The Clicks Communicator stumbled by marketing itself as a "second phone". It has everything I want out of a "real" phone, no AI push, and it's small. I'm going to try it as my next (only) phone.
4mon 25d ago by thelemmy.club/u/bdonvr in android from thelemmy.club
All the other discussions I found on Lemmy dismiss it because they find the idea of a second phone ridiculous. Or because they don't buy into the "dumb phone" concept. But I think it makes a compelling phone on it's own, and you wouldn't need a second.
But really look into it. By every indication it appears designed to be a fully featured main phone. It has some compromises made to fit the keyboard first philosophy, but it has everything you'd need and more. Dual SIM (eSIM+physical), a headphone jack, micro SD Card support, a 50mp camera with OIS (I know megapixels don't mean much but I think it shows it's not gonna be the cheapest crap camera), NFC/Google Pay support, Android Auto, Qi2... That doesn't read "second phone" to me. It's just.... phone.
They have now said that it will have an unlockable bootloader too. I'm not finding much to dislike here. 8GB of RAM is somewhat low but should be fine. The processor is still a question mark but honesty as long as it's not bottom of the barrel it should be perfectly fine. I have always gone for flagship phones but honestly I've started analyzing what I actually do on my phone and I pretty much never push the hardware. I like knowing I have the top of the line but I basically just web browse, message, read email, scroll Lemmy, and listen to music/podcasts. Very occasionally watch some YouTube but that's usually on my TV or PC. No gaming or anything. I should be able to do all of that on this device, some of it won't be as good on that screen obviously but it should still be doable. I need the camera to at least be decent. Not great just not garbage. Like it's fine if the low light performance is meh and the video isn't the best. But I don't want to look at my photos and regret taking it with that device, so we'll see.
I don't want a dumb phone, and I don't think this is one. You should be able to do everything any other phone can. I don't think it's a second phone either. I think they're just leaning into that for marketing reasons, so that when anyone points out the tradeoffs of this form factor they can just wave it away as a secondary device.
It appeals to me because it's a small phone. Seriously nobody makes one worth using. Unihertz sure, if you want a bad software experience with no updates ever. But otherwise you just have the non-plus sized iPhone/Galaxy S. Those are considered small. Or maybe the flip-foldables. It also appeals to me because it has major character and (imo) style. I'm bored of glass and metal sandwiches. Give me this! A plastic device with a swappable back that has a (vegan?) leather option? Hell yeah.
Why the hell would I want a "second phone"? I don't like my first phone. I want a phone that I don't hate, not a second phone to add to my misery.
I think the intent is to be a "work device"
A lot of companies will be lazy or have a BYOD policy. You will likely be asked to install extra security and monitoring software on your personal device to view work related info or check email.
The simple way to avoid this is to just get a second phone, and given how this device is has a smaller profile than a mid-range smart phone, its a good marketing bit.
You will likely be asked to install extra security and monitoring software on your personal device to view work related info or check email.
You can set up another user on Android which will practically completely isolate this software from your main user. Since it's your phone and it gets installed by you it gets treated as any other user app and AFAIK cannot break the isolation between multiple users like system or organisation apps probably could do. You just saved yourself few hundred dollars.
The only disadvantage I could see is you not getting notifications from your work user applications when you are using the main user.
The only disadvantage I could see is you not getting notifications from your work user applications when you are using the main user.
I'd reverse that. Not getting notifications of the personal user is a problem. Not getting work notifications during your free time is a big plus.
The average MDM software used to manage business phones won't accept being a secondary user, usually they must be set as "device owner" as they need full controll on apps (automatically install apps, veto certain content, and so on), maybe they will allow the opposite, personal stuff in the secondary user
Having your work info on a personal device opens you up to a whole bunch of ass-ache if your employer ever gets sued. If they need data that touched your phone, they can technically seize it as evidence, for instance.
Yup the dinky old 2009 style thing with the satisfying tactile buttons is for work. It works psychologically, for me, to separate tasks
Yep, my last employer kept telling us about how we could access email on our phones and I kept asking why I would ever want that and telling them to send me a phone. I had a work laptop at home already.
