Unihertz Titan Slim

[zundappchef 92]

So as some of u know i recently bought and received a Unihertz Titan Slim true kickstarter 
its can be found here :
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/titan-slim-the-new-sleek-and-slim-qwerty-android-smartphone/description

I wanted to see if there is more people here who have bought this device
Why make a post about this phone ?
Mostly because i want to share the owner experience is with this phone 
I might not be very pleased with FX tec and the way they have gone about their whole pro 1 x campaign 
but that does not mean im not excited to receive it in the future 

Everyday that goes by with this unihertz titan slim gives me extra experience towards its plus sides and negatives
all in all we all know what we are looking for when it comes to a phone with a keyboard so i will only touch on that briefly
- The keyboard 
The keyboard is usable however it does take a while to get used to it and type on it comfortably , since it does not retract u are forced to use it at all times for typing .
Its nothing like a blackberry keyboard and therefor if u ever gotten used to swipe type or touch type with those keyboards then u are out of luck ( update might fix it )
its position is less then optimal comparing to other devices from unihertz and blackberry counterparts 
Buttons do feel good and clicky , the positioning of the keys u do need to get used to . mostly the bottom row the space bar spacing is strange  the b need to be on the left side of it however its on the right side and it throws u off on where to type ( in the beginning )
fingerprint sensor works very good but is also very sensetive , talking about sensetive it does have build in touch scroll 
this feature in itself made my love my BB priv and its making me love the titan slim as wel ( lets home swipe type/touch type wil get introduced )

- Screen
Nothing special about the screen , it not the brightest but it gets the job done good enough . colors are displayed very good and even black is displayed very good 
Its sensitivity to my taste is a little high but that might also be because of me not using a screen protector . glass i cannot give a opinion on . I'm very careful in how i use my phone and therefor never had scratch issues on any phone . The screen itself seems to not be glossy however the glass/coating is very glossy 
The biggest negative i have about the screen is that its small , it could and should have been bigger in length , this directly is the most negative about the phone !
The screen  length is where it suffers and u can notice it in every app and with most use 

- Casing 
The casing is cheap very high gloss plastic and does not feel premium at all and is very prone to scratches . the backside has a plastic cover that looks like a screen could be behind it . i cant tell much about it since i coated the back of my phone with Velcro so i can attach it wherever i have the other Velcro attached 
The plastic might be cheap but has a good feel and grip when handling . its a joy to handle the phone since its plastic is so smooth
That also brings me to the thickness of the device , yes its a rather thick phone but that also helps it along with feeling and handling like a phone instead of a thin board 
Fit and Finnish is premium and i never seen such high quality on any device i ever owned 
Hardware buttons are extruding and they might extrude a little to far for most people , they are very responsive and clicky  u know when u pushed them . fit n finish on the buttons is excellent and the button on the left side is red of color , stock it can be used to make pictures and it activated the flashlight function when holding it for 2 seconds ( same for turning off)
It also features a infrared hole on the top , this is not the most scratch resistible as i have seem to scratches it somehow 

-Battery
cant say much other then it survives 2 days of very extensive use without much problems ( navigating) 

-Software
Its stock andriod 11 and has a couple extra features loaded on it like most rugged phones
my personal experience cannot be of any function for a review as people prefer different setups and use cases 
what i can touch up on is that integration of the keyboard is the best i ever seen on any phone , this includes apps not being weird 
The remote control function it has works but is bloated with adds in order to use it , recommend downloading something else if available
my biggest compliment has to come from this department , unihertz did not try and put their own skin or push a bunch of software on it 
they integrated the keyboard into the software and called it quits after that 

-Speakers / camera's
If u are a audiophile then u wont be impressed with the sound this device  , it can be loud and the sound quality in phone calls is just as u would expect 
as excellent as it could be . when watching a movie on the speakers u have a hollow sound coming from them .
Camera's , this is where the titan slim lacks software integration , in most apps the camera's will not focus  . in the stock android camera app they will and take good quality photo's 
will u win awards with them , i doubt it 😅
on the back it lack the option to make wide viewed pictures , but then again it only has 1 camera 


now as in any review  would i recommend it ?
Yes i would recommend it if u wont be bothered with the smaller screen and are willing to invest time to learnt to type on the keyboard 
as a daily driver its been a very enjoyable experience because people ask me all the time " is that a blackberry " . my answer starting to become " no its seems to be better "
for its price point and its quirkiness this phone is very enjoyable
hope the next update from unihertz wil get the last couple problems smoothed out  
 

 

[EskeRahn 5,399]

Me too: https://eskerahn.dk/?p=4539

Most important:

Settings ► Intelligent assistance ► Other Settings ► Home key function ► Double press to launcher.

