Dark Matter Reveals “Extreme Condition” Smartphone

Dark Matter is an UAE-based cybersecurity firm that has just launched what it has dubbed “the world’s first ultra secure smartphone”, designed to also withstand extreme conditions.

“We combined our expertise in secure communications with everything the mobile market expects in a handset, including a great user experience. Then we challenged the brightest minds in the industry to create a rugged design to withstand extreme field conditions experienced by defence, emergency services and the construction, mining, transport, energy, oil and gas industries.”, said Karim Sabbagh, Dark Matter CEO.

The rugged phone, dubbed the KATIM R01, was designed and tested by engineers in the UAE, Finland and Canada. It features five layers of hardened case, making it drop and break resistant, plus waterproof (“breathing” underwater for 30 minutes). The design meets two military standards for rough field conditions.

It has a 5.65-inch display that comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, a fingerprint sensor and dual-SIM support. It features 4GB of RAM with 128GB of storage that can be expanded via microSD, a mammoth 5,600mAh battery and a Snapdragon 845 chip.

Its Katin OS runs on Android 8.1, which can be upgraded to Android 9.

Now that we got these specs out of the way, what else makes this phone so special?

Well, for one, the device has a built-in barometer and temperature and humidity sensors, all of which work hand in hand to optimize the smartphone’s endurance. In addition to that, the touch screen works accurately even with gloves on or wet fingers.

If the user finds themselves in an emergency situation, the KATIM R01 can deliver their messages with GPS coordinates. If they can’t send a message or don’t have time to do so,the phone also features dedicated buttons for SOS and Push-to-Talk.

The KATIM R01 can also protect user data; if it senses any kind of physical intrusion, it will wipe out all of it. Moreover, activating Shield Mode will cut off both the microphones and the cameras even if the device is on and online.

As far as the price goes, we can’t really give you any accurate information about it – a spokesperson for Dark Matter stated that the device has “price on request”. If you plan to grab one, you’ll also need to know that it can only be purchased directly from Dark Matter.

The price is expected to be steep but, as Dark Matter puts it, this phone is “ready for anything.”