Most people I know that have a second phone have it paid for by that company.
All the other discussions I found on Lemmy dismiss it because they find the idea of a second phone ridiculous. Or because they don’t buy into the “dumb phone” concept.
Looks like OP made a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Yeah I thought I made it clear what I was trying to say. This looks like a good phone on it's own. Like sell your old phone and buy this to replace it. Not a second phone.
Not a clue. Wouldn't want that either. That's why I want it as my only phone....
My guess is they want to preemptively Dodge the allegations thst it's a bad phone because it might not have the top of the line camera.
Echoing that I'm really tempted to get this as a work phone. It would be great to turn my work phone off at the end of the day and not see it.
My work is great about boundaries, too; I want this for my challenges cycling out of "work mode" to be present for my family (and myself, for that matter).
8gig of RAM is a bit low
Manufacturers are going to ship laptops with 8gb ram in 2026!!
My smart phone has 6GB of RAM. I've managed.
Oh wow, my incredibly snappy phone currently has 8GB of ram.
Ram Good God! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing unless your cloud computing.
James Brown's zombie, probably.
I mean, 640K ought to be enough for anyone anyway.
When bill the despot gates said that I only had 32k in my computer. A year later I had soldered in another 32k and I was really playing with power. Everyone thinks old bill is okay but I remember the asshole he was when was young and will never be able to see him as anything other than someone who destroyed the potential of computing. Some will say that asshole didn't make that 640k quote but he was always making predictions that turned out to be untrue. Just like all of these AI/LLM dicks these days. The fact that one or two of them will get some of it right is just luck.
It will be rubbish but the problem is everyone's doing it so there's no options other than forking out half your mortgage to Apple for high spec MacBook.
If it has even decent custom ROM support I would 100% consider it. I hate it as a second device but as a main I love the design.
Someone in the last thread said that the Mediatek SOC makes ROM support unlikely.
I might be in the minority here but I will not use a phone that I can't strip Google Play and other Google services out of, so it would need support from something like Lineage, Graphene, e, Linux, etc before I would consider it.
I mean they said the bootloader is unlockable so at least being able to disable Google services should be possible. We'll see how community support goes.
If it's flashable and the community support is good enough then this might be my next device. Will have to check on it once the community drops support for my ancient secondhand phone. XD
I recall someone here on Lemmy emailing their support and they replied confirming it's bootloader unlockable.
Graphene is unlikely because of their ultra tight security requirements (I really believe the only time we ever get a supported phone outside of the Pixel is when Graphene makes their own or partners directly with a OEM) but hey, most likely Lineage!
It definitely looks intriguing but I'm also holding out for either a capable Linux phone or the next Graphene OS device. If I can't strangle Google on my phone or be completely separate of it, then no thanks.
256GB on-board + expandable MicroSD card storage up to 2TB
$400. Reservation 200.
I'm not thrilled about the processor, but this guy is still on my radar because of the physical keyboard and expandable storage, not upset to see a headphone jack either.
Do they even say what processor it has? All I see is "4-nanometer, 5G IoT SoC platform from MediaTek" which means nothing to me.
No, they are waiting to announce. People have speculated as there's only a few that would be viable.
MediaTek processors are known for being not so great.
They've gotten way better with the Dimensity line last I heard, to the point that the high end ones were topping Qualcomms high end offerings
I think it's highly unlikely it has a high-end chip, based on the price, niche market and advertised use case.
Oh yeah for sure. I'm just saying Mediatek doesn't automatically mean bad like it used to.
I guess well see what they go with.
It would really have to be bad for me to hate it I think. I don't do anything that needs crazy performance, I've come to realize.
Why would you need a lot of RAM on a phone that I assume you would want to use less? Isn't that really what this is for? People who want to stare at their phone less?
I never mentioned RAM, my only criticism was the Mediatek processor. This thing has 8GB of RAM, which should be plenty.
I don't know. That's not what I want it for. I just want to use it as a regular phone.
RIM should blow everyone's mind and release a new QWERTY BlackBerry. The market would lose their shit.
I'd rather have a new Palm device, too bad their management shit the bed and destroyed the company.
I loved my palm. It was great.