[zundappchef 92]

the more i use this phone the more i look forward to using the pro 1 x
the fact that this device has a smaller screen really is starting to take its toll 
probably in a few month ill move away from the Titan Slim 
other then that this device does not seem to suffer from bugs ,and still really impressed with the long battery life 

[EskeRahn 5,399]

25 minutes ago, zundappchef said:

the more i use this phone the more i look forward to using the pro 1 x
the fact that this device has a smaller screen really is starting to take its toll 
probably in a few month ill move away from the Titan Slim 
other then that this device does not seem to suffer from bugs ,and still really impressed with the long battery life 

The WiFi seems pretty unstable, but when it works it is OK - I must admit I have not used it for anything other than updating the apps (and the OS) since I played with it initially, and yet it seldom gets through 10 app-updates without throwing the WiFi connection at the least once (1m from router and at the least 40m from nearest neighbour net),

In aeroplane mode, it uses a mere 2% a day, that is pretty impressive. (due to the unstable WiFi, the Stamina is bad with WiFi ON, but that is to be expected by frequent reconnect attempts, so not a stamina-issue, but a side effect of the WiFI-instability)

[raymo 171]

I was interested in the titan pocket, but the lack of alternative OS and my androids allergy is a deal breaker here.
However I had a titan in hands and it feels very solid.

[claude0001 1,271]

Besides the apparent lack of free ROMs, my biggest concern is that the keyboard -- unlike the Pro1(X)'s -- seems to lack many of the special symbols important for shell work or coding. Like "~", "|", ">" "\", or the sqare ("[]") and curly ("{}") brackets.

Is there a way to enter these characters using the hw keyboard, e.g. via customisation? 

[EskeRahn 5,399]

2 hours ago, claude0001 said:

Besides the apparent lack of free ROMs, my biggest concern is that the keyboard -- unlike the Pro1(X)'s -- seems to lack many of the special symbols important for shell work or coding. Like "~", "|", ">" "\", or the sqare ("[]") and curly ("{}") brackets.

Is there a way to enter these characters using the hw keyboard, e.g. via customisation? 

I have looked too, without finding it. And combining the modifiers seems to have no or strange results.
Try Shift+Sym and either B or Z and you get ZB or sometimes BZ (similar for C&M, X&N, A&Space) so does not bode well for possible combinations giving access to the symbols

There apps like "UniCode Charmap" that gives access to a long list, but obviously tedious to fetch and paste in that way.

[Doktor Oswaldo 901]

17 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

I have looked too, without finding it. And combining the modifiers seems to have no or strange results.
Try Shift+Sym and either B or Z and you get ZB or sometimes BZ (similar for C&M, X&N, A&Space) so does not bode well for possible combinations giving access to the symbols

There apps like "UniCode Charmap" that gives access to a long list, but obviously tedious to fetch and paste in that way.

well that is an instant no buy here (not that I would have otherwise).
But as you stated in your review, the phone lacks another row of keys, which would make it possible to save that kind of things easily.

I think it is a bit strange, that unihertz still has the same flaws after so many models. The pro1 isn't perfect but it is not their 5th design, still they have tweaked the layout for the pro1x

[EskeRahn 5,399]

10 minutes ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

I think it is a bit strange, that unihertz still has the same flaws after so many models.

The Slim is -for better and for worse- a different physical appearance of their "Pocket", only principal difference is the lacking 3.5mm plug and the larger display.
But I still say that you get good value for the money, it is cheap for a keyboard-phone.

(See also this)

[_DW_ 628]

5 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

(See also this)

"A fifth alternative (that I have not bought) is the Planet Computer Astroglide."

Its Astro Slide :)

(Feel free to delete this once seen hehe)

[claude0001 1,271]

On 10/12/2022 at 3:25 PM, EskeRahn said:

I have looked too, without finding it. And combining the modifiers seems to have no or strange results.

Too bad. Then the Unihertz series is no option for me it seems.

Ages ago, the N900 also suffered from its small keyboard and too few (coding-relevant) symbols pre-printed on the keys. However its creators -- programmers themselves -- knew this and included facilities for extensive key-remapping into the OS. The good old times ... One point for the Pro1 here, I guess.

[jakfish 124]

My apologies for necro-bumping, but I'm giving the Titan Slim some serious thought, and I was hoping to check back with folks who have now owned it for a while.

My scouring of on-line reviews tells me you get what you pay for: modest price = mediocre camera, antiquated cpu and Android version (though I've found Lineage for Titan), and a plastic body.

I'm no power user so I can live with such drawbacks. My main question is "how to map a TAB key?" Is that possible? The Slim's shortcuts seem more app-oriented than actual remapped keys. @EskeRahn's post seems to tell me no true remapping, but then again, things may have changed. I've read that Button Remapper doesn't yet work on Unihertz, and I can't remember if BR can remap keys to generate missing syntax.

Again, apologies for dredging this thread, but any advice/suggestion would be much appreciated.

[EskeRahn 5,399]

necromancy is fine by me, when relevant 🙂
I must admit, it has been in some drawer for very very long. I better try to find it and recharge it, to check for any updates.... 😇

[jakfish 124]

Thanks for weighing in.

