ZTE’s Project CSX isn’t becoming a runaway success that the company hoped it would. The crowdsourced smartphone, the ZTE Hawkeye, isn’t getting the anticipated response on Kickstarter, and mostly the mid-range specifications are being blamed. Even though ZTE gave the smartphone eye-tracking capabilities and a self-adhesive back, the specifications are mediocre at best. While the $199 price attached to the smartphone does justice to the listed specifications, the company has come to realise that the Hawekye won’t fly unless it improves specifications in some areas. As a result, the company has ‘acknowledged its mistake’, and has created a poll to ask the community to vote for a feature they want to integrate in the Hawkeye.
The options include switching to the latest Snapdragon 835 chipset from the original Snapdragon 625 chipset. The poll also includes increasing of battery capacity by 8 percent – from 3000mAh to 3500mAh. Users could also opt for stock Android without ZTE’s skin on top with added software for eye tracking. Lastly, the users can even give their own opinion on what could be changed apart from the pre-mentioned options in the poll.
As expected, most users are voting for the switch to the latest Snapdragon chipset. Users are asking for 4GB of RAM, a thin-bezel display at the front, and a higher battery than 3500mAh as well. The company even wrote a blog post to apologise for the misstep, and confirmed that the price point, even after these additions, won’t change.
Currently, the ZTE Hawkeye has managed to rake in just around $35,000 on Kickstarter, very far from its pledge goal of $500,000. As for specifications, it sports NFC, a fingerprint sensor, and a dual camera setup at the back. Listed specifications include a 5.5-inch full-HD display, Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of inbuilt storage. It will sport a dual camera setup at the back – one sensor at 12-megapixel and the other at 13-megapixel with optical zoom. At the front, the smartphone will house an 8-megapixel selfie camera for video chatting. The ZTE Hawkeye will run on Android Nougat out of the box, and pack a 3000mAh battery with quick charging support. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, USB Type-C port, and a dual-SIM slot.
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