Project Overview

Robin is the first smartphone that is designed to never run out of space. Cloud storage is integrated right into the operating system of the phone, enabling Robin to automatically archive the things you use least, so you always have space for what you want most.

Instead of chasing the formulaic look of the current smartphones, Robin is honest and straightforward, resulting in a design that is sophisticated and modern. Rejecting the trend of shiny metal phones littering the market, Robin is made with glass-filled polycarbonate to create a phone that feels fresh and unique. Robin is intentionally designed to reflect the phone’s simple and unique functionality. Instead of attempting to fit components into a rounded form, Robin has a rectilinear shape, improving ergonomics.

Robin is designed to feel effortless — reducing clutter and increasing usability. The placement of everything is thoughtfully considered. Every port, button and sensor feels intuitive and harmonious, giving Robin a decidedly modern look and approachable character. The details include the soft depression over the dual front speakers and the repeated motif of dual circles on the front camera and sensors, the volume buttons and the rear camera and flash.

Organisation

Nextbit

Team

Scott Croyle, Peter Riering-Czekalla, Ashley Yousling

Project Brief

The goal was to produce a premium, innovative phone that surmounts common smartphone shortcomings. The result, Robin, is the first phone that gets smarter every day and never runs out of space. Robin is targeted toward people who are engaged and interested in tech, bored with the status quo and want to stand out from their peers. They demand premium design and the latest in tech.

Robin delivers on that demand in two ways: functionality and design.

By integrating the cloud into the operating system, Robin learns your habits and gets smarter every day so you never have to worry about downloading an app or taking a photo. Instead of a typical phone with a finite amount of space, Robin actively moves apps and photos between the cloud, allowing people to store more than a comparable phone. The design of Robin bold, playful and unlike anything else on the market. Like its user, it rebels against tradition and embraces its uniqueness.

Project Innovation/Need

Smartphone design has become boring — no phones really stand out. On the outside, Robin is unique, fresh and playful. It blends hard lines with soft materials and bright colors to create a device that feels new and bold.

With 32GB of space on the phone and 100GB in the cloud, Robin intelligently opens up space on your phone without impacting battery life or cellular data caps. When plugged in and connected to wifi, Robin synchronizes your applications and photos to the cloud. Since the phone is synchronized with the cloud, Robin can free up space when storage is running low (usually 9-12 months for a typical person). Robin achieves this by learning your habits and taking care of the housekeeping for you.

Robin actively removes applications that you haven’t used in some time and leaves behind a grayed out app icon as a placeholder. When you need to access this archived application, you can simply tap the grayed-out icon to restore the application as though it had never been removed. In addition, Robin downsamples old photos, leaving behind a screen resolution in the gallery. The full resolution photo is automatically restored when you zoom in.

Design Challenge

Developing a simple design and maintaining that simplicity through the development process was the most difficult aspect of creating Robin. It was incredibly important to us to keep the phone crisp, with a defined rectilinear shape and minimal contours. As such, we created hundreds of patterns for the phone’s various elements - speakers, buttons, cases, etc. This meticulous attention to detail is what eventually led us to Robin’s simple, playful design.

Sustainability

Robin is built to last. While most phones typically have a lifespan of one to two years before ending up in a junk drawer — or worse, the garbage — Robin is designed to get better over time. Nextbit’s innovative cloud technology is integrated right into the operating system, so Robin learns your habits and offloads the apps, photos and videos you use least so you always have room for what you use most. Robin users never have to worry about running out of space, which prolongs the lifespan of the device and results in less clutter and waste in our homes and environment.