- Dreame launched a pair of Aurora phones at Dreame Next
- Standard model features impressive modular accessories
- Lux designs look more like fashion statements than smartphones
After its rocket car debut on day one and its army of weaponized smart home appliances on day two, Dreame Next Day 3 introduced a pair of smartphones – and I’m not sure if I like the design or if I should go throw up.
I’m not talking about the more standard Dreame Aurora model with its Nex accessories – that thing looks pretty neat. Borrowing the kind of giant circular camera bump you’ll find on the Oppo Find X9 Ultra or OnePlus 13 Pro, this device features a 200 MP camera with a 1-inch sensor.
Plus, with a 7,000mAh battery, I expect this phone to live up to its all-day battery promise.
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The most striking aspect of the design, however, is the Aurora Nex add-ons. A sort of mag-safe attachment collection with various uses: there’s the 50MP action camera with super-fast autofocus, the 50MP telephoto lens with LOFIC sensors for one-shot HDR, a satellite communications module to stay connected wherever you are, a cooling module (aka a fan) to keep your phone cool during intense gaming sessions, and the Agent module which looks like a sort of AI companion – although the details are a bit limited on what exactly its support would look like.
Dreame has suggested that other add-ons could be released later, and it’s an interesting take on smartphone modularity – although we’ll have to try these drives to determine if they live up to their promises.
Luxury or ugly
Where things start to get a little sickly is the Dreame Aurora Lux – intricately designed smartphones, covered in vibrant prints, jewels and effects that look more like a handbag than a smartphone.
With names like Imperial Totem, Regalia Shield, and Axiom Geometry (yes, those are real phone names, not JRPG ultimate attacks), there’s an undeniable splendor to these designs that definitely stands out from the crowd of iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones of the world. However, they are not to my taste personally.
We also looked at Aurora OS 1.0. A booth at the show gave me a first impression of the OS, and at the moment it feels a bit like a work in progress: Android 16’s underlying architecture is very clear to see, which still makes the OS feel more like an aesthetic theme than its own true version of Android.
There was also talk of AI and the usual personal contextual assistance promised by all the phone companies – combining data across apps to help you organize your real and digital life – but again the presentation seemed light on the specific details of how this would be achieved.
Additionally, it is also missing two key details: price and release date.
Dreame Next was a strange showcase, and the lack of firm commitments on when this technology will be available put a damper on the festivities – it’s hard to get excited about technology that I may never really get a chance to try.
If you’re looking for a gaudy phone, cross your fingers that the Dreame Aurora devices will see the light of day soon, although for now you might have to settle for the blingy iPhone case.
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