Escobar Fold 1 Stirs Up Controversy at CES 2020

The Escobar Fold 1, a foldable smartphone priced at $350, has found itself at the center of controversy as it was denied entry to CES 2020. This decision comes from the Consumer Technology Association, which cited concerns over the device's branding linked to Pablo Escobar, the infamous drug dealer. Roberto Escobar, Pablo's brother, collaborated with Swedish entrepreneur Olof Gustafsson to develop the device, aiming to disrupt the high-end smartphone market with a far more affordable alternative.

The Escobar Fold 1 was set to challenge major players like Apple and Samsung by offering a foldable design at a fraction of the cost of existing options. However, its participation in CES has been blocked, with Olof Gustafsson claiming that Samsung is behind the exclusion due to fear of competition. Samsung has not commented on these allegations.

Technically, the Escobar Fold 1 mirrors the Royole FlexPai in design but undercuts its price by approximately $950. The device sports a 7.8-inch flexible AMOLED display with a resolution of Full-HD+ (1920 x 1444 pixels) and a pixel density of 308ppi. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and storage options of 128GB or 512GB, expandable via a dedicated SD card slot.

The phone runs on Android 9 and features a dual-camera setup with a 16MP and a 20MP sensor, both equipped with OIS and dual LED flash. It includes a 4000mAh battery supporting 25W fast charging, dual-SIM support, WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and a USB Type-C port. Despite its technical merits, the device's controversial marketing campaign, which included provocative content, added to the debate surrounding its CES appearance.