CES 2015: Saygus Unvailed Waterproof Smartphone V2 with 256GB storage

Saygus is a US-based company that hasn't been in the news in the last several years, but in CES 2015, it’s back with what it’s calling a “super smartphone.”

Named Saygus V-Squared (styled V2), the new smartphone is “engineered with high-end components and materials”, has a somewhat rugged design, runs Android 4.4 KitKat, and is "dual-boot capable." There aren't too many details regarding the dual-boot capability, so for now we don't know if the handset can run, say, Windows Phone.

The V-Squared /V2 certainly packs some interesting features, including a biometric fingerprint scanner on its right side, HarmanKardon Sound Technology with 3D Movie Audio, and twomicroSD card slots for up to 256 GB of extra storage space. There’s 64 GB of internal memory, so you could have 320 GB of storage space in your pocket with this handset.

Moreover, the new device supports Wireless HD - the wireless equivalent of HDMI - and has a 21 MP rear camera and a 13 MP front-facing one, both featuring Optical Image Stabilization.

According to Saygus, the V-Squared is “fully waterproofed”, though it’s not clear what its IP rating is. Other features: 5-inch 1080p display, IR blaster, quad-core 2.5 GHz Snapdragon processor (possibly the Snapdragon 801), 3 GB of RAM, and a 3100 mAh battery that supports wireless charging and can provide as much juice as a 4500 mAh regular battery - at least that's what Saygus is claiming.

It’s not clear when and for how much the Saygus V-Squared will be released. However, we know that the handset already won a CES 2015 Innovation Award - so we’ll definitely see it at CES in early January. Saygus’ previous smartphone, the QWERTY equipped Vphone, was supposed to be launched by Verizon in 2010, being cancelled at the last moment.

The Saygus V2's massive range of functions are packed into a compact and lightweight frame, which is coated in a comfy layer of Kevlar that's waterproof up to IPX7 standards. The handset's 5-inch 1080p display isn't exactly groundbreaking (today, many phones have WQHD resolution) but it stretches nearly edge-to-edge, and is designed to be easily viewable in sunlight. While the V2's 64GB of default storage is impressive enough, the phone's dual (yes, dual) micro SD card slots let you upgrade to a colossal 320GB.

The Android 4.4.4 handset is powered by a 2.5-GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with 3GB of RAM, and packs a beefy 3,100-mAh battery that supports Qi wireless charging. On the audio front, the handset touts Harman Kardon speakers, and uses Cypher noise-cancelling technology to cut out background chatter during calls. On top of all this, the device is waterproof to fulfil IPX7 standards, meaning it can be submerged in up to 3 feet (1m) of water for 30 minutes, and is lined with Kevlar fiber.

And if that weren't enough, the handset also has an IR blaster, a 60GHz mobile transceiver, a fingerprint scanner, and built-in Harman Kardon audio technology. The company still doesn't have any pricing information for the Saygus V2, but from what we can glean from the hardware, it's expected to cost a pretty penny. With online pre-orders for an unlocked V2 starting this month (and units estimated to ship out globally beginning the first quarter of 2015), hopefully the device won't meet the same vaporware fate as the VPhone and actually does land in the hands of the consumer.