VietNamNet Bridge – BKAV – Vietnam’s leading network security firm – launched its first smartphone Bphone on May 26, after many advertising campaigns.

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BKAV Chair Nguyen Tu Quang introduces the Bphone at the launching ceremony on Tuesday.

Before the launching ceremony on Tuesday, which reportedly cost VND10 billion (nearly $500,000), with 2,000 guests, held at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, the public had been stirred up by information about “a Vietnam-made smartphone, comparable to the iPhone”.

BKAV managers said the smartphone could compete with iPhone and Galaxy Note but the details of the product had been kept secret. BKAV managers also said the firm planned to sell the product worldwide and would compete directly with iPhone and Galaxy Note, the products in the same segment.

“The best known technology groups in the world like Microsoft, Google and Samsung have just joined the smart home market, while we (BKAV) have been present in the field for nearly 10 years,” said BKAV’s deputy chair Vu Thanh Thang.

The strong commitment by BKAV managers to an internationally competitive product was doubted among people who assumed that Vietnam could not manufacture a high-end product using high technology. However, BKAV showed that this is within Vietnamese capability.

Vu Thanh Thang, deputy chair of BKAV, said the firm pursued this project for 11 years. Five years ago, BKAV set up a factory manufacturing components for smartphones, since it could not find suitable domestic component suppliers. Notably, Qualcomm’s latest-generation chip would be integrated into BKAV’s smartphone.

Thang also said BKAV had introduced its products to partners in the US and Asia Pacific and had received positive comments about BPhone. Some partners had asked for the right to distribute the product.

After many advertising efforts and ambiguous information about Bphone, this product was introduced yesterday, with three versions priced at VND9.9 million, VND12.9 and VND20.2 million, very high for a made-in-Vietnam hi-tech product.

Bphone will be distributed online from June 2.

At the launching ceremony, CEO of Bkav Nguyen Tu Quang confirmed that Bphone is manufactured from more than 800 electronic components and the design has been protected globally since 2011.

Bphone uses Snapdragon 801 chip, 3GB RAM, 5-inch Full HD screen, 13 megapixel back camera and 5 megapixel front camera. It has a aluminum frame and two toughened glass sides.

The smartphone is 7.5 mm thin, uses 3,000 mAh battery and the Quick Charge Technology 2.0 that enables fast charging, doubling the normal one.

Bkav asserted that its smartphone has design, configuration and camera that are not inferior to Apple and Samsung. They also showcased photos taken by Bphone, with f/2.2 lens for sharp, outstanding color images even in poor light conditions.

This smartphone is also equipped with the Fast Tracking Auto Focus technology similar to Samsung Galaxy S6, which can identify and autofocus with fast-moving objects.

Bphone is equipped with 24 bit 192 kHz sound that Bkav confirmed to be 256 times smoother than the normal 16-bit sound, better than most other smartphones on the market at present.

It supports short range wireless connectivity TransferJet with the actual transfer rate of 200 Mb/s, 500 times faster than the NFC in high-end smartphones such as US-based Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and the Republic of Korea's Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. CEO Nguyen Tu Quang and his colleagues performed the connectivity and fast data transfer between two devices on stage.

Bphone uses BOS operating system, which was developed based on the Android platform, which means that users can still exploit the applications available on Google Play. In addition, it is also integrated with BChrome browser.This product has high security because it is manufactured by an anti-virus software processing group. It is the first smartphone equipped with the Firewall system to help control security risks. Bkav also introduced the BDrive data store. Besides, the privacy mode of Bphone helps users keep secret of personal information such as photos, videos …. They can be comfortable to lend their phones to friends and relatives.

Customers can order the phone on the company's official website bkav.com.vn or its widely-launched e-commerce website vala.vn from June 2. A Black phones with a storage capacity of 16GB will be on sale at a price of 9,990,000 VND (more than 450 USD). A Champaign phone with a storage of 64GB will be sold at a price of 12,690,000 VND (576 USD), and the limited edition of 24K gold minted smartphone with a storage of 128GB is set at a price of 20,190,000 VND (917 USD).

"We have entered the [phone manufacturing] field after other companies. Therefore, for brand recognition, we have to make products better than theirs," the CEO remarked, adding that a phone should be beautiful, sophisticated, and strong," Quang said.

"The Vietnamese people always wished that Viet Nam will produce the best smartphone in the world. Millions of Vietnamese are using high-class, imported smartphones… Now, we have made it. Bphone is for you and for Vietnam."

The Bphone launch event was seen as the most attractive technology event in Vietnam this year.

Some pictures of Bphone:

Mai Nguyen