This was Project Ara

[dizmo]

Were you one of the hopefuls who's soul was crushed when you heard that Google had cancelled Project Ara?

Well, here is a glimpse of what you're missing out on. The folks over at Phandroid managed to get their hands on one of the development units.

 

 

Spec:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
• 3GB RAM
• 32GB storage
• 5.46" FHD LCD screen
• 3450mah battery (module)
• 5MP front facing camera, 2.1MP rear facing camera module
• WiFi, BT 4.0 LE, NFC
• GPS, barometer, light, gyroscope, proximity, accelerometer, magnometer, pressure, and gravity sensors
• USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
• 152 x 74 x 12.5 mm
• 190 grams

 

The specs are nothing too surprising. I imagine the phone would come out with an updated SD820, as this was simply a development unit, and it'd been in development for a long, long time.

Over all pretty standard. Also, being a development unit it's quite thick. One can imagine the production model would be slimmer, though who knows how slim.

Personally I'd think it'd have been cool to see the modules have a curved design, for much better in hand feel.

It's about the size of a Note7 aside from thickness.

 

And now for some visuals.

 

 

 

 

Baby got back.

 

 

 

I must say, overall I'm quite impressed. I was never a supporter of the idea, but it doesn't look as horrible as I thought it would, and it's not even at the consumer stage here.

The fact they fit a 3450mah battery into that little module is also impressive.

 

Still though, I don't think the phone would have really taken off. Especially to a point where it made sense to invest even more R&D time into it.

There's no ability to change the SoC, which is usually the first thing people want to change as a device ages. Once a person got a sweet camera, battery, and say an audio upgrade, is there really anything left that you'd want to change?

Sure, you could swap out modules and try different ones to see what you like, but in the end doesn't that generate even more waste?

Not to mention the whole issue most people have with phones as they are now. If you asked, I'd imagine maybe 5% of people actually know what's inside their device.

 

Ara was an interesting idea. I'd just prefer to have a slim phone that has everything in it already.

 

 

There are even more pictures at the

Source: http://phandroid.com/2016/11/10/project-ara-specifications-photos/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1823alex]

So is this just what it was going to be or are they moving forward with the project?

[ThatOneRussian]

Who would use that though?

If its that thick? You could have two phones. In your pocket. lol

[1Reshiram12]

Can you add a regular no. I don't like it when I have an answer but the poll forces you into a specific reason that you may not agree with.

[79 Potatoes]

What happens if the phone drops?

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, 1823alex said:

So is this just what it was going to be or are they moving forward with the project?

It's cancelled, this is just how far they got. Or postponed. Which really, is likely cancelled.

2 minutes ago, ThatOneRussian said:

Who would use that though?

If its that thick? You could have two phones. In your pocket. lol

Exactly why I don't think it'd succeed. Even if it were slimmer...not really needed.

[1823alex]

1 minute ago, ThatOneRussian said:

Who would use that though?

If its that thick? You could have two phones. In your pocket. lol

I'd be ok with it for the flexibility of swapping out modules maybe if it was a little thinner it'd be better but I'm tired of the whole phones need to be thinner and thinner thing and sacrificing battery life and overall specs for it.

[Sauron]

The idea is nice but there probably isn't a market for this. Personally I think expandable storage and a replaceable battery are enough modularity for me. I don't do much intensive work on my phone...

[Rune]

I would use the crap out of that.

[Syntaxvgm]

I would definitely own one, but I don't think it would have been successful commercially. 

[ThatOneRussian]

The other huge problem with it. Is that it didnt really achieve the level of modularity. I think the reason its so thick is because the mobo and all the important parts are still in the actual one piece bit. And the add ons are a bit shite

[goodtofufriday]

If they release it ill buy it just to support it. 

[CyanideInsanity]

I was interested in it for its modularity. And speaking of, I just find it odd how so many tech enthusiasts seem against the idea of that. Judging by comments I've seen here and there anyway.

[Arc_Jester]

I was gonna buy one since I really liked the idea, too bad it got cancelled.

[Doobeedoo]

It's a neat idea though.

[TetraSky]

My phone is that big... with a protective "armor" on it. Just too big for a phone by itself, you'd probably need a case on that too

[Dash Lambda]

I'd love to get my hands on a phone like that (when it's through development, though). I didn't know it had been cancelled... That makes me sad...

 

I don't understand this thing about phones needing to be thin. What's the point in making something ever thinner if it's barely noticeable and cuts down what you can put inside?