Capitalize, folks.
RIM no longer own BlackBerry. The Clicks Communicator has some of the blackberry team on it's team.
This looks awesome and would consider looking more into it as a real alternative to the current crap, BUT....
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I will never buy a product that isn't already produced and ready to ship. Funding campaigns like this are imo most likely scams, very often not serious and if they truly are great, I'd rather wait for V2 or V3 to come, before buying
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the physical keyboard is great for english users but terrible for people who need to use 2 or 3 languages on their phones.
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I need android or iPhone to run the local authentication apps for banking, doctors appointments app and even some times payment methods
I will never buy a product that isn't already produced and ready to ship. Funding campaigns like this are imo most likely scams, very often not serious and if they truly are great, I'd rather wait for V2 or V3 to come, before buying
To be fair this company already ships hardware in physical retail stores (keyboard cases for existing phones). I'm fairly certain they're serious here but yeah waiting for the real deal is always a better bet.
the physical keyboard is great for english users but terrible for people who need to use 2 or 3 languages on their phones.
That's true, or depends on which languages. Some use QWERTY layouts already like Spanish. I'm bilingual in Spanish and don't forsee any issue with typing in Spanish on this. They have said that holding down a key works like you'd expect, bringing up diacritics/alternate symbols. The typing suggestions can be bilingual no issue. They said they do want to ship more keyboard variants (QWERTZ/etc) but can't commit to more SKUs at this stage.
I need android or iPhone to run the local authentication apps for banking, doctors appointments app and even some times payment methods
Non-issue. This is an Android phone, that will supposedly have the latest version and full Play Store access.
I suspect that since they already make the keyboard cases, that all they're planning on doing is making that but a bit smaller, and getting a no-brand Chinese phone manufacturer to make a small stubby square phone that fits in it.
I'm curious what the average Android app will do when presented with that little square aspect ratio. I've vaguely dabbled in phone dev before and there's lots of twatting about to deal with different device sizes (tablets vs phones) and ratios. The proliferation of folding phones may mean there's decent support for some apps, but I don't expect that to be universal by any stretch.
On their website, they have videos or renders of how some features work and there seems to be a lot of wasted space to the left and right of the interfaces. So maybe just transparent margins?
Same. It would definitely be my daily driver. I'm using the Minimal Phone now but have often found that I would rather have this same form factor with a regular screen, and the Communicator seems to basically be that. I am still deciding if I want to pre-order but I've set a reminder to do or don't before the window closes.
According to the support ticket I put in a week or so ago, the bootloader will be unlockable which is great news.
The only thing the specs don't mention is how much RAM it will have.
8GB of ram, confirmed in various places, most recently on an AMA.
I was prepared for 6, but I'm good with 8. Thanks!
Has the Minimal Phone improved much since launch? Always curious to hear the thoughts of those who use minimalist/intentional tech devices.
The hardware is the same AFAIK but they've put out two three software updates since I've had it. One added some extra features to the eink control utility and the second fixed some really annoying bugs with the fingerprint sensor. Both also included the system security updates as well.
There was a 3rd one a few weeks ago, but I think it was just a security bump. It wasn't announced and just showed up. There may have been some tweak to the QWERTY keyboard utility because now the annoying bar that only indicated the ALT/Shift status at the bottom is no longer there and was happy to no longer see.
Is the software mostly bug-free now? It seemed to have quite a few issues at launch (not unusual for a first-gen crowdfunded product).
The base system is stable. The only instability I really had with mine was the fingerprint sensor resetting every week. It would just stop registering until you turn fingerprint detection off, reboot, and re-enroll all of your prints. The second update they pushed seems to have fixed that.
Their default launcher could use some work. I replaced Minimal Launcher with a similar one that works identically. The problem with Minimal Launcher is it is hardcoded to certain apps. I've de-googled mine so I don't use Google clock or calendar. Clicking the time or date in Minimal Launcher will only take you to Google Clock or Calendar (respectively) rather than asking what app to open or trying to detect the default app for that. I submitted a bug for that a couple months ago but so far no fix.
They also seem to only update their software (launcher, quick settings, keyboard config, etc) through system updates rather than via apps. You also can't disable any of them either.
