Curious if any folks here have a Unihertz phone (Jelly/Atom/etc.) and how they’ve been for them. Knowing their constraints, I’ve still been tempted to get one because I think I’d like the more compact sizes, and they’re not super expensive.
However, they are also still budget phones and despite being small, a tad thick, so…
I used the Jelly 2 for several months and the Atom L for 2+ years. The hardware and base software is very solid, with some minor exceptions that can be expected for a small manufacturer.
The Jelly 2 was too small for me and the fingerprint sensor and camera were sub par. But if you want a tiny phone, its 100 times better than anything on the market. Get the Jelly star for the updates specs though.
The Atom L(and XL) was a solid phone, literally and rhetorically. The camera wasn’t flagship class, but solid. I never had a problem with performance, and the phone is very durable. Mine developed a connection issue which was annoying, but not a show stopper. Unfortunately, they haven’t updated this device any longer and there is no new version.
If you have any questions let me know.
I have a jelly 2 that I used daily for a couple of months and since then only touch it every now and then. For browsing the web and normal phone things it’s pretty good. I actually like the thickness with how small it is. The battery life just barely got me through the day. It kills background tasks of apps by default but you can change that per app. Typing on it also works surprisingly well.
However there is bad. The fingerprint sensor is highly unreliable. The screen has really bad response times so there’s a lot of ghosting. The speakers are also pretty bad. The camera is exactly what you’d expect as well. Also the update support is extremely limited.
I initially bought it to take with me on long runs so I don’t have a bulky phone on me. Then I broke my primary phone so that’s when I used it for awhile.
For the size and price though I have no regrets.
However there is bad. The fingerprint sensor is highly unreliable. The screen has really bad response times so there’s a lot of ghosting. The speakers are also pretty bad. The camera is exactly what you’d expect as well. Also the update support is extremely limited.
Hmm, I’ve never really found fingerprint sensors to be that useful personally, so of these negatives it sounds like the screen may be the most annoying, but given the price point, not entirely surprising. Thanks!
I had the Titan. I wanted to keep a QWERTY phone after BlackBerry pulled out of the hardware market. It’s the opposite of the small form factor that you’re after, though I understand the Titan Pocket goes some way to addressing this.
It was… functional. The keyboard was good, and certainly robust. The battery lasted a day and a half of fair to heavy use, and it was sturdy enough to shrug off most bumps and grinds with the Unihertz gel case. It was also super affordable, even at it’s peak of interest.
Unfortunately, the camera was utter shit (even with decent third party apps like Opencamera), and a design quirk with the fingerprint sensor mounted on the home button meant that it was the on the most raised surface of the front of the phone, meaning that it took the brunt of scuffs or scrapes, so the sensor became less effective. Some of the included apps were a bit janky but certainly workable, and even though the screen was super pretty the aspect ratio did funky things with apps designed for standard portrait displays.
For the money, you can’t go wrong with Unihertz phones, just don’t expect them to be flagship quality, and be prepared to put up with some minor annoyances.
I enjoyed my 18 months with it overall. I jumped to the Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 when I ran out of QWERTY options.
For the money, you can’t go wrong with Unihertz phones, just don’t expect them to be flagship quality, and be prepared to put up with some minor annoyances.
That’s about what I was thinking, and it sounds like despite some shortcomings they’re generally alright, which is what I wasn’t so sure of, so that’s good to read. Certainly not expecting top of the line given the price point and some of their more, uh, unique designs. Appreciate the reply!
The keyboard was good
You didn’t mind the weird layout with the spacebar that split the middle of the third row? Or how the modifiers are moved to the top? Or how the three rows are aligned together?
It certainly was weird yeah, but nothing I couldn’t get used to.
The only real pain in the tits was accessing the numpad, that was really unintuitive.
Not too bad! I have the Jelly 2 and Titan Pocket, and I generally enjoy using them. Each has its own quirks, of course, but I love the fact that they exist and that they’re not too bad to use.
My biggest issue is with the update situation. Each one runs Android 11, with security updates sorta laughable at this point. For example, the Titan Pocket is running the September 2022 security update. Because of this, I wouldn’t recommend the phones for those who value consistent platform and security updates above all else.
Since you’re considering it, I’d wait until the Jelly Star comes out next month. It’ll have Android 13 and better internals compared to the Jelly 2.
