NIO Phone launches with high-end specs and first-party Link to own-brand cars

NIO touts its first-gen Phone as the ultimate smartphone for owners of its cars. The device even has a dedicated side key, quite like Apple's new Action Button, except that this one can be set to activate 1 of an estimated 30 vehicle functions.

The Phone is also touted as more like a car key than car keys themselves thanks to NIO Link UWB, with the security and privacy features to match. Its 6.81-inch display form factor is even perfectly designed to fit a central console bay in the marque's flagship SUV, and automatically switches to an infotainment control interface when placed into it.

It has a camera hump most like that of the Realme GT5, although it packs triple 50MP shooters, one of which is the up-to-date Sony IMX890 as a telephoto lens. A 4th circle in the upper right corner houses a ring flash.

This rear panel is finished in a variety of colors, a OnePlus 11-esque green and a nearly iPhone 15 pink included - however, a navy blue "EPedition Edition" is marketed as the most special. It boasts detailing such as subtle carbon-fiber accents to underpin the Phone's relationship to NIO's cars.

On that note, the device's SkyUI OS accommodates a host of integrations with a given paired car. These, according to NIO, can make the 2 products seem as much like 1 connected device as possible, even syncing things like images and a "second living room" profile between their systems.

The NIO Phone may also hold its own as a premium smartphone in its own right, with nothing less than the Leading Version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to drive a 120Hz 1440p screen with LTPO and a max brightness of 1,800 nits.

It has a 12GB/512GB configuration in its base model Performance Edition, whereas its Signature Edition is 12GB/1TB. Then again, the flagship EPedition Edition is 16GB/1TB. The NIO Phone's various Editions start at 6,499 yuan (~US$889), 6,899 yuan (~US$994) and 7,499 yuan (~US$1.026) respectively, and will be available via the brand's app to its target drivers' audience.

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