I also haven't heard anything more about them supporting non-Googled or third party Android builds.
"Smart enough" would have been nice marketing, no?
While I fully understand why it doesn’t have umlauts that’s a dealbreaker for me for this and probably pretty much every such device that will ever come out nowadays.
If they make a model with a QWERTZ keyboard I might consider it as my next phone.
I'm sure if this sees any kind of success more localization is inevitable.
You're in luck, they added a German layout - https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/02/27/3246299/0/en/Clicks-Brings-Communicator-to-New-Markets-with-Localized-Keyboard-Layouts.html
Same here. If you type in - possibly several - non-English languages, these keyboards will be pretty useless. But if all you need is a burner for work, then,,, it's likely a little expensive.
I think the only compromise is that it doesn't have a flagship camera and a smaller screen which is a given for the keyboard. Not sure how the IP rating will be, though. But it looks really promising as a phone that would suit the majority of people who aren't trying to use their phone as a gaming console
The camera and the IP rating are my hangups. IP might just be complacency, but I like not having to worry about rain or where to put the phone while paddleboarding or whatever.
Camera... I might be okay with a dedicated one of some kind. I have an old DSLR, but it's too big to carry everywhere. Which means I have to purposefully go on a 'photo trip'. Could of course get a decent pocket digital camera and the price of the Communicator + camera will probably be at on par with a new flagship phone.
Not looking to reserve but will probably have to think more about it once it's out.
The best camera is the one you have on you the most
Agreed, just, that camera might as well be as capable as possible.
Just needs the right software honestly
Yeah. Praying for the camera to be good enough.
Clicks did an AMA over on Reddit yesterday. Was actually pretty good.
$400usd to pre order a phone thats almost the same as the phone i had in 2011, but golly would I like to have one
Too bad it will not work in Canada for some carrier like Rogers who VoLTE blacklist phones they don't sell...
Also what is the target price of this phone?
Not the phone's problem
I'm pretty sure that's not even legal in the US where corporations have the same rights are humans.
$400 pre-order, $500 normally.
I'm into it. Would make a great work device. The power keyboard product also looks like an interesting product.
That's a cool idea
Only if you have a recent device. I have a older perfectly usable device that doesn't rate one of these.
Not that I don't understand why they can't accommodate all models.
Something like this might work better on an iPhone or non-Pixel Android device. I own a Pixel 6 Pro that supports the Qi2 charging protocol, but it didn't work properly from my personal experience. It would charge very slowly (well below the speed of other Qi2 capable phones). If I happened to be streaming audio or watching a video while charging, the battery would continue to drain even though it was receiving power, and it would eventually start heating up.
Just a data point, but I've been using wireless charging since the... Nexus 6? Maybe the 6p. And I've owned most of the nexus/pixel phones, including the 6 Pro. Never had issues with wireless charging, even when actively using the phone. It would warm up a bit from the constant use, but it would still fill the battery. It's my primary way to charge, I only use the cable if I need the phone next to me (streaming twitch at my desk, watching Netflix in bed...) and the battery is low. As soon as I'm done/back home, it goes straight to the wireless charger. Get a text, grab the phone, reply, back it goes.
You might have a fault somewhere :/
Cases that support magsafe/pixelsnap/qi2.3 (I think) can add the magnetic feature to a non-mag qi phone.
I agree, I would totally but it as a main phone. Especially if it gets Lineage OS!
But last year I already bought F(x)tec Pro 1X, which is also a great keyboard phone and I usually don't update phones too often 🙂
Looks cool. Did you consider the Planet Computers' offerings?
Yep! But I wanted something with official Lineage support, so I went with F(x)tec.
Man, if this thing can run one of the various Linux phone OSes, I'm buying it in a heartbeat. Shame about the huge corner radius on the screen, though. That'll make it annoying for terminals.
I was considering one just the other day as my main phone for all of the reasons tou stated. You can treat it as a dumb phone if you want sure but it certainly isn't.
Communicator will launch on Android 16, with support for up to at least Android 20. We’re committing to a minimum of 4 years of Android version updates and 5 years of security updates.
