Nio Phone is official with unrivaled car integration, three 50 MP cameras

21 September 2023

Nio announced its first Phone today at a big event in China. The Chinese EV car manufacturer put a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset inside the phone and three capable 50 MP cameras on the back. Since it is a car company first, Nio also made the Phone double as a car key that works even when it is turned off; and this is just one of over 30 vehicle-related features that are enabled through a dedicated app.

The smartphone has a 6.81” LTPO OLED at the front with up to 120 Hz refresh rate and advertised peak brightness of 1800 nits. The resolution is 1440p. There is either 12 GB or 16 GB RAM, while storage is 512 GB or 1 TB.

The camera's island design is a refreshing look in a world of circular and rectangular setups. All three shooters, along with the LED flash, are aligned in a square formation. The main 50 MP camera has a Sony IMX707 sensor and OIS and sits in the bottom left corner.

In the top left is the ultra-wide-angle shooter with Sony IMX766 and 110-degree FoV, while the third shooter, placed in the bottom right corner, is a periscope telephoto cam with Sony IMX890 sensor, 2.8x optical zoom and OIS as well.

Nio Link is the app responsible for all the car-related features. Thanks to the UWB technology, the car knows when the owner’s phone is nearby and automatically locks and unlocks. The app also offers controls for the air conditioning, seat adjustments, and music, and, of course, gives a status report of the battery capacity and estimated range.

The Nio Phone can also be placed in the executive island on the ES8 car, where it will automatically transform into a control screen for music, ambient light, and others. The destination can be pre-set through the dedicated navigation app, and it will automatically move to the entertainment system once the phone is in the car. Also, the phone can utilize the cameras around the car to record a video and then edit and share it.

Nio Phone can also connect to the car as an external screen, where a second app can run in parallel. The big screen can be used for video calls and even gaming. The phone itself has Sky UI, which has a widget for easier access to Nio Link. Aside from that, it has a good-looking interface, and Nio proudly said the device has no ads in the system, nor does it have any bloatware.

Because of the extended car access, Nio announced the Phone will have tighter security measures against malware and will have better encryption protection of data, both on the device and in the cloud. The phone has a 5,200 mAh battery with 66W wired fast charging and 50W wireless, and it also has reverse wireless charging. The device is IP68 certified as well.

Nio Phone will be sold in seven different colors - Black, Light Blue, Gold, Dark Blue, Green, Gray, Rose Gold - some of them have a glass panel, others come with a leather-like texture on the back.

The starting price is CNY6,499 ($900/€835) for the 12/512 GB version. The 12 GB/1TB is CNY6,899 ($950/€900), while the 16 GB/1TB option is CNY7,499 ($1,025/€965).

Source (in Chinese)