ZTE's Hawkeye phone, which was originally called Project CSX, has been cancelled. Despite it being retailed for only $199 at Kickstarter, the phone was not able to attract early adapters and enthusiasts.
The Hawkeye Being Pulled Out
According to CNET, ZTE has been citing feedback from consumers. Based on the feedback they received, consumers were displeased of the Hawkeye's mid-range specs, which in turn led to the decision of ZTE to halt the campaign on Kickstarter. In addition, during at the time of the closure, it was revealed that the Project CSX was only able to gather around $35,800 in funding, which sadly, was a far cry from the $500,000 that the company needed before Feb. 18. As for those who pre-ordered that device, reports suggest that they will get their full money back.
As per PC Mag, Jeff Yee, ZTE technology VP, goes into detail about the feedback they received from consumers regarding the Hawkeye. According to him, ZTE has been listening over the past few weeks on what platform the consumers would want for the said smartphone. They found out that the consumers were unsatisfied of it having a Snapdragon 625 chip and should be swapped for a Snapdragon 835 chipset.
The Hawkeye Is Not Dead
When asked if this will be the end of the Hawkeye phone, Yee assured that the project will happen and this is just a minor setback. However, it is going to take them a little while to figure out how to build the phone on a higher platform (Snapdragon 820 or 835). The VP also mentioned that ZTE will start to collect further ideas from its own ZCommunity website rather than Kickstarter.
What Are Other Things That 'New Hawkeye' Could Possibly Have?
Aside from planning to pack it with a Snapdragon 820 or 835 chipset, the company will still include the two winning ideas that the fans wanted for the Hawkeye, namely the eye-tracking software and the self-adhesive backing that will allow the phone to stick to flat surfaces. In an online poll by ZTE to see what people wanted to change about the Hawkeye, some people wanted stock Android as the OS.
Original Specs And Features Of The Hawkeye
Now, you must be wondering what specs and features that the original Hawkeye had before it was pulled out. Well, here are the specs and features based on GSM Arena.
The Hawkeye was listed at Kickstarter for $199 and was set to be launched in September this year. It was said to feature a body dimension of 6.06 x 2.99 x 0.31 inches and a 5.5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1080 x 1920-screen resolution.
The ZTE Hawkeye was reported to run on Android 7.0 Nougat and will pack a Snapdragon 625 chipset. It features only 32 GB as an onboard memory with 3 GB of RAM but will have an expandable memory option of 256 GB via micro SD. Despite being considered a "midrange," the ZTE Hawkeye had a dual rear camera setup (13 MP + 12 MP) and an 8 MP front-facing camera. Lastly for its battery spec, it was reported to house a 3,000 mAh battery.