Idk, Pixels ate supported for like 7 years. So after about 5 years, this phone is toast?
Just out of interest how long do you keep a phone because I feel like 5 years is pretty much around the time everyone's looking to get a new phone.
Pixel batteries will degrade to the point of being annoying in under 7 years. 5 years is a pretty good lifespan for a phone.
[citation needed], my family all runs pixels and my father is still on the pixel 6, so nearing 4.5y of daily use. Other family members get my previous models (7 Pro, 8 Pro) when I upgrade, so they are getting phones that have been used heavily every day for at least a year before I upgrade. I haven't heard any complaints from any of them regarding battery charge/duration. I upgrade whenever I am interested in the new model, or when their device goes EoL for security updates, then pass it on.
Last issue we had regarding hardware was the nexus 5X dying, and that was because LG fucked up during manufacturing... again...
You can use a phone beyond the manufacturer security updates. They aren't the only layer of security in Android, that was the whole point of Project Mainline.
minimum of 4 years of Android version updates and 5 years of security updates.
*if we dont go bankrupt
It does look good but solves nothing when it comes to Google/Android turning hostile to stuff like LineageOS, F-Droid, etc.
No, but while I'd love a Linux phone it's just not viable for me yet. They can't make phone calls in my country without VoLTE support.
Wow, I kind of hate that I don't really need a new phone right now. And just bought a new GPU. This looks awesome.
If I have the money I would definitely get it just to try it out. I am going to get the keyboard though.
Double on that last paragraph. I want to get a unihertz, but the struggle with software drives me far from it
Anyone got a a link to the unlockable bootloader confirmation?
If that's confirmed, its a big deal - to me at least though I'd also want some comments or info from clicks about other OSs running on the device?
Best I could find was a reddit AMA from the cofounders of the company, who say in one of the replies that you can request a code to unlock the bootloader. (Ctrl + F bootloader should show it up.)
Warning: reddit link
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClicksKeyboard/comments/1qjldo5/comment/o12ylej/
Whether or not we'll actually see full ROMs or Linux distros isn't going to really be knowable until developers have one in hand.
Reddit links are safe these days since my filter has them blocked.
This looks cool but what exactly is it doing to be productivity focused other than having a screen that would suck to watch videos on and a keyboard that never goes away?
The reason the Blackberry was adopted as a work productivity device was because other mobile options you had to type using T9 and with a Blackberry you could get your emailing done on a mobile device. But that's been every phone now for almost 20 years.
So I get it as something nice for people who are nostalgic for Blackberries, but Click's focus on this somehow being "communication focused" while a smartphone is, I guess, not, doesn't make much sense to me.
I have no nostalgia for blackberry as I never had one. My first mobile phone was a touchscreen. It just appeals to me as it has a lot of style and personality, at a decent price. It's also plastic in a world of glass covered phones, with a headphone jack and expandable storage. And I don't watch a lot of videos (on my phone) and think this screen would work just fine for 99% of what I do. But it still CAN watch video or anything any smartphone can do.
The marketing stuff is whatever.
Yeah it's a cool device, whoever is pitching it though needs to realize why people might actually want one. Cause it's the reasons you said, it's a cute little device that's different, inexpensive, tough, and with features that other phones have taken away. "Teeny low-cost android phone with a keyboard and audio jack" would be way better positioning for them than this "second phone" and "productivity device" silliness. But for real at that launch price I might have to roll the dice on one and see if they actually managed to make something that doesn't feel like baby's first kickstarter blackberry clone lol.
"Productivity" is a sort of euphemism for addiction within the phone space. A lot of the hardware and software tools designed to combat addiction are marketed in this way because, for whatever reason, people still feel embarrassed about admitting they have a phone addiction problem.
I don't even see how this is supposed to help with phone addiction. Sure, if short form video is your poison of choice, it could help. But if your addiction is more of the reddit, lemmy, discord, or group chat variety, or anything else text-based, wouldn't making typing easier make these addictions even worse?
