In a world that’s dominated by smartphones in candybar/slate form factor, it’s quite refreshing to see a new phone in a different style. Meet Samsung Hennessy, a recently announced dual-screen flip phone that’s powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and comes equipped with modest specs.
It’s hard to know if there’s success to be had in a flip phone form factor, especially when today’s consumers are all over gigantic screens, long-lasting batteries, and slim builds. The Samsung Hennessy nowhere fits these descriptions, seeing that its displays are just 3.3 inches diagonally with low resolution, its battery is so-so, and the phone itself is quite thick at 18.62mm.
Samsung SCH-W789 Hennessy Specs
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- Two 3.3-inch TFT touch displays (320×480 HVGA), ~175ppi
- 1.2GHz quad-core CPU
- 1GB RAM
- microSD card slot
- 5-megapixel main camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
- Dual-SIM support (CDMA, GSM)
- Dimensions: 110.85 x 59.3 x 18.62mm
- Weight: 208g
- 1500mAh battery
- TouchWiz UI
On the plus side, the Samsung Hennessy is arguably stylish in its blend of dual touch screens in a flip phone layout. The external display has three capacitive buttons (menu, home, and back) so that one can navigate through the phone the usual way. Though there’s no official description about the color, photos posted in Samsung’s Chinese website show a shade of luxurious “orange” that’s reminiscent of wines. There are rumors spreading around about a Luxury Gold option, too.
The Hennessy is Samsung’s second take on an Android flip-phone. Before it was the SCH-W999, which, yes, had an unremarkable name, got endorsed by Jackie Chan, and was sold for a whopping $3,000. As with the first, the Hennessy is headed for the Chinese market, and whether it will have an international debut or not remains to be seen. Pricing and color variants are also yet to be announced.