Nextbit Robin review:

The Nextbit Robin is the world’s only “cloud-first smartphone.” The Robin is most obviously different in the way it looks. Its cloud storage solution has some execution turbulence, and battery life could be better. The idea clearly has some appeal because it smashed through its Kickstarter target goal of $500,000, pulling in nearly three times that amount in pre-orders.

Nextbit Robin has an interesting design and a few nifty tricks up its sleeve. With a retail price of $400, can it carve out a loyal niche?

Design:

The Nextbit Robin definitely has a unique look. It’s a blocky, rectangular phone finished in soft-touch polycarbonate. Our review model is Mint, and two pale green blocks sandwich the 5.2-inch display. The side and back are off-white, and the same pale green highlights the power button on the right spine and the volume buttons on the left.

 

It’s a playful look that feels like a hardware imagination of Android’s Material Design language. I was unsure about the unorthodox mint green color at first, but it grew on me. There’s no doubt that it stands out from the countless rounded metal and glass smartphones that currently populate store shelves, and it’s refreshing to see something a little different, though pastel-colored matte plastic is not going to appeal to everyone.

You can also get the Nextbit Robin in Midnight, which looks a bit more grown up with the same dark blue tone all over. It’s comfortable to hold and handle, but it’s a fairly big phone. The nearest comparison we can draw is Sony’s Xperia Z5. Like it, the Robin houses its fingerprint sensor in the power button on the right edge. It’s a smart placement that makes unlocking the phone with your right thumb very easy and natural, based on the way most of us hold our phones. We found it fast and reliable.

    

On the back, there’s a simple cloud logo with four dots underneath, which turn out to be tiny LEDs. These light up to indicate cloud-syncing activity. At the top left, you’ll find the camera and flash, and at the bottom, there’s a lowercase Nextbit logo. Turn the Robin to landscape view, and you’ll see a pair of speakers flank the display, which makes it a nice device for watching video. The recessed design for the round speaker grilles is a nice touch, and they give it a pleasing symmetry.

Cloud Storage:

The big selling point for the Nextbit Robin is this idea that it will never run out of space. Cloud storage is a godsend for those of us who fill up our phones with too many pictures, videos, games, and apps. As our Wi-Fi and cellular networks grow ever faster, we’re increasingly shifting the load to the cloud and that’s exactly what the Robin does. It has 32GB of internal storage, and about 25GB of that is free out of the box.

Most Android smartphones start with 32GB of storage these days. Nextbit also provides you with 100GB of cloud storage and boasts a smart system that automatically archives apps and data to the cloud, removing them from local storage to make space when it’s needed.

 

 If you try to download an app and you don’t have enough room, the Nextbit Robin will quietly remove old apps, games, or photos that you haven’t looked at in a while from your device’s storage, and since it has already uploaded everything to its cloud servers, you can always access them when you’re online. Cloud-stored apps are still listed on your phone, but the icon is grayed out. If you want something back, you just tap on it and it starts to restore.

Photos are retained at lower resolution, and if you try to zoom in, you’ll trigger the restoration of the full resolution original. You need an Internet connection for the initial backup and when you want to restore something, but it can clear space for you when you need it, even without one. By default, it only backs up when you’re connected to Wi-Fi and the Robin is plugged in and charging, but you can change those settings.

The advantage over just uninstalling and reinstalling apps is that it can save your app data and you don’t have to go digging in the Play Store for the apps you deleted. It’s also supposed to handle things automatically, so you never need to think about backing up or clearing up space.

 

As the internal storage filled up, with only 3GB or 4GB remaining, the Robin began to archive our least used apps and older photos. This idea of an intelligent automatic backup system is smart. You could achieve the same results with Google Photos and a variety of cloud providers, but it would be a lot more hassle. The Nextbit Robin stores everything for you automatically, so you don’t have to think about it, and it all goes to the same cloud.

There’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor inside, backed by 3GB of RAM. It’s not a top of the line processor, but you’re unlikely to notice. General navigation is smooth, and it can handle demanding games, though we did notice that it got fairly warm at times. It ran Asphalt 8 and Modern Warfare 5 without any real issues. There was occasional stutter in busy scenes, and it did heat up significantly after a while, but that’s to be expected with demanding games. More worrying was the fact that a half hour game of Candy Crush really chewed through the battery and left the Robin very warm.

Battery life:

The Nextbit Robin has a 2,680mAh battery inside. With a system designed to back up and restore as needed, you may worry about battery life. It’s obviously set to only backup when plugged in and charging for a reason. Based on our testing, syncing definitely drains the battery quite quickly. In an average day, with some Web browsing, messaging, a few calls, and a bit of video, the Robin had no trouble lasting until bedtime. It didn’t do as well with gaming, so if you’re a heavy gamer you’re probably going to need to charge it more often.

