Nextbit Robin Release Date, Specs And Features: Cloud Based Android Phone Will Ship Feb. 16

If you were one of the first thousand people to back the Nextbit Robin on Kickstarter, you will receive your phone Feb. 16. Revealed at CES, the first smartphones released will use the GSM standard. This is bad news for Verizon and Sprint customers, but good for everyone else in the rest of the world and U.S. network service providers like T-Mobile and AT&T. The CDMA model will come later in 2016.

Nextbit has had a good run on Kickstarter. The first Robins priced at $299 sold out, quickly followed by the next stage at $349. Now, Nextbit’s first phone is up for pre-order at $399. The main selling point of the Robin is the near unlimited cloud storage. Dubbed as the “smarter smartphone,” the Robin has 32GB of built in storage but 100GB in the cloud. The handset automatically moves data to the cloud so you never run out of space and seamlessly finds it when you want it back. So that app you downloaded that one time and never used it again, Robin knows that and she’ll store the app’s data in the cloud. That app basically goes to sleep. Nextbit calls it “a shadow icon” because the app button is still there but dissolves into gray. Pretty cool concept, but it’s hard to tell how efficient that process will be until we can test it out.

Aside from the cloud based storage feature, Nextbit’s Robin boasts pretty decent hardware specs which compare to other upper-midrange Android smartphones. It will be shipped with Android Marshmallow and comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processing chip, 3GB RAM and a 2,680 mAh battery. Robin has a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP selfie camera and dual-LED flash. The body sports a USB Type-C port and a fingerprint scanner. The design is simple yet sleek, square and boxy with clear-cut edges. It weighs a third of a pound and comes in two colors, mint green or a more subtle midnight black.

Stay tuned for updates on when the CDMA version will be available.