Phones are interesting again.
Manufacturers, predominantly Chinese in origin, are designing quirky devices that target select, often narrow, demographics.
In short: its weird.
But also, I kinda love it.
I got my hands on one last month, and Ive been testing it out.
And while there are some areas where it doesnt quite excel, its fundamentally a decent handset.
Even if it doesnt command mass-market appeal, itll undoubtedly make some people happy.
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Before we progress further, I want to emphatically state that thisisnta review.
As a general rule, reviews tend to be of finished products.
Thats a deliberate editorial decision.
Are we clear on that?
This was thanks to the inclusion of a competent MediaTek processor, paired with a generous helping of RAM.
The biggest aberration is the square display, which is relatively unusual, but not unheard of.
The BlackBerry Key2,which I reviewed and loved, boasts a display with similar equilateral dimensions.
And yes, theres the physical keyboard, which Imitchingto talk about.
Almost everyone still using a phone with a hardware keyboard will have a BlackBerry.
And, for what its worth, its remains the gold standard.
So, how does the Unihertz Titan compare?
Its clear that Unihertz has taken great pains to ensure that this machine doesnt feel cramped.
The buttons on the keyboard are big and pressable.
Using this rig still took a bit of adjustment, however.
I had to re-learn the muscle memories Id developed from using the BlackBerry Key2.
Thats because in terms of layout, the Unihertz treads a completely different path.
For starters, keys are arranged linearly.
Q, for example, is directly above A.
Speaking of which, punctuation is added via a small on-screen virtual keyboard.
This mechanism actually impressed me.
Initially, my error rate while typing was quite high.
This forced me to spend time backtracking on my emails, removing typos and other embarrassing errors.
Fortunately, this became less of an issue as I familiarized myself with the gear.
That said, it still took time.
One major divergence from the Key2s design is that the buttons are almost completely flat.
Of course, it’s possible for you to attribute much of my criticisms to personal taste.
I prefer clickier, more tactile keyboards.
Others might not feel the same way.
At the top of the keyboard is a row of shortcuts.
They also perform roles when inputting text.
For example, the back key also doubles up as the backspace.
This is fine, but theres obvious room for software optimization.
Press it too many, and youll find yourself inadvertently leaving the system.
Like the Key2, the Unihertz Titans fingerprint reader is located on the keyboard itself.
Ive no complaints with this; it worked accurately and quickly.
What about the rest of the phone?
Broadly speaking, I have few complaints.
The IPS display on this phone is gorgeously vivid, with accurate color reproduction.
Blacks look black, and whites look white.
Its also wonderfully bright.
(Were looking at you, Doogee S40.)
However, its good for other things, predominantly productivity tasks, like reading documents and composing emails.
Those willing to brave letterboxed films will appreciate the Unihertz Titans exceptional battery life.
The phones built-in speaker isnt the best.
It produces a somewhat constricted and muddy sound regardless of whatever you listen to.
Fortunately, it makes up for this with the inclusion of a 3.5mm jack, as well as Bluetooth.
Similarly, the camera didnt impress much, with poor color reproduction, and low-light performance.
The Unihertz Titans other big selling point is its inherent ruggedness.
While its undeniably girthy (and, at 303g, heavy) its accomplished this without looking unattractive.
It is, however, measurably thicker than most conventional handsets.
Final Thoughts
The Unihertz Titan is an undeniably strange phone.
That said, I really enjoyed using it.
Its clear that Unihertz has tried to accomplish something new with this gear.
It didnt particularly feel like a pre-production prototype, even though thats what it was.
The keyboard isntas good as the one on the Key2, but I did appreciate how spacious it felt.
Id like to hope that it improves with future iterations of this machine.
The Unihertz Titan feels like an homage to the BlackBerry Passport.
It wins points for that alone.
I do fear that Unihertz will struggle to find a market for this handset, however.
The pool of people who want a rugged phone is vanishingly small.
So too is the pool of people who still use physical keyboards.
I imagine theres very little overlap.
If you want to prove me wrong, youcan back it on Kickstarter.
When it eventually hits retail, the company expects itll sell for $359.
Itll also appeal to the nostalgic BlackBerry fans among us.
You know like me.
