German startup launches world’s first carbon fibre smartphone

The device’s carbon fibre makes it 33 per cent lighter than your average smartphone

Spotted: German startup Carbon Mobile unveiled what it claimed as the world’s first carbon fibre smartphone, a device featuring less plastic in favour of more sustainable materials. 

Structural integrity is provided by the external shell, ensuring there is no need for internal supports. This makes the frame of the device 33 per cent lighter than your average smartphone (125g). The whole device is 25 per cent thinner than average (6.3 mm), and other sustainable aspects include smaller amounts of plastic used, and sustainable packaging.

For all its wonderful properties, carbon fibre’s one big downside is that it blocks radio waves. Carbon’s proprietary HyRECM technology (Hybrid Radio Enabled Composite Material) was developed over four years to solve the problem. It combines high quality carbon fibres sourced from Germany, with a composite material that allows radio waves to pass through.

The ‘Carbon 1 MK II’ presents a 16MP dual main and 20MP front cameras; 3000mAh battery; six-inch display and 256GB of memory. It runs a MediaTek P90 chipset and Android 10.  The smartphone is already available to order in advance for a price of €799, with the first devices expected to ship later this month.

The smartphone company has also promised two years of guaranteed software and monthly security updates.

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