The time it took to go from Ubuntu for phones’ announcement and the first Ubuntu phone’s release? Two years. The time between the release of the first Ubuntu phone and the launch of the second? Four months.
BQ and Ubuntu today took the wraps off of the second Ubuntu-powered smartphone, the BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition. Like the last Ubuntu phone, the Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition is basically an Ubuntu version of one of BQ’s existing Android phones. The important news here for Ubuntu enthusiasts, though, is that the Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition has improved specs over its predecessor.
The BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition offers a 5-inch 1280x720 display, which is a step up from the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition’s 4.5-inch 960x540 display. Powering the E5 HD is a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor and 1GB of RAM, and the phone’s also got 16GB of storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual flash and 1080p video capture, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone features dual SIM slots and comes unlocked out of the box.
BQ will begin online sales of the Aquaris E5 Ubuntu Edition in the European Union in mid-June at a price of €199.90 ($222 USD), which is €10 less than the E5’s Android equivalent. While the Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition obviously isn’t the most highly-specced phone around, it’s got decent offerings for the price, and for that reason it could appeal to folks looking for an affordable unlocked smartphone.
