The Nubia Alpha is a wearable phone which takes selfies

While manufacturers unveiled foldable smartphones like the Huawei Mate X and the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Nubia believes it can take this a step further with the unveiling a wearable phone with a flexible display - Meet the Nubia Alpha.

The Nubia Alpha sports an OLED display with a 4-inch diagonal measurement, which has been placed onto an anodized stainless steel wearable device. This setup makes the Nubia Alpha 230% larger than standard wearable displays, according to the company.

In order to achieve this permanently curved design on such a large panel, the screen extends beyond the central part of the wearable to the metal band. This means that as you adjust the band to your wrist the flexible display will too.

Making Phone Calls, Sending Texts and Taking Selfies

Nubia is marketing this wearable as a phone that could potentially replace your existing smartphone. As such it supports the latest eSIM technologies, allowing users to make 4G calls and send texts directly from it. The Nubia Alpha also supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The Nubia Alpha has a 5-megapixel camera which sits to the right of the display. You can capture a selfie by simply tapping you your screen. Additionally, you can record videos of yourself with a long press on the display.

While this is "technically" a phone, your storage options are somewhat limited with the 8GB of onboard storage. Nubia claims that this should be sufficient for over 6,000 pictures, 2,000 short videos, or 1,000 songs. You will be able to stream your favorite music from your collection or the built-in apps via Bluetooth.

Includes Fitness Features

The Nubia Alpha does not forget it is still a wearable device, and as such has included a range of fitness and health-focused features you'd find on more traditional smartwatches. It will also support various fitness modes and automatically track certain physical activities. Nubia has even made it water-resistant, allowing you to take it swimming with you. Additionally, it has a built-in heart rate monitor and can provide you with information about your quality of sleep.

Software

Interestingly, the Nubia Alpha doesn't run Wear OS, Tizen or Watch OS. Instead, it runs a custom operating system built by Nubia to take advantage of the larger display. This OS allows users to interact with the Nubia Alpha via multi-touch controls, voice commands, or even a variety of air gestures.

Hardware

The Nubia Alpha is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100, which is a little disappointing if you consider that Qualcomm has a newer and more efficient Snapdragon Wear 3100. But nonetheless, it should still provide decent performance with the paired 1GB of RAM.

In order to power the larger display, Nubia has included a 500mAh battery, which should let you use the wearable for 1-2 days on a single charge. You should get around of week on standby.

Release and Availability

The Nubia Alpha will begin shipping this April in China, before expanding to Europe during the third quarter of 2019. Customers in North America and other markets will be able to purchase the device in the fourth quarter of this year.

The wearable will cost €449 ($510) for its black Bluetooth-only version, while the model with eSIM build-in will retail for €549 ($623). Alternatively, a Gold variant that includes a band plated in real 18K gold and the eSIM functionality will cost €649 ($737).