Murena One specifications and features
The Murena One is a mid-range smartphone. It sports a 6.53-inch IPS LCD screen with a 1080 x 2242 resolution. The handset runs on MediaTek’s Helio P60 processor with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It supports a microSD card should you need more storage space. For photos and videos, this phone features four cameras at the back. We have a 48-megapixel primary shooter and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens for everyday usage. The other two cameras, which include a 5-megapixel sensor, could be for macro shots and depth sensing. The Murena One gets a 25-megapixel punch-hole camera on the front for selfies and video calls. This phone packs a 4,500mAh battery, which isn’t the biggest in this segment but should get the job done. It’s unclear though how fast it charges. The Murena One includes a side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner and comes with a two-year warranty. Priced at €349, this is a decent smartphone, but not necessarily the best value for money in this segment. However, the hardware isn’t the primary focus of the Murena One. The company aims to remove Google from your life without you having to overly change your smartphone usage habit. To that end, Murena has developed alternatives to pretty much all Google apps. It has a messaging app, a contacts app, a browser, a map that uses OpenStreetMap data, an email client, a calendar, a file-storage system, a voice recorder, a music player, and apps for notes and tasks. Murena even plans to offer an alternative to Google Assistant, called Elivia, so you won’t miss the voice control abilities of Android smartphones.
You can still download Google apps
The /e/OS operating system that powers the Murena One is based on Android. So you can still run all Android apps on the device, and these include Google apps too. You can download apps from the pre-installed App Lounge. But if the app you’re looking for isn’t available there, you can always sideload APKs. Of course, installing Google apps on the Murena One beats the whole purpose of the device de-Googling your life. But we know some apps have become a necessary evil for us all. As said earlier, Murena has also released /e/OS V1, which is the latest version of its operating system. The OS is now available for more Android devices if you want to give it a try. We have seen several companies try to challenge Google and make your smartphones free from the tech giant’s surveillance, some forcibly, others by choice. However, not many have tasted success in their attempts. Murena has taken this route by choice. Time will tell where it ends up.
