Kodak’s New Ektra: A Smartphone With a Focus on Cameras

Kodak’s Ektra “photography-first” smartphone features a 10-core processor, 3GB of memory, 32GB of on-board storage and a 3,000mAh rechargeable battery.

The Kodak Ektra sports a retro camera-like design that’s built around a 21-megapixel fast-focus main rear camera that the company hopes will up the ante with photo enthusiasts on the go. The 4G LTE-enabled phone will be available in Europe later this year for about $550, but could come to the U.S. in 2017.

The Ektra smartphone features a Helio X20 2.3GHz deca-core (10-core) processor, 3GB of memory, 32GB of on-board storage, a microSD card slot for additional storage and the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system.

Also included in the new Kodak smartphone is durable Corning Gorilla Glass on its display screen and on its camera lenses, a 3,000mAh rechargeable battery with USB-C fast charging, and WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

The key highlights in Kodak’s Ektra are its cameras, including the 21-megapixel main rear camera that has an f2.0 lens, Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF), dual LED flash, 4K video capabilities and Optical Image Stabilization, and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera with an f2.2 PDAF lens.

Setting the handset apart from similar smartphones from competitors, the Kodak Ektra includes a physical two-step shutter button, like those found on traditional cameras both analog and digital.

The Ektra’s main rear camera includes an Advanced Manual Mode, which offers users settings for exposure, ISO, focal length, white balance, shutter speed and aperture, plus preset scene mode choices for a wide variety of photo situations, such as portraits, sports, night time and more. The camera also includes options for panorama, macro and landscape images, as well as a Smart Auto mode that auto-selects the best settings for photographic conditions on the fly.

The handset looks like a retro film-style camera, with a patterned black rear cover and a protruding lens like a small, compact 35mm camera of the past, while integrating a modern smartphone into its touch-screen front facade. The phone styling is unique in a world filled with traditional-looking Android handsets and Apple iPhones, largely due to its camera-like appearance.

Optional flip-over and slip-over leatherette carrying cases will also be available that give the smartphone the look of an old-fashioned compact camera. The flip-over cases include a carrying strap.

Ektra users can edit their photos with built-in editing tools from Snapseed, and can also choose to order photo prints directly from their phones using the Kodak Prints App. Users can also post images directly to social media sites using the smartphone.

For more than a century, the original Eastman Kodak Co. provided chemicals, photo paper and processing for photographic prints. Kodak later entered the camera business and sold its original Ektra cameras starting in the 1940s. Later, it moved into its then-popular line of Instamatic cameras in the 1960s and 1970s. As digital cameras became popular, Kodak failed to keep up and stay relevant, forcing the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012, when it sold its imaging operations.