ZTE at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show announced intentions to crowdsource its next mobile device. The Chinese telecom did just that over the summer, ultimately narrowing down the list of potential features with the help of its fans.
Formerly known as Project CSX and now officially called Hawkeye, the device has reached the funding stage of the development process with a newly launched Kickstarter campaign that, among other things, details the handset's intended hardware specifications for the first time.
If funded, the smartphone will feature a 5.5-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display powered by a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core chip clocked at 2GHz alongside 3GB of RAM and 32GB of local storage (expandable by an additional 256GB).
There's also a dual-lens 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with optical zoom, an 8-megapixel shooter up front, dual SIM slots, dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, a fingerprint sensor, USB Type C connectivity, a 3000mAh battery and more.
ZTE says the phone will ship running Android Nougat with OTA update support.
The phone's two key selling features, free eye tracking and a self-adhesive case, are designed to work together to provide a hands-free experience. At CES, however, ZTE told The Verge that they haven't yet figured out the software for eye tracking. That's worrisome considering Samsung first introduced a similar (gimmicky) eye tracking feature nearly four years ago with the Galaxy S4 but I digress.
A pledge of $199 will get your name on the list of recipients scheduled to take delivery this coming September. With only $30,000 of its $500,000 goal realized, however, ZTE may struggle to hit that magical number which would seemingly derail the entire project.