August 21, 2023

First Russian Smartphone


First Russian Smartphone
The R-Fon, in all of its glory. Telegram, @appsimru

Introducing the R-Fon! Touted as the first Russian smartphone, and valued at 40,000 rubles ($426), it turns out it is actually a Chinese Linux phone worth 17,000 ($181) rubles.

Vladimir Zykov, head of the Russian Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers (APPSIM), broke the news by sharing images of the "innovation" on Telegram. Speaking to RIA Novosti, Zykov said that the forthcoming device from Rutek will cost up to 40,000 rubles and will be released in the coming year. Zykov acknowledged that production will depend on foreign components, but said the venture also employs an unprecedented level of domestic production. He underlined that the phone will proudly sport the "Made in Russia" label, marking a distinctive development in the realm of Russian technology.

“It is clear that some parts will not be made in Russia, but there have never been phones made in Russia with such localization,” Zykov said.

The details surrounding the supposed new Russian marvel were cross-checked by the Eurasian Economic Commission and their online database. Data within this registry reveal that the device's actual producer is Bopel Mobile Technology Co. Limited, its headquarters in Hong Kong.

Rutek’s registration of the phone reveals a strategic choice: not within the Russian borders, but in neighboring Kazakhstan. As pointed out by analysts at Mobiltelefon, this decision is believed to be a calculated move to evade possible sanctions.

"R-Fon," a clumsy transliteration of "R-phone," is slated to house a Media Tek Helio G99 processor and 6.7-inch display. The phone is expected to have a 50-megapixel primary camera, 8 gigabytes of RAM, 128 gigabytes of internal storage, and a robust 5000 mAh battery. Curiously, a smartphone boasting identical specifications, including a similar processor, is already available in the Russian market for a fraction of the cost of the R-Fon. For instance, the Chinese device Tecno Pova 5, with the sole distinction of a more capacious battery, retails for a modest 14,470 rubles ($150 USD), a fraction of the purported price of the "Russian phone."

You Might Also Like

iPhones Banned
  • June 27, 2023

iPhones Banned

Members of the government have been forbidden from bringing iPhones to cabinet meetings.
AI Will Watch You
  • February 13, 2023

AI Will Watch You

Russian authorities plan to use artificial intelligence to scour the interwebs for undesirable political information.
Yandexit
  • December 06, 2022

Yandexit

Russia's homegrown tech giant is collapsing under pressure from state censorship and the war in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955