 

I want to see what a company could stuff into the Ara's thickness with the same hardware density that's in modern flagships. Nobody seems interested in something that's not too thin to hold a decent battery, though...

[Maslofski]

the best feature these days would be that if it detects fire in the battery it ejects the battery module

[ThinkWithPortals]

So spec-wise basically a Nexus 6P.

[mrchow19910319]

If google can sell it for dirt cheap, people will buy it. 

 

[VerticalDiscussions]

Yeah but, how would its availibility be handled (Google barely ships globally, and the Pixel XL isnt even available in portuguese google store lol), third party acessory and case manufacturers product evolution and would this phone allow for upgradeable batteries or just removable batteries all together? If this phone, with that kind of thickness, was capable of handling at least at max, a 5000 mAh, or at best, a 7000 mAh, im sure this would be an insane success, for sure!

[QueenDemetria]

I thought ARA(and Phone Blocks) was a neat concept at first, but it really doesn't make much sense compared to what we have now.

[dizmo]

19 hours ago, Sauron said:

The idea is nice but there probably isn't a market for this. Personally I think expandable storage and a replaceable battery are enough modularity for me. I don't do much intensive work on my phone...

It was meant as more of a "last device". Something you could buy and simply replace a module or two when it felt outdated. When they got rid of the swappable SoC they kind of killed the whole purpose of the project.

19 hours ago, CyanideInsanity said:

I was interested in it for its modularity. And speaking of, I just find it odd how so many tech enthusiasts seem against the idea of that. Judging by comments I've seen here and there anyway.

I think it's kind of like TV's. Yeah, you could make it modular, but why?

There's also the general public. Most wouldn't adopt it, so it'd be a niche market. Not something OEM's would really want to get into, that stores would want to sell, etc etc. There's just too many obstacles.

 

18 hours ago, Dash Lambda said:

I don't understand this thing about phones needing to be thin. What's the point in making something ever thinner if it's barely noticeable and cuts down what you can put inside?

 

I want to see what a company could stuff into the Ara's thickness with the same hardware density that's in modern flagships. Nobody seems interested in something that's not too thin to hold a decent battery, though...

Thinner phones make for lighter phones and they're easier to carry. I think the only one truly chasing even thinner phones now is Apple.
 

I don't think we'd see a huge difference if they made phones thick again. I mean sure you could fit bigger batteries, but the phones would be super heavy. There isn't really anything else they'd need to add that takes up space tbh.

 

5 hours ago, mrchow19910319 said:

If google can sell it for dirt cheap, people will buy it. 

 

You'd still have to pay for modules etc though.

1 hour ago, VerticalDiscussions said:

Yeah but, how would its availibility be handled (Google barely ships globally, and the Pixel XL isnt even available in portuguese google store lol), third party acessory and case manufacturers product evolution and would this phone allow for upgradeable batteries or just removable batteries all together? If this phone, with that kind of thickness, was capable of handling at least at max, a 5000 mAh, or at best, a 7000 mAh, im sure this would be an insane success, for sure!

I think case manufacturers would be more open to designing something for a phone like this, since they wouldn't have to make a case each year, only once.

I think the phone has a small internal battery, but there wouldn't be a need to really be a need to replace it.

Judging by the one battery pack, if you filled each slot with battery then you could...but...why not just get a phone with a huge battery at that point.

 

22 minutes ago, QueenDemetria said:

I thought ARA(and Phone Blocks) was a neat concept at first, but it really doesn't make much sense compared to what we have now.

I agree. Especially when they got rid of the replaceable SoC, it went from a potentially viable resource saver to something that would more than likely have produced even more waste.

[CyanideInsanity]

18 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I think it's kind of like TV's. Yeah, you could make it modular, but why?

There's also the general public. Most wouldn't adopt it, so it'd be a niche market. Not something OEM's would really want to get into, that stores would want to sell, etc etc. There's just too many obstacles.

There's no doubt it was going to have a tough time breaking out into the market successfully. For the general public, yeah, that's an obvious one. Most people want things that just work, but to me it seemed that on tech places where most people viewing would be interested in tech on a level more than just usage of said devices would have an interest in it over make everything smaller to the point its too small and sacrifices function for the slimmer aesthetic, which is what I find a tad odd.

[Dackzy]

Yeah I would use that phone, thinness is not my thing, I would take build and the ability to just swap parts out over any thin phone, but I would have made a audio module and the bulge on the camera is just not okay.