Speaking from personal experience, I find smaller screens to be significantly less addictive because they're less engaging and more frustrating to use. It forces me to choose between having text large enough to avoid eye strain and having enough content on the screen to not be constantly needing to interact with it. Either way, I end up with an annoying trade-off that makes me not want to use my phone for anything more than the essentials. The smaller the display is, the less I get sucked in. It's no coincidence that the smartphone I had the healthiest relationship with was the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact; my smallest by far.
Additionally, the Communicator's physical keyboard would make typing slower for me (it might be more comfortable for some, but I'm not sure I agree it's easier). Personally, there is absolutely no way I would be using a physical keyboard for anything other than messaging with my friends, short emails, basic web searches, etc. They might be comfortable but they're just too slow compared to modern touchscreen keyboards. And technically I might be able to use a touchscreen keyboard and bypass the physical keyboard entirely, but that's also very annoying on a small screen for anything other than the essentials. Not that I am going to buy the Communcator (I backed the iKKO Mind One instead), but I can understand why some people might find the design appealing from a minimalist/intentional tech perspective.
This Lemmy comment will be performed in the voice of that fat British guy on Youtube shorts that talks about marketing
You see, the problem with marketing it as a "second phone" is that you're implying that it's too shit to be someone's first phone. Or that you've chosen to do something to it that would make it impossible to live with.
I remember in 2018, Verizon started offering a tiny little Android phone branded as a Palm of all things, and that small but vocal minority who insist they want small phones started clamoring for it only to be told that it's a "companion device" and you still had to have another device active on that line. It cost $350 plus $10 a month on top of another device and plan.
There was essentially no one on earth who wanted a special phone they only used to take to the gym with them, they refused to sell it to people who specifically wanted it, and so it didn't sell well, to say the least.
I just want actual buttons like this thing has. If I can just get a keyboard that attaches to the phone without making it unwieldy, that would be sick.
Did you see their other product? The Qi2/Magsafe keyboard? https://www.clicks.tech/powerkeyboard
It looks like basically the best you can get with that concept and typical phones realistically.
My first thought is how well it actually stays connected to the phone and would work through a case, as it appears to attach via just magnets. Does look pretty slick tho, and it also doubles as a powerbank.
Yeah that's the big question. I mean they also make keyboard cases which work well technically and are well made but having to redesign it for every new model phone seems unrealistic and also it makes your phone comically long and unbalanced.
I'm a current clicks user on my Motorola Razr and I preordered this to use as my singular phone. I use my phone as a communication device, not for media consumption, I watch a video on my phone once a week and use Lemmy. So far the square screen of the RAZR works great for this except for the few times the OS requires the inside screen and the placement of the external cameras.
I don't get the keyboard appeal.. Not since swiping became a thing. Sure, back in 2005 it was awesome, but what year is it?
Swiping has become increasingly shitty for me and predictive text is approaching unusable. I would love to have a physical keyboard again.
This has puzzled me for a long time. I had the same phone from the introduction of the original swype to it becoming inexplicably worse, to gboard being functionally better if you can ignore it probably spying on you via goog services even with internet permission removed, to that also becoming mysteriously worse, and all the other attempts at implementing it coming and going while never reaching the level of swype or gboard at their peaks.
I considered maybe my old phone had a deteriorated touch panel but three phones later and it's still never been as good. I've been wondering if the tired scenario occurred of some common code like an unattributed foss library that had an update that broke the original functionality of multiple swipe keyboards and none of the keyboard devs ever noticed.
I've also noticed that swipe typing has become increasingly shitty, until I realized it's me. I've become too proficient, and/or sloppy/clumsy. I'm too fast, basically, causing inaccuracy and imprecision. If I just slow down and swipe with more precision, it's a lot better.
As someone who considers themselves a large proponent of swipe texting i have been increasingly running into issues where a word i want to type is almost unreachable with swipe texting because the letters are in too straight of a line on the keyboard and so it only interprets the beginning and ending letters or it takes another word that lies an a similar line
I've also noticed this, and it has a simple solution: slowing down and simply pausing slightly on the letters on the way. 👍
But see, you cant become too proficient at a physical keyboard, you either hit the correct button or you didn't and there's no computer deciding edge cases the wrong way because there aren't edge cases.
