slot can hold a microSD if you need more. The 3,000 mAh battery can be charged up to 50% in half an hour.
Cameras
The rear camera setup features two 16MP sensors (S5K3P9), it seems that both have the same focal length (and same f/2.0 aperture). The selfie camera – mounted in a classic bezel above the display – has a 20MP sensor instead (S5K3T2).
This is a 4G dual SIM phone. Additional connectivity includes Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD, NFC, GPS/GLONASS/Galileo and a USB-C 3.1 port. There’s no 3.5 mm headphone jack, but there is NFC. Also, there’s a fingerprint reader mounted on the side.
Note: in case it wasn’t clear, this company is unrelated to Karbonn Mobile.
Carbon 1 MK II Specifications
Network Properties
- 2G bands: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2
- 3G bands: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
- 4G bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38
- Speed: HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (3CA)
Launch
- Announced: 2021, March 01
- Status: Exp. release 2021, March
Design
- Dimensions: 153.5 x 74 x 6.3 mm (6.04 x 2.91 x 0.25 in)
- Weight: 125 g (4.41 oz)
- Colors: Carbon Fiber​ Matte Black
- Build: Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), hybrid carbon fiber composites back and frame, monocoque design
- SIM: Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Display
- Type: AMOLED
- Size: 6.01 inches, 93.2 cm2 (~82.1% screen-to-body ratio)
- Resolution: 1080 x 2160 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~402 ppi density)
- Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Operating System
- Android 10
Hardware
- Chipset: Mediatek MT6779V Helio P95 (12 nm)
- CPU: Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
- GPU: PowerVR GM9446
- RAM: 8GB
- Internal Storage: 256GB
- Memory Card slot: microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot)
- UFS 2.1
Cameras
- Main Camera: Dual
- 16 MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm, PDAF
- 16 MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm, PDAF
- Features: Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama
- Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS
- Selfie Camera: Single – 20 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1/3.4″, 0.8µm
- Video: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS
Multimedia
- Radio: No
- Loudspeaker: Yes
- Audio 3.5mm jack: No
Connectivity
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
- Bluetooth: 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
- GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO
- NFC: Yes
- USB: USB Type-C 3.1
Features
- Sensors: Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Battery
- Battery Type and Capacity: Li-Ion 3000 mAh, non-removable
- Charging: Fast charging, 50% in 30 min (advertised)
Carbon 1 MK II Price and Availability
The Carbon 1 MK II is available for pre-ordered online from the official site, shipping will start later this month. The phone will appear in brick and mortar stores in Germany in a couple of weeks if you want to see it in person. The MK II is pricey at €800.
