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Do you ever find yourself saying,
"Man I love everything my Android phone does
"but I'd just wish it could be more of a choking hazard"?
Well, have I got a phone for you.
(upbeat music)
This is the Unihertz Jelly 2.
And if it looks familiar, well,
thanks for your a long-time subscription.
This is the sequel to Unihertz' first gelatinous effort
which I covered back in 2017.
I went back and re-watched that one
to get some context for this review
and you'll be happy to know one thing hasn't changed.
As with most novel Android phones,
I expected the Jelly 2 to be, well, bad.
For the most part, it's really not.
To begin with the kind of cheap build
of the first generation model has given way
to a much nicer looking blend
of Gorilla Glass 3 on the front
and a glossy polycarbonate on the back.
Normally, I'm not a fan of shiny phones
but I don't know, maybe it's just the fact
that there's so much less area on this phone
that makes it work.
It certainly helps reinforce the jellybean-like aesthetic
that gives the phone its name.
Also on the back is the most obvious upgrade
from the original Jelly.
There's a capacitive fingerprint sensor.
It's not one of the best I've used,
you really have to nail the positioning of fingertip on pad
but still, it's better to have it than not.
Back around front, the display's been upgraded
to a full three inches from the last generation's 2 1/2,
and the new phone doubles the resolution as well.
I wish the corners were curved to better blend it
into the phone's design but it's a nice enough display
and it gets just bright enough to remain readable
even in the sun-bleached days of summer
where maybe the phone makes the most sense.
Below the screen is a trio of capacitive keys
for going home going back and switching apps,
but if you don't like that,
you can indeed enable gesture navigation instead
because yes, the Jelly 2 runs Android 10.
And I got to say it runs it pretty well
even though the processor in here isn't the newest.
It's a Helio P60 first introduced about two years ago.
But Unihertz backed it up with six gigs of RAM
and 128 gigs of storage,
so not only could I download my old standby
and the huge World of Warships Blitz without a problem,
I could actually play it, too.
Absurd?
Yes.
But enjoyable?
Also yes.
By the way this is pre-release software.
Unihertz told me it plans
on issuing regular security updates
and even an Android 11 upgrade.
I certainly hope it's able to stick to that
but many small manufacturers make the same pledge
only to let it fall by the wayside, so caveat emptor.
Not to belabor the point but for everyday use,
almost everything is pretty speedy
on the Jelly 2's out-of-box launcher.
For a short time I replaced it with Nova Launcher
just to get a cleaner look
but it actually slowed the phone down quite a bit
so I reverted.
It's close enough to stock Android anyway
with the notable exception of a menu setting
to control this red key here on the side.
I got to say I'm a sucker
for variable function physical buttons.
This one can be programmed
to open literally any app on the phone.
I settled on the one
that I find most useful most often: Google Assistant.
Remind me to find a barber who's actually open.
- [Assistant] Okay, find a barber who's actually open.
- You can actually do a lot more with it.
You can assign different functions to a short-press,
a long-press, or a double-click.
I prefer to press and hold for the flashlight
and double-click to record a voice memo.
Yes, just like the button
on those 15-year-old Nokia's I just covered
on "When Phones Were Fun."
My only complaint is that the size and texture
of this key is identical
to the power standby button right next to it
so you can't feel out a difference without looking
and that means you record a lot of accidental voice memos
before you train yourself to remember which is which.
I tested the Jelly 2 here in Brooklyn
over the course of three days on T-Mobile and Verizon.
During a half-hour test call over LTE,
my caller had no complaints but he did mention
that he could clearly hear people near me as well,
so background noise rejection doesn't seem to be the best.
I enjoyed the sound quality on my end
until I turned on the speakerphone.
It gets plenty loud but it's also really teeny.
Fortunately, Bluetooth works well
for voice calls and for music streaming.
And there's also a headphone jack
alongside the IR port up top,
both rarer and rarer these days.
And folks, even the battery was surprisingly respectable.
Part of it is because you just don't wanna use this phone
as often or as long as you do your larger ones,
but the other part is that Unihertz managed
to squeeze a 2000-milliamp-hour battery in here,
double the size of the original Jelly.
I know that's a lot of pros loaded
onto the front half of this video.
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All right, well first,
you knew the cameras weren't gonna be any good
so hopefully you didn't have your fingers crossed.
Colors are washed out, highlights are overblown,
and video maxes out at Full HD.
I'm glad the cameras are here for moments of necessity
or the occasional video call
but when you're being outclassed by the Galaxy Z Flip
and even the Motorola RAZR,
yeah, your camera's just not very good.
Second, while the processor is fast enough,
it's associated modem is on the slow side.
Side by side with a Galaxy Note10+ and the same cell site,
the Samsung got 21 down and nine up,
while the Jelly 2 chugged along at about six and six,
so a significant speed bump.
Third, one of the nicest things
about the first-generation Jelly was that for some people
it could have been an impulse buy at 80 bucks.
Well, Jelly 2 will start at an early bird price of 129
when it goes live on Kickstarter in early July.
Now it is a much better phone than that first one
and it's a heck of a lot cheaper
than the most notable competition from Palm,
but well, on to my fourth, and final con to consider.
Folks, using a phone this small is inherently uncomfortable.
Even when you max out the keyboard to full height,
typing is an exercise in frustration.
Text is so small that reading it while walking is difficult.
It's not even comfortable to talk on for that long.
So while I really admire the Jelly 2
as a technical achievement,
I struggle to envision the kind of person who should buy it.
The typical customer for a minimalist phone
doesn't really need or want all the features of Android 10.
Those people are better served repurposing an old phone,
or buying a dumb phone,
or even getting a standalone smartwatch.
And if what you want is a fully featured phone
but one you don't need to worry about breaking or losing,
well, there are cheaper options out there like Moto's G7.
Not as flashy but also not as frustrating.
I don't know, maybe it's my own failure of imagination,
maybe there's a whole subclass of people out there
who've been waiting for a tiny Android
that doesn't skimp on features.
If that's you, well, leave a comment below
letting me know what you're gonna use it for.
And for your convenience, there is a link in the description
if you do wanna buy it.
This review was made possible
by a Jelly 2 sample device provided by Gadget Labs,
a pre-production sample running pre-release software.
But Mr. Mobile works for you, not the manufacturers.
No compensation was provided for this coverage
and neither manufacturer nor retailer
was given copy approval rights
or a preview of this video before release.
Please subscribe if that's the kind of video
you'd like to see more of on YouTube.
Until next time, thanks for watching.
Stay safe at home for now if you can,
but in spirit as always, stay mobile my friends.