[EskeRahn 5,399]

(Had not checked for update for almost a year... No new update, but the battery still at 72%, not bad at all after a year. Google had a zillion apps/update waiting *LOL*)

[jakfish 124]

Many, many thanks, and congrats on the strong battery, despite its drawer banishment 🙂 In the meantime, in a Unihertz custom ROM discord forum, the moderator's comments convinced me to pull the trigger on the cheaper, smaller Titan Pocket.

I was skeptical at first, but he was kind enough to install TextMaker and post a screenie (I'm a TM fan) and it looked good in the square screen. He owns both the Pocket and the Slim and said for doc editing, the Pocket was the way to go.

Media display, given the P's screen size, obviously tougher, but I use a phone for phone and writing, and mostly full-text RSS for news, etc.

It arrives tomorrow, and if doesn't work, another discord user has offered to sell me his Slim for $100.  Like @EskeRahn, he's not using his, either 🙂 Which says something, but I'm not sure what.

Edit: oh, and for making a TAB key, another user said that indeed, Key Mapper could generate one. I will find that out soon. @EskeRahn, the moderator's ROM, https://github.com/rumplestilzken/gargoyle_lineageos20/releases sounds intriguing. Just when you thought you could put your Slim back in the drawer 🙂

Edited September 6, 2023 by jakfish

[jakfish 124]

I've been using the Unihertz Titan Pocket since last Thursday, and I do believe I'm sold. The 3.1" screen takes getting used to, but Unihertz has thrown in a bunch of customizations, from display resizing to key remapping. It's perhaps too thick and heavy for its size, but I knew that going in, and the kb itself is very manageable. Fast enough CPU for my needs, long battery life, and good support over at Discord, whose members have found prompt response and delivery of replacement parts from Unihertz.

Most gratifying is when you pay for the phone, it's actually delivered. I had not been familiar with this approach. Must be new 🙂 

Edited September 12, 2023 by jakfish
typo

[EskeRahn 5,399]

@jakfish, have a solution for the unstable WiFi be found? Is it a limitation that only some routers or channels are supported?

When I duck it up and let it do the almost hundred waiting updates, I think it could update two or three apps between each time I needed to turn WiFi off/on and reselect the apps for update. (Less than 1m from the router, and the phone says the signal is excellent).
I tried to activate the Netguard app, and that helped substantially and got me up to about 10 apps.

And no it is NOT that it goes into some power-save or lock-screen, I deliberately moved the finger slightly on the screen during the whole update.

It seems somewhat similar to what some report on the Pro1X. For some unknown reason I have the luck of NOT seeing the same bug on the Pro1X connected to the same router. So quite bewildered....

[jakfish 124]

@EskeRahn Wow. This is the first I've heard of this issue, and here you are, with it 😞

Upon investigation, I just found 11 updates on stock Android and went through a wifi-only update and all went well, every one. Nor have I seen any issues browsing on wifi. Granted, my experience was not based on 90+ waiting updates...

I'm in the US, state of Maryland, using Verizon FiOS.

I wonder if the Pocket uses slightly different internal hardware, though I can't imagine such a case.

 

[EskeRahn 5,399]

43 minutes ago, jakfish said:

I wonder if the Pocket uses slightly different internal hardware, though I can't imagine such a case.

I have NOT had the similar on the Pocket. My GUESS is that it is the same principal reason as on the Pro1X, and is related to the Android version, and 'something' has to be done in a particular way to NOT have the connection cut. But glad to hear you do not see it, so it is not a general bug, only something that occur in particular circumstances.
Note that I was on WiFi ONLY, with no sim inserted. Can you see in your network data usage if it perhaps switched to mobile briefly to fill any 'gaps'?

[jakfish 124]

Ah, I had not known you owned the Pocket as well. As for your investigative approach--while I had the SIM inserted in the Pocket, I had disabled its data for app updating, so I don't believe Google update could've updated through it. I did check the "mobile data usage" and saw that Play Store had only been accessed by wifi.

[EskeRahn 5,399]

I only bought the pocket to have it, never used it. Similar with the Titan. Both bought in a mixture of curiosity, and support of someone still making phones with a keyboard, and with the thought of it being a possible temporary backup, should the primary phone fail. Did not buy the ones from Planet due to the elevated price-point and the size. I did consider buying the Astro out of pure curiosity on how good/bad this special slider-mechanism is in reality. But was too stingy, and now it is closed.

[jakfish 124]

EskeRahn: single-handedly keeping the world's economy intact 🙂

Though I bought the Gemini and Cosmo, I too passed on the Astro, both out of price and problems with the previous hardware. I don't regret it, as many Astro backers don't have their phones and may never will 😞

[EskeRahn 5,399]

He he, if we the few still interested in phones with real keyboard does not buy them, it is even less likely that new ones will be launched...

It's like the need for supporting a local grocery even with higher prices when you live outside urban areas. If you do not, it will die.

[jakfish 124]

Absolutely agree. And all of the Unihertz phones are so reasonably priced. How do they do it? Just poked my head over at Planet's home page--even though they don't have them, they're still selling the Astro for $1043. Eeesh.