My last keyboard phone was the Motorola Photon Q ( which was awesome, had that thing for years) I've had 3 total touch screen only phone since then, and only in the last year has it gotten truly terrible. I'm actually in the process of converting a Razr 40 Ultra outer screen into a slider phone with a blackberry q20 keyboard. But if it keeps being a pain in my ass I'll probably just get the Clicks.
Regarding the first paragraph, I still think a physical keyboard at this size is slower than swipe typing, regardless of inaccuracies with the display keyboard. But I bet it's simply a matter of subjectivity.
Same thing but flipped: I have never understood the appeal of fat-fingering the screen and vaguely rolling over the keys of a word so software can take a wild guess at wtf you are trying to say. "byrpkugs"? Ah yes, buttplugs, clearly.
My first phone was a bar slider qwerty dumbphone, followed by a bar slider qwerty running android 2.1, if I remember right. The phones were both garbage but the physical keys were fucking fantastic.
I'm disabled now and so only have the use of one hand, otherwise I'd be all over phones like this. Shit, even though this is not ideal for me, I'm still like 🤔
I'd rather have T9 than swiping. T9 actually worked.
i use thumbkey works like a charm - just takes a little getting used to. Plus no text prediction/autocorrect. Its highly customizable. Even has a t9 layout!
Actually the keyboard is touch sensitive. I'm wondering if they couldn't make it so that you could swipe to type even on this....
Would be cool. Might even consider it as an option for my kids when it's time for their first phone.
I bet I could write code on that thing... I'm so tempted to try it. Coding on the go lol
You always wonder how much support they will have?
Looking forward to the review. I'm into it for nothing else other than the physical key board.
It is way too expensive for me, and the keyboard only supports the english layout which is a no-go, but damn do I want one.
Same situation with all the fancy split keyboards - they have 10 buttons per row, my layout needs 12 buttons per row.
I'm gonna reserve a green one in 3 weeks before the price goes up, I want a smaller sleeker phone with a keyboard. I don't use Instagram or YouTube or anything much on my current phone that's going to stop receiving updates soon.
It's everything I want as an offline bedtime "artcoding" toy. Except for the whole phone bit. And the price.
My second phone is a Nokia t800 with KaiOS. 99 bucks and I can bring it hiking for 3 days without recharging.
This a phone made by a youtuber. Do with that information what you want
True, though they do have help from some people who worked at/designed the old BlackBerry and have shipped several well received pieces of hardware before.
I run two phones! One for business and one for personal. I'd buy a clicks phone.
Non-sens if it's not as secure as pixel+GrapheneOS 🤷♀️😬
The screenshot looks like Niagara Launcher.
It is, they're partnering with them to make a customized version for the phone.
Whoah! Having recently tried the launcher, I could see how that would pair really well with a physical keyboard in that you can get to any app with ~2 clicks by typing it's first letter and tapping the screen, or even without looking at the screen by typing the whole name and hitting enter.
I never had a phone with a physical qwerty keypad, I went straight from a T-9 and Palm Graffiti (the best input method for a decade!) to full touchscreens. Having said that, this looks interesting and I do think they found a market niche. I'd be interested to mess with it for a couple of days to see how the form factor would work for me.
Ah damn, I was hoping this was Linux first… (aka. Raspberry pi computing Module based)
I believe just buying a normal phobe or Pixel+Graphene if you want privacy and make it dumb instead.is it that hard to contron oneself from staying away from addicting apps?
I do not want a dumb phone. I don't buy the concept of dumb phones. I want to use this like a normal phone and do all the normal phone stuff like I said in the post....
$499 no thanks.
$200, Linux. I'll accept no less. And take your AI crap and you can cram it up your ass.
$500 for a niche device that won't sell millions of units and that comes with not medium-high specs, isn't too bad. And it has unlockable bootloader.
$200 and Linux is impossible unless it's something with a CPU from a decade ago like the pine phone (the allwinner a64 was launched in 2015 and it was a low end one, imagine using it today)
You're just making numbers up now. there's no way that a $200 phone is going to be any good. Especially if it's a niche product like a Linux phone.
Come on you got to be even moderately reasonable
I have a pinephone, it was $200. It is also hot garbage, with the performance of a 56k modem with the software cohesion of liquid shite with sprinkles.
