Upstart smartphone platforms have their work cut out for them. The market has become increasingly a three-man race, with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone succeeding while past players like BlackBerry fade into the background. Getting a foot in the door there is a huge obstacle, and platforms like Sailfish, Ubuntu, and Firefox OS continue to struggle to do so. Among them, Firefox OS has had the problem of being largely targeted at users who needed quite basic phones, and much of the hardware that’s arrived to date has been a bit low-spec and forgettable. But today we find ourselves reconsidering things as we learn of the first Firefox OS model to come to Japan, an LG-made handset with decent specs and a look that’s incredibly eye-catching.
The Fx0 has a 4.7-inch 720p screen, runs a Snapdragon 400, has 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB storage (with microSD expansion), 8MP main camera with 2.1MP front-facer, and a 2370mAh battery. It supports NFC and has an LTE radio. None of that is cutting-edge, but especially compared to the existing crop of Firefox OS models, it’s all sounds quite respectable.
And then there’s that look: the Fx0 features a transparent shell. We’re not one hundred percent sold on the gold tone that permeates (isn’t gold played-out by now?) but it’s undeniably cool to have a smartphone that lets the world take a peek at its guts.
The Fx0 will go for what works out to about $415, with sales starting on Christmas Day. So far, we haven’t heard of any plans to bring the Fx0 to markets abroad.
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