Unihertz Titan Slim first look assessment

Three years in the past I attempted out the huge Unihertz Titan smartphone with a really massive bodily QWERTY keyboard. I beloved the BlackBerry Passport, however the Titan was simply too massive for me to hold each day and use it to get work finished often. In 2021, I examined the Titan Pocket which was shut in measurement and design to the BlackBerry Daring so I discovered it a bit interesting. 

For the previous couple of weeks, I’ve been testing an early prototype of the Unihertz Titan Slim and I believe somebody at Unihertz meant Titan Slender and never Titan Slim. The Titan Slim is without doubt one of the thickest telephones I’ve examined in years, measuring 12.35mm in depth. That is simply 2mm thinner than a folded Galaxy Z Fold 3 and has no enterprise calling itself slim.

Specs

• Processor: MediaTek Helio P70
• Show: 4.2-inches 768×1280 pixels decision
• Working system: Android 11
• RAM: 6GB
• Storage: 256GB inner storage (examined as 128GB)
• Cameras: 48-megapixel rear digicam and 8-megapixel front-facing digicam
• Wi-fi know-how: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, GPS/BEIDOU/GLONASS, FM radio, infrared
• Sensors: Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, ambient gentle, and compass
• Battery: 4,100mAh non-removable
• Dimensions: 146.85 x 67.6 x 12.75mm and 204 grams

The Titan Pocket is the sixth cellphone launched on Kickstarter by Unihertz and I’ve had the chance to check out the final 5. The telephones are affordably priced, even outdoors of the Kickstarter particular provides, and goal area of interest segments of the smartphone market. Each has far exceeded the modest Kickstarter objectives and with the Titan Slim we see there are already greater than 2,000 backers with pledges virtually reaching $535,000 (on the time of publishing this text).

{Hardware}

When Unihertz first reached out to me concerning the probability to check out a Titan Slim, I used to be excited as a result of I assumed it might be an up to date model of one thing like a BlackBerry Key2. I rapidly opened up the plain bundle and virtually fell out of my chair laughing on the thickness of a cellphone with slim within the title. The Key2 measures 8.5mm in thickness, 4mm lower than the Titan Slim. For sure, this isn’t a slim or modern cellphone.

Overview: BlackBerry KEY2: An old-school idea, up to date

Now, in comparison with the opposite Unihertz Titan telephones, this one is modern and slim, however these different fashions are huge. The cellphone is pretty slender at 67.6mm so Titan Slender could be a extra applicable identify. Nevertheless, the width of the cellphone additionally implies that the keyboard is pretty tiny and my getting old fats fingers had hassle sustaining any kind of velocity on the keys. Somebody with small fingers could benefit from the tactile expertise, however in 2022 I see no purpose for a {hardware} QWERTY keyboard on a smartphone.

The central fingerprint sensor is useful and in addition serves as a succesful dwelling button. The keyboard features enabled by the software program appear to be they have been copied from BlackBerry with very related icons if you arrange shortcuts. You possibly can set up an enormous variety of fast launch shortcuts, swipe up and down on the keyboard to scroll by lengthy pages of textual content and knowledge, and the tactile really feel is first rate on the tiny keys. The area bar is small, the shift and different vital keys are manner up on the highest row, and there may be simply an excessive amount of bouncing round between the keyboard and the show to supply a seamless expertise.

Beginning on the entrance, we have now the 4.2-inch LCD display, which is ok for viewing textual content content material on the cellphone. The colours look nice on the show and it is vivid sufficient for any lighting situation.

The headset speaker and front-facing 8MP digicam are above the show. There’s an IR transmitter on the highest, however regardless of the cellphone thickness, there isn’t a 3.5mm headphone jack. There’s software program included on the cellphone so you possibly can manipulate distant controls for numerous digital merchandise. The USB-C port and mono speaker are on the underside of the cellphone.

The quantity buttons are positioned on the higher proper aspect with the ability button under it. A customizable purple button is discovered on the left aspect with the 2 SIM card trays above this button. There’s a utility to customized a press and a press and maintain of this button.

Additionally: Unihertz Titan first impressions: Huge, rugged, long-lasting, QWERTY Android cellphone

The 48-megapixel digicam is discovered within the higher left nook with a flash to the appropriate of the digicam. The again is affordable, shiny black plastic, and mixed with the shiny black sides provides the cellphone a reasonably horrible really feel. I suppose on the estimated $250 value, we will not ask for an excessive amount of.

The cameras have been reasonably poor with timelapse, video, picture, and handbook modes accessible. Most photos have been blown out with poor colours and focus so they might be good for fundamental doc seize or sharing restricted photographs on social media.

Software program

The Unihertz Titan Slim launches with Android 11 out of the field and the prototype I examined has a September 5, 2021, Android safety replace put in. I checked a few different Unihertz telephones, and there’s no document of updates for firmware or month-to-month safety updates. Android 12 has been out now for almost a 12 months and Android 13 is true across the nook. Don’t purchase this cellphone with an expectation of ever receiving updates, which may pose a safety danger for anybody shopping for this for enterprise use.

The cellphone runs a reasonably inventory model of Android. The Google Uncover web page is on the market if you swipe from left to proper to the primary panel, very like a Pixel cellphone.

Along with the Google fundamentals akin to calculator, calendar, digicam, Chrome, Gmail, Maps, Messages, and extra, you get a couple of apps from Unihertz. These embody an FM radio, IR distant management app, music participant, NoteBook, sound recorder, and Toolbox.

The Toolbox is stuffed with helpful utilities that improve the performance of the cellphone. The instruments within the Toolbox embody:

• Sound meter
• Compass
• Flashlight
• Bubble degree
• Image hanger instrument
• Coronary heart price monitor
• Peak measuring utility
• Magnifier
• Pedometer
• Speedometer
• Alarm
• Plumb bob
• Protractor

It is cool to see the digicam used with a few of these instruments to supply an augmented actuality expertise that gives you with a tool for correct measurements.

The house display helps frequent app widgets too so you possibly can customise your Android expertise. The Fast Controls part from the notification shade may also be personalized to your private preferences.

Additionally: Unihertz Atom XL hands-on: 4-inch show, 48MP digicam, and DMR assist for lower than $330

Preliminary utilization experiences

Unihertz appeals to a distinct segment market and it seems there are a couple of thousand individuals around the globe who’re serious about low-cost telephones with a QWERTY keyboard.

Whereas I didn’t take pleasure in utilizing the keyboard, I did like {that a} BlackBerry-esque interface exists to arrange customized shortcuts. It is also good to have the keyboard perform as a trackpad for scrolling with out touching the show.

The cellphone often locked up and froze on me in settings and a few apps. I didn’t should reset it although and switching again to dwelling and one other app appeared to get out the difficulty. The inventory Android expertise is sweet, however safety updates and firmware assist are horrible.

I loved the soft-touch matte designs of previous Unihertz merchandise and am not a fan of the shiny end used on the Titan Slim. Fingerprints collect all around the sides and again whereas the fabric feels low-cost within the hand.

Battery life appeared positive, however I truthfully could not preserve my SIM in too lengthy to check it out as a result of I didn’t benefit from the expertise of utilizing the cellphone. Fundamental community assist is supplied with no 5G functionality. The Unihertz Titan Slim is just not a cellphone I can suggest, however there are clearly a couple of individuals who do not thoughts spending about $250 to check out one thing distinctive.