Katie Collins

Gallery: These are the first two Ubuntu OS phones (hands-on) Gallery Gallery: These are the first two Ubuntu OS phones (hands-on) + 9

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We were saddened last year by the news that the Ubuntu Edge smartphone campaign fell short of its Indiegogo target figure, because not only was it an awesome-looking piece of tech (we went hands-on with a prototype) that will now never be made, but we were hoping to see the attractive Ubuntu operating system appear on handsets sooner rather than later.


It turns out that we didn't have to wait that long after all for Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has announced the first manufacturing partners that will be making Ubuntu phones.

Wired.co.uk went hands-on with the two prototype devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Read next Gallery: These are the first two Ubuntu OS phones (hands-on) Gallery Gallery: These are the first two Ubuntu OS phones (hands-on)

You will likely never have heard of Chinese company Meizu or Spanish company BQ before, but both are tier-two phone manufacturers that make mid- to high-range devices and have now partnered with Canonical to make the Meizu MX3 and BQ Aquaris Ubuntu smartphones.

The MX3 has a 5.1-inch screen and a rounded glossy plastic back with a camera plonked right in the centre. It didn't feel at all flimsy and we enjoyed trying out the gesture-based operating system on the edge-to-edge display. An edge-to-edge screen is just one element all Ubuntu phones will have in common, along with a lack of hardware buttons.


The provisional specs for the phone include an octa-core chip, a 3-core graphics processor and 2GB of RAM, which means it'll be plenty powerful. It should be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions and will be powered by a 2,400mAh battery. The rear camera is listed as 8 megapixels, with the front-facing snapper offering only 2 megapixels. With a slightly higher resolution camera on board, this sounds like an impressive phone -- and remember, the Ubuntu operating system isn't as demanding as Android either.

Unlike the MX3, there are no specific specs available yet for the BQ Aquaris, but our first impression was that it's a seriously cool and minimalist handset that was probably our favourite of the two. It has a slightly pearlescent tinted unibody frame and is reminiscent of the iPhone in terms of shape, but it looks like it's been for designed for an edgier crowd. It too has no hardware buttons and an edge-to-edge screen. The prototype we handled wasn't a working model sadly, but we're already excited to see it and the equally gorgeous Ubuntu UI make magic together.

All Ubuntu phones will have to meet a minimum specification due to the fact that they all -- with the exception of the initial two handsets -- will also run the dual Ubuntu operating system that allows you to plug your phone into a large screen and use it as a desktop replacement.

Breaking into congested, crowded markets is something Ubuntu does well, Canonical's CEO Jane Silber tells Wired.co.uk. As Canonical is a British company, we always presumed we would see Ubuntu phones in the UK, but Silber tells us that the marketing strategy for the phones when they officially launch will be a global online campaign. It will be a relatively soft launch, she adds, that will give Ubuntu fans the opportunity to get their hands on the devices first.


Silber wants people to know what they are getting when they choose to buy an Ubuntu phone, which is why Canonical has made the decision not to launch in conjunction with a carrier partner. It's a brave and unusual move, but she wants to avoid the situation that often occurs when launching with a carrier, where the network pushes the phone and people don't really understand what they're signing up for, culminating in a lot of returns.

Working directly with carrier partners will be phase two of the launch strategy, adds Silber, and Canonical will be choosing a couple of networks from the 16 that make up its carrier advisory group to run with.

You can expect to see the phones at some point later this year, although Silber refuses to say exactly when. Meizu and BQ are just the first two partners Ubuntu will be working with and Canonical will likely be announcing further partnerships at the end of this year.