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Pablo Escobar's Brother Launches a Folding Smartphone

The unlocked Android 9.0 Escobar Fold 1 only costs $349 and comes with a free cover and free worldwide shipping.

 & Matthew Humphries Former Senior Editor

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Samsung was the first company to offer consumers a folding display smartphone, but it was very expensive and alarmingly fragile. However, Roberto Escobar, brother of deceased Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, is offering his own take on the folding phone for just $349.

As Digital Trends reports, the phone is called the Escobar Phone 1. It uses a 7.8-inch flexible AMOLED 1,920-by-1,444 display powered by a 2.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 8-series chip complete with Adreno 640 GPU and runs Android 9.0. Two models will be offered, with the cheaper $349 version shipping with 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage. For $499, that increases to 8GB and 512GB respectively.

Speaking to Digital Trends, Escobar commented, "I have told many people that I would beat Apple and I will. I cut the networks and retailers, to sell to customers phones that can fold for only $349, phones which in stores cost thousands of dollars by Samsung and others. This is my goal, to beat Apple, and by doing it myself like I always have."

The only way to purchase the Escobar Fold 1 is directly from the Escobar Inc. website, but be warned it's far from safe for work. Every purchase gets you the folding phone, a complimentary cover, and free shipping anywhere in the world. The $349 price point is just as surprising as the phone itself, and we have no idea how durable this handset will be.

According to Escobar, durability is nothing to worry about, "My phone cannot break, because I did not have to make a glass screen like Samsung ... Our screen is made of a special type of plastic, and we still have the best resolution. Our special plastic is very difficult to break." Apparently the Fold 1 contains "special security" making it secure against governments and hackers alike. The complimentary cover even has a thin layer of metal in it to block RFID.

A highly secure, folding smartphone for $349 brought to you by the brother of a drug lord... Will you be ordering one?

About Our Expert

Matthew Humphries

Matthew Humphries

Former Senior Editor

My Experience

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

I hold two degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Games Development. My first book, Make Your Own Pixel Art, is available from all good book shops.

My Areas of Expertise

  • PC components and system building
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Software development
  • Storage technology
  • Video games and gaming hardware

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