Separated at birth: Onyx, Haier phones

Mike Yamamoto | Feb 27, 2008

We thought there was something familiar about this phone from a new UK company called Onyx, and our eagle-eyed colleague Kent German spotted the reason why: It looks remarkably similar to the "Elegance" handset introduced several months ago by Haier, the Chinese company of household appliances fame.

Haier, interestingly enough, described its version as a "lipstick-case-sized luxury phone" while Onyx is marketing its "Liscio" for the compact convenience of its 3.5-inch-long handset--perhaps accurately reflecting the difference in high-end standards between the two markets. It would be difficult to label this as a luxury phone in the West, for example, when it lacks a camera and other features that have become pretty much standard these days.

The phone does have an MP3 player, FM radio, Bluetooth, and a microSD slot, but Newlaunches says its display is only 1.10 inches wide with an eyesight-straining 96 x 96 resolution. The thing we'd worry about most, however, is texting--it's hard enough to do on a tiny handset, and that weird keypad would definitely slow us down even more.

Via CNET Crave | Picture credit: Onyx and Haier

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