The good news is that it supports quick charging and the USB-C cable goes in either side up. We found that plugging it in for an hour when the battery got low was always enough to take it back to 100 percent, and you can get a useful amount of power back even with a quick 10 to 20-minute charge. It’s sold unlocked, so the Robin is mercifully free of bloatware. You get Nextbit’s basic set of apps for phone functions like the dialer and messaging, with color-coordinated icons and interior design to match the body.

You’ll also find all the usual Google apps. It’s nice to be able to choose exactly what you want beyond that. The only conflict is the Gallery app and Google’s Photos, which is an irritating redundancy on the vast majority of Android devices. The Nextbit Robin is nothing to write home about in terms of the hardware, but it is a respectable performer. It has a perfectly good 5.2-inch IPS LCD with an HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The display is bright, everything looks crisp, and, when combined with the loud front-facing speakers, it’s ideal for watching videos. We were impressed with the volume level of the speakers.

Camera:

The main camera is rated at 13-megapixels with phase detection auto-focus and a dual-tone flash. Auto settings get reasonably good results, but it’s not the fastest camera in the world. We found low-light performance was pretty poor, with a lot of noise creeping in. We also found subjects outdoors could look washed out. In good lighting, and with time for setup, it can capture some really nice detailed shots, but if you’re in a rush, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with a blurred picture.

 

Flaws to be fixed for next version:

• Camera capture is on the slow side, in both HDR and automatic modes
• Camera overexposed some photos.
• Shorter battery life relative to some rivals (10 hour average)
  • Since apps live on the home screens, you have to pinch the screen or long-press the Reset button to see the widget layer - which makes that layer pointless.

Spec Comparison: 

Nextbit Robin	Google Nexus 6P	OnePlus 2	LG G4
Display size, resolution	5.2-inch; 1,920x1,080 pixels	5.7-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels	5.5-inch; 1,920x1,080 pixels	5.5-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels
Pixel density	424ppi	515ppi	403ppi	538ppi
Dimensions (Inches)	5.9 x 2.8 x 0.28 in	6.3x3.1x0.28 in	6 x 3 x 0.39 in	5.9 x 3 x 0.39 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)	149 x 72 x 7 mm	159x78x7.3 mm	152 x 75 x 9.9 mm	148.9 x 76.1 x 9.8 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	5.3 oz; 150 g	6.3 oz; 178 g	6.17 oz; 175 g	5.5 oz; 155 g
Mobile software	Android 6.0	Android 6.0 Marshmallow	Android 5.1 Lollipop	Android 5.1 Lollipop; Android 6.0 upgrade
Camera	13-megapixel	12.3-megapixel	13-megapixel	16-megapixel
Front-facing camera	5-megapixel	8-megapixel	5-megapixel	8-megapixel

Video capture	1080 HD	4K	1080 HD	4K
Processor	1.4GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808	2GHz eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810	1.8GHz octa-core Samsung Snapdragon 810	1.8GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
Storage	32GB	32GB, 64GB, 128GB	16GB, 64GB	32GB
RAM	3GB	3GB	4GB	3GB
Expandable storage	None	None	None	2TB (terabytes)
Battery	2,680mAh (nonremovable)	3,450mAh (nonremovable)	3300 mAh (nonremovable)	3000 mAh(removable)
Fingerprint sensor	Power/lock button	Back cover	Home button	None
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	Micro-USB
Special features	100GB online photo and app storage	"Pure" Android	Dual-SIM	Double-tap to wake
Price off-contract (USD)	$400	$499 (32GB); $549 (64GB); $649 (128GB)	$330	$552-$630
Price (GBP)	Converts to £280	£449 (32GB); £499 (64GB); £579 (128GB)	Converts to £215	£500
Price (AUD)	Converts to AU$564	AU$899 (32GB); AU$999 (64GB); AU$1,099 (128GB)	Converts to AU$450)	AU$879

Conclusion:

The Robin’s design is different and it will appeal to a lot of people. The headline cloud storage feature definitely solves a major issue that many of us have with modern smartphones. We like the attention to detail in Nextbit’s apps and the light touch with stock Android. The fact that it’s sold unlocked with no bloatware is commendable, too.

We were also impressed with the fingerprint sensor and the fast charging, which are forward-thinking additions. But does the Nextbit Robin offer enough to earn itself a place as your sidekick? We’re not sure. We found the camera disappointing and the gallery app decidedly flaky, though Nextbit did acknowledge some issues with both and told us that a software fix is in the works. We also have to consider that the Nextbit Robin costs $400.

That puts it up against phones like the OnePlus 2, the Nexus 5X, and the Moto X Style. If you’re just looking for the most phone you can get for your money, we’d have to recommend the Moto X from that line-up. The Nexus 6P is another excellent alternative, though you’ll have to pay a bit more for it at $500. Although the Nextbit Robin may not be our top choice, it does have a quirky appeal and it achieves what it sets out to do, so we sincerely hope it will find its audience.