Phones

Unihertz Titan Pocket within the take a look at: strong Android telephone in pocket measurement with QWERTZ keyboard

Three years ago I tried the massive Unihertz Titan smartphone with a very large physical QWERTY keyboard. I loved the BlackBerry Passport, but the Titan was just too big to wear on a daily basis and to work regularly.

For the past few weeks I’ve been carrying an early prototype of the Unihertz Titan Pocket, a significantly smaller version of the Titan that still has a physical QWERTY keyboard and a rugged design. It’s available on Kickstarter for a couple of weeks for $ 221 or $ 399 for two of them, with the phone slated to ship in September 2021.

Likewise: Unihertz Jelly 2.0 in the test: Tiny Android 10 smartphone has it all

The Titan Pocket is the sixth phone launched by Unihertz on Kickstarter, and I’ve had the opportunity to test the last five. The phones are affordable outside of the Kickstarter specials as well, targeting niche segments of the smartphone market. Each of them far exceeded the humble Kickstarter goals and with the Titan Pocket we already see more than 3,000 backers with pledges of nearly $ 700,000 (at the time of this writing).

Specifications

  • processor: MediaTek Helio P70
  • display: 3.1 inch TFT LCD with 716 x 720 pixel resolution, gorilla glass
  • operating system: Android 11
  • R.A.M.: 6 GB
  • warehouse: 128 GB internal storage with microSD support
  • Cameras: 16-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front camera
  • Wireless technology: 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac WLAN, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS / BEIDOU / GLONASS, FM radio, infrared
  • Sensors: Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, ambient light, barometer and compass
  • battery: 4,000mAh non-removable
  • Dimensions: 132.5 x 73.2 x 16.8 mm and 216 grams

hardware

The Unihertz Titan Pocket reminds me of a thick BlackBerry Bold with its small physical QWERTY keyboard and square display. The QWERTY keyboard is clearly a focal point of this new phone and has a few good features but a few annoyances as well. There are four rows on the keyboard, with the top row representing Shift, Icon, and other Android control keys.

The central fingerprint sensor is great, the keyboard has a good sense of touch, you can swipe up and down on the keyboard to scroll through long pages of text and data, and you can create custom shortcuts for all keys for apps and other functions. I’m not a fan of the top-left shift key or the tiny space bar, but overall the keyboard is quite capable.

Starting from the front we have the 3.1 inch LCD screen which is pretty small in today’s world of big phones. My aging eyes are struggling to see some of the fonts on the display and it’s just too small for this 52 year old. The colors on the display look great and it’s bright enough for all lighting conditions. The square layout offers a limited amount of data, e.g. B. 3.5 emails in Gmail on one screen.

The headset speaker and front-facing 8 MP camera are located above the display. On the top there is a standard 3.5 mm headset jack next to an IR port. The phone comes with software that allows you to manipulate remote controls for various electronic products. The USB-C port is on the bottom of the phone.

The volume buttons are on the top left with the microSD / SIM card slot below these two buttons. On the top right side there is a power button and a customizable red key. There is a utility to customize the press and hold of this button.

The mono loudspeaker fires from the lower rear, next to the aluminum rear wall. The 16-megapixel camera is located in the top center on the back with a flash to the right of the camera.

The cameras did well with time-lapse, video, photo, and manual modes. There is no portrait mode support and the photos do not have any advanced creative elements. The phone is not designed for stunning photography, but it will help you capture your surroundings when you are on the go.

Likewise: Unihertz Titan first impression: Large, robust, durable QWERTY Android cell phone

software

The Unihertz Titan Pocket starts with Android 11 out of the box and the prototype I tested installed an Android security update from April 5, 2021. Buy the phone with the software that will start it as I haven’t seen any major updates from Unihertz and it’s best not to expect updates that are unlikely to come at a later date.

The phone runs a pretty standard version of Android. The Google Discover page is available by swiping left to right to the first control panel, much like a Pixel phone.

In addition to the Google basics such as calculator, calendar, camera, Chrome, Gmail, Maps, Messages and more, you get some apps from Unihertz. This includes a file manager, an FM radio, an IR remote control app, a music player, a notebook, a sound recorder and a toolbox.

The toolbox is full of useful utilities that will improve the functionality of the phone. Tools in the toolbox include a sound meter, compass, flashlight, level, picture hanger, heart rate monitor, altitude measurement utility, magnifying glass, pedometer, speedometer, alarm, plumb bob, and protractor. It’s cool to see the camera used with some of these tools to provide an augmented reality experience that gives you a device for accurate measurements.

The home screen also supports popular app widgets so you can customize your Android experience. The Quick Controls section in the notification window can also be customized to suit your personal preferences.

Likewise: Unihertz Atom XL at your fingertips: four-inch display, 48 MP camera, and DMR support for less than $ 330

First experience of use

The Unihertz Titan Pocket may appeal to serious BlackBerry Curve or Bold fans who want a similar form factor with modern Android. It’s a very well constructed phone with some drop protection, unspecified, but no dust or water resistance. Even if it feels like a tank, don’t take it out in heavy rain or drop it into a puddle. The larger Titan had an IP67 rating and I almost took the Titan Pocket river fly fishing last week before checking the specs.

Overall, the keyboard is well made with good spacing and tactile performance. The ability to swipe up and down on the keyboard like a mouse pad and use the keys to create a variety of shortcuts can be beneficial to efficiency and productivity.

The Titan Pocket is designed to get the job done and is not a gaming or multimedia device. Videos play well and music sounds great through the rear speakers, but this phone puts work first. Speaking of work, the small display is the main reason I can’t use this phone as my daily driver. Maybe 20 years ago when my eyes were much better, but not anymore.

I’ll have to spend more time testing the battery, but 4000 mAh on a phone this size so far has shown it to last at least a few days without a charge. The cameras on the phone aren’t that great, so don’t expect to get any award-winning shots with the Titan Pocket.

If you like QWERTY keyboards and spend a lot of time notifying people, then you can enjoy the Titan Pocket. Even though it’s a smaller phone, the thickness and weight still make two-handed operation the best approach to using the phone.

Related Articles