In February 2020, a company called Carbon Mobile announced the world’s first phone made from carbon fiber, the Carbon 1 Mark II. When it was unveiled, the company touted it to start shipping in June 2020. However, the pandemic happened, the phone never went on sale. Today, Carbon Mobile has announced that it is finally available online now and from mid-March in selected specialist shops and retail partners at an RRP of 799 euros.
The Carbon 1 Mark II is made using what is called HyRECM Technology (Hybrid Radio Enabled Composite Materials). Moreover, the company says carbon fibers are interwoven with “radio permitting” composites to create a continuous monocoque (an integration of the chassis and body) design. Hence, the device is thin and light. It weighs 125 grams and measures 6.3mm. For reference, the average smartphone weighs around 180 grams.
The Carbon 1 Mark II features a 6-inch AMOLED display. It runs Android 10 out of the box but the Android 11 update is said to be around the corner. The company is promising 2 years of guaranteed software updates and monthly security updates.
While the research and development drove costs high, the company probably stuck to an old processor to keep the costs as low as possible. The device is powered by MediaTek’s Helio P90 SoC. There is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and a layer of Gorilla Glass 7 on top of the display.
It sports a 16MP dual camera setup on the back, while a 20MP selfie shooter lies on the front. Further, it packs a small battery – especially by today’s standard in the Android world. It has a 3,000mAh battery. You get 256GB of storage, paired with 8GB of RAM. There is a 2x Nano-SIM / 1x Nano-SIM + SD Card slot.