In search of the world’s smallest rugged 4G smartphone? Well, you have stepped into the right place. The Unihertz Atom follows the exact description, and it looks like the phone is certainly going to see the light with its successful Kickstarter campaign through which the company managed to collect over $984,806 – Well above its original goal of $ 50,000.
What’s surprising is the fact that the Kickstarter campaign was launched just a fortnight ago, and seems to have garnered much attention. Though, don’t expect the phone to be available anything earlier than this October. You can get the phone for a Super Early Bird Discount which is valid for first 100 customers only for just $159. Otherwise, you would have to spend $233 to get your hands on this amazing masterpiece which we are about to review.
Design
You won’t probably see a smartphone of this size from any of the current major mobile phone manufacturers. That’s why Unihertz accepted the challenge and now you are looking at a phone measuring just 7 x 45 x 19 millimeters. On top of that, the phone weighs just over a 100 g, and that’s just because to add durability. The chassis is made all over from rubber, making it long-lasting.
The phone has been given a rugged look for this specific purpose. The red color is used in this to accentuate its rugged looks. One of the three capacitive buttons on the front of the phone also serves as a fingerprint reader. There is also a front-facing camera along with a back camera with dedicated flash. The textured back features a speaker grill and a Unihertz logo as well. In case you might want to attach an accessory to the phone, there is also a notch there.
Ports and Buttons
The phone features two volume buttons, a power button, and a dedicated push-to-talk button too. For charging purposes, the phone uses a USB Type-C port. There is also an audio port surprisingly, though both of these ports aren’t protected by flaps like the Samsung Galaxy S5 did. Presence of a dual-sim tray means that the phone supports two network connections simultaneously too.
Specifications
The mobile phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio P23 MT6763, which is an octa-core CPU. That’s impressive for a phone of this size, and coupled with 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage, these are some features, not found on even some flagship phones. The phone has a Mali-G71 GPU as well, which supports the 2.45-inch display at a 432 x 230 screen resolution. On top of that, the phone’s rear and front shooter are both 4.9 MegaPixels each, and therefore, aren’t bad either.
The only thing which the phone lacks out on is that it doesn’t have a micro-SD card slot, but that is justified, according to the phone size and ample onboard storage. Oh, and another thing, there is no 802.11ac Wi-Fi, hence, you are going to rely on your Data Connection.
Considering the size, the 2,020 mAh battery is supposed to last the phone quite long and would be powered by a 5V, 1.5A charger. The phone being a rugged one, is also water-proof and is IP68-certified. This means that not only can the phone withstand, a fair amount of water, but also dust, spillages, vibrations, extremities like temperature and to an extent, drops too.
Accessories
You can get an armband for $13 (£10), a bike mount costing $15 (£11) and a clip priced at $12 (£9), or you can get all three for just $20 (£15) when bought along with the Unihertz Atom.
Our Verdict
Running on the latest Android 8.1 Oreo, the Unihertz Atom is certainly the cheapest and smallest 4G smartphone currently. The phone even has NFC and face unlock feature too. The only problem you would face with a small-sized screen is typing – It is really a hassle to type with all the letters extremely close to each other.
Along with the phone offers sound meter, a compass, a bubble line, a picture hanging app, a heart rate measuring app, a plumb bob and a protractor.
With Corning Gorilla Glass offering further strength and durability to the screen, if you were looking for a rugged or even a budget 4G smartphone, then perhaps, this is the one you have been looking for.