And I knew going in that it was bad. But it was so much worse. I tried using it as my main phone for a few days, and jesus it was pain. From programs not scaling, UI elements being inaccessible, the phone locking up, the lock screen freaking out, the camera not working, the fact that it only 'works' on 1/3 carriers in the US, I don't think I ever got hotspot functionality working, then I threw it in a drawer for a few months, tried it again, manjaro's package manager freaked out and corrupted itself (and some other stuff, it's been a few years), and the only way to fix it without going insane and restoring file-by-file was to reinstall from scratch... which required setting up the distro from inside another system.
Jesus fucking christ, what a shitshow. And I've been using Linux off and on for just about 20 years now for desktops, 10 years for servers.
'you get what you pay for' couldn't be any more true here. For a niche device, it can be good or it can be cheap. If it is both, it is using economies of scale, and thus is not niche. And let me tell you, every single phone that is running 'full'/'desktop' Linux, I assure you, is a niche product.
That's really aggressive... I said they're NOT pushing AI with this which is great.
Do you have a recommendation for a full featured Linux device usable as a phone? I'd love that but most seem more expensive and in my country basically none of them can even make a phone call due to not supporting VoLTE so it's not yet a realistic option.
No, I mean "them". I agree, its a step forward and I'd get one but not for that price.
Them as in Android manufacturers peddlers. Sorry for not clarifying that. I'm just that angry because they are trying their hardest to get us all to buy new phones but I don't see a need to do that and not for that price and not for any price if its running AI.
Those keyboards are 100% nostalgia. There's a reason we stopped using them. When touchscreens and onscreen keyboards were crap, they were a godsend. But at this point, they're just pain. Swipe, drag the spacebar for forward/backward. I'd rather keep a slightly larger screen and the on-screen keyboard.
This keyboard is touch sensitive actually, meaning you can swipe to move the cursor. Actually I'm wondering if it couldn't support swipe texting.
Anyway I have no nostalgia for the keyboard, never used a phone with one.
I had a palm treo, an HTC VX6800, an OG droid with a slide out keyboard, and a blackberry.
The screens were very small < 3.4", the keyboards survived because didn't eat screen space. The moment affordable 5" phones hit, the old physical keyboards were ditched.
They're perfectly serviceable for sending a quick text, maybe a paragraph in an email if it keeps you from needing a laptop. But the people who think they're going to code on it for something more than a stunt are going to be in for a surprise :)
Swipe texting didn't come out of the box back in the day either. It was a third party and it's complicated.
Given that this isn't either of the big names with its own OS. I imagine third party support will be... Limited
I mean, you do you, but I'll pass this and every other money burning thing and not give it a second glance. my pocket computer is a universal machine, thus I can program it and set it up the way I want to. and if I don't want no AI & friends on my property - that's what's gonna happen.
if all that crap is truly bugging you, put a blank android on yo phone. set up all apps to work without any intrusions. if I want to talk to people, I open the talk-to-people-app. if I want to read up on stuff, I open the reading-stuff-app. no notifications, no reminders, no nothing, my device doesn't beep at me and demand shit, it's there to serve me when I need it.
I guarantee you nobody at Xiaomi imagined I'd be running the thing the way I do, let alone - almost a decade after it was introed!
what I'm saying is, we have all the hardware that we're ever gonna need already created and all we have to do is use it and ignore every spend-money-to-fix-problem ideas from them visionaries and mavericks and those kinda folk.
if all that crap is truly bugging you, put a blank android on yo phone. set up all apps to work without any intrusions. if I want to talk to people, I open the talk-to-people-app. if I want to read up on stuff, I open the reading-stuff-app. no notifications, no reminders, no nothing, my device doesn't beep at me and demand shit, it's there to serve me when I need it.
I think you're missing the point. I don't want it to be something that makes me use phones less. I want to use it as my regular phone. Like I'm saying I want it to be my next phone and use it just like any regular phone.
Okay grandpa, let's get you back to the retirement home and get you your pills. I know, I know, things were better when you were young, mmmhm... change is bad, sure, sure...