Jelly Star - The World's Smallest Android 13 Smartphone
www.unihertz.com
Introducing Unihertz Jelly Star - The world's smallest Android 13 smartphone with a transparent design and LED light. This phone packs advanced features into a credit card-sized body, including an Octa-Core 6nm MediaTek Helio G99 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB of storage memory, and a powerful 48MP rear camera. With a 3-inch screen, the Jelly Star is incredibly portable and perfect for on-the-go use. Plus, its unique transparent back and LED light make it a conversation starter. Don't miss out on this innovative phone that has received overwhelming attention from phone tech enthusiasts. Order yours today from the official Unihertz store.

Go and check the link, but essentially:

  • small
  • 2023 release (Android 13)
  • HEADPHONE JACK (I was almost sold here)
  • NFC
  • 8GB RAM (that is powerful)
  • 256 GB internal storage
  • Dual SIM or SIM+MicroSD
  • IR BLASTER (whatttttttt)
  • LED indicators (front AND BACK)
  • fingerprint scanner
  • face ID
  • FM Radio
  • PROGRAMMABLE BUTTON (ok I’m in love already STOPPP)

I mean… this list is mindblowing. So…

What’s the downside?

Honestly, you can go and check all reviews… but this phone is virtually perfect for the size, the only issue I have is that the screen is a bit too tiny, 3 inches, and 480p, and I think this will make many people run away.

It should make me look elsewhere also… but where? Any other small phone with a bigger screen is pretty bad, old, etc… and I really needed a new phone, so I realised this was an opportunity to commit to the cause, and buy and hopefully push this form factor from Unihertz to mainstream brands.

Hopefully one day we can get one with a slightly bigger screen, I believe 4 inches and 1080p would be brutal. But for now… I think I’ve found my new phone. In fact, I bought it 3 hours after knowing its existance.

If you are not sold yet…

Go check reviews on YouTube (example). Honestly, you’ll see every reviewer falls in love with the device, even non-small phone lovers. It looks like it performs pretty well, it’s decently fast, battery is solid, screen is bright and colorful, the LEDs are really useful, even Face ID (which I’ll probably disable) is quick, it does not heat up at all, and even photos are pretty decent…

And it’s something like 200 $. Come on. What a deal.

Will report back.

So, what do you think?

  • Alice@hilariouschaos.comEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    Unrelated, but I just want to say thank you for actually posting content that is relevant to the community. It’s enjoyable and appreciated.

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    And like all of these novelty phones, it has no 5G support and extremely narrow 4G band support, which means this will be nearly worthless for users in North America. And it will quickly become even more worthless as carriers are actively discontinuing their existing 3G and 4G bands.

    This’ll work great for most people who don’t want to actually use it as a phone. I.e. it’d make a killer media playback device, remote control, or tiny PDA.

    I was interested in their Titan a while ago but it, like all of their phones, has the same problem. There is no sense whatsoever in buying a new phone in 2024 that has such piddling network support.

    • unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      4G is here to stay for a long while. It’s fast enough for 99% of cases and 5G only covers very small areas, and will only be used (at least for now) on crowded areas where it makes sense.

      Also, this device has 480p screen… I think 4G is pretty fine.

      • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        5G covers the same area as 4G on a given frequency. They’re ostensibly the same technology on the air interface. The original name of 5G was “LTE2” in fact. Carriers are moving to 5G standalone where all voice, text, data are on 5G. In the US, T-Mobile has 5G on their band 71, which is 600MHz, likewise AT&T runs 5G on their 850MHz band. These bands can reach many miles away from a cell site. I regularly have seen a 5G connection to a site 8 miles away from me, for example.

        The coverage will be practically the same as 4G, but slightly worse than 3G. (Which was also true for 4G.)

        Carriers will likely do a slow roll over the next 5-10 years migrating 4G bands to 5G until only one or two are left on 4G for legacy devices. Not really an if, as much as a when.

        • unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          I don’t think 4G will get outdated in the next 5 years considering that 4G devices are still being launched today… And also considering that most people are just connected to Wi-Fi anyways…

          I think we can be fine with this phone for 4/5 years and the Jelly Star 5G will probably be out there when the time comes.

      • accideath@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        Here in Germany two out of three mobile networks have almost full 5G coverage. 3G is already mostly dead. 4G will stay for a little longer but it’ll be replaced by 5G entirely, as soon as the carriers deem it financially worthwhile to ditch the older tech.

    • Mnem667@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      I can tell you that it works fine using T-Mobile. It picks up the same bands as my LG V60 (with 5g turned off). I can’t speak about any other carrier, though.

    • graymess@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      The exact reason I opted not to get this phone. I kind of don’t understand why so many lesser known brands have such limited bands on their phones. Does it add that much to the cost?

    • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      7 months ago

      I’m in the UK and I’ve not yet had a 5G phone. We’re also only having 3G turned off in the immediate future

  • themeatbridge@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    Wow Headphone jack, programmable button, IR blaster…

    Honestly, I love having a large phone because I have fat fingers and bad eyesight. I would absolutely buy this phone if it were larger. I might buy it anyway and learn to live with a small screen.

  • Dolphinfreetuna@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    I didn’t find any information on long term software security support, and I don’t need phones to chase the latest Android releases, but the security updates are important to me.

    I was excited when I bought Palm phone, but they didn’t support the security software soon after.

    • krash@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      This. I asked this question on unihertz kickstarter campaign page, and their answer was avoiding the question.

      Major android versions are nice, but security updates are a must, or you’ll be taking huge risks with the data on your phone.

  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    There are a lot of 3" Chinese Android phones, but I’ve never seen one actually having normal specs (well, besides the display perhaps, I suspect its size isn’t the only issue).

  • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    Headphone jacks, IR blasters, AND an FM radio? This phone never left the rad days of android.

      • Syn_Attck@lemmy.todayEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        Please do update after you’ve used it as your daily driver for a month! Would love love love to hear about it.

        Also if OP posts an update and someone happens to see this comment, will you reply here or tag me? TIA!

  • Mnem667@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    I bought one a couple of months ago. I think it’s fantastic both for the size and the price. It’s a bit too small of a screen for my aging eyes, but otherwise it works great. I’m keeping it to or when I travel or other good use. Edit: the cameras are… OK. Nothing great, but serviceable. Gcam helps, Google for versions. Also, yes, you can root it. Also GSI flash works, but you lose functions. The battery charges super fast, given it’s size. It accepts like 10w charging current.

  • the_weez@midwest.socialEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    My buddy at work was looking for the smallest smart phone he could get, I helped him find the Jelly Star. He has been using it for a few months, and he loves it. Fits in his 5th pocket on most jeans and it’s a real head turner, everyone is confused and thinks it’s a dumb phone

  • pcr3@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    What’s the camera like? I take a ton of photos and really need good quality.

    • unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
      1·
      7 months ago

      I can’t give personal opinions yet, but reviews seem to say that it’s “fine”, which for a phone of this size, I think that’s a success. Although “fine” might not be the “good” that you are looking for.

      It’s 48 MP, which is great for zooming but I don’t think it has any other perk. Low light pics seem to be pretty meh. It’s also just one camera. Absolutely fine for me, I know that. But definitely will be worse than the Pixels and the iPhones.

  • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    I actually just got one a few days ago. Only issue i have is if you have a usb c cable for power and audio for use on a car or something it gets confused and won’t put audio through the cable. However standard usb c headphones do still work if you need them

  • Bloody Harry@feddit.deEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    Such a fun phone, I absolutely love it. It does everything a modern mid to lower mid range phone does. But typing is heavy. I put a custom Thumbkey fork on it, and now it’s… okay :D