Unihertz Atom – The World’s Smallest 4G Rugged Smartphone with Android 9.0 Pie, Unlocked, 4GB RAM, and 64GB ROM (T-Mobile & Verizon Support)

The Handy Little Phone That Gets Out of Your Way
So, I like to support things I love, and things that are different. I have to say, I’ve really fallen for this little phone. It’s called the Atom, as in the smallest unit of matter. And it’s made by a strange-phone-producing company called Unihertz. I just want to endorse this phone because it’s so dang cool, feels great, and it just plain gets out of my way.For people who don’t want to stare at screens when they leave the office, people who would rather spend time with family instead of social networks, and for people who don’t want to carry around an enormous wafer of glass in their pocket, this little thing fits the bill. Great for phone calls, calendar, the occasional note or photo. You can even search things on the web, if you really want to. It’s just as fast as a giant rectangle and can do the same stuff. But with a screen just over 2″, not wanting to spend a beautiful, sunny day on your phone is kind of the point here. As it should be.For my phone wish list, while the Atom doesn’t quite check all of the boxes I would like, it does check a lot of them. I didn’t realize a phone’s form factor would be so important, but that’s become my favorite thing about this phone. It’s hilariously fun to make calls on this little thing, and it feels GREAT in the hand.So HOW could the Atom be improved? Here are a few things…On Cloud AvoidanceFor those weird ones among us who want to avoid cloud services, the Atom needs much better USB sync with the Mac. Once you get the hang of USB settings on the phone, third party SyncMate sort of works, but it’s slow and cumbersome and sometimes only works if the phone is kept active through the sync. And if you have an old calendar, a lot of contacts, and a few photos, SyncMate will time out every time. You have to rely on manually exporting photos using Android File Transfer. Seriously? This is all a royal pain in 2022 that ought not exist.On Ditching GoogleLike most Android phones, Google has its tentacles wrapped around the Atom phone. Want to download an app? You have to sign into Google, or find some alternative. Directions? Google. Not to mention Google tracks everything. I realize that escaping Google for syncing, directions, etc. is quite the feat unless you’re a Librem 5, a PinePhone or a ClearPHONE. But I wish more companies would try to do it. Seems like Unihertz, with their Apple-like “think different” approach is in a good place to put the “hertz” on Google. I wish they would.On Beefing Up the BatteryThe battery on the Atom is decent. It will last about a day. Maybe a day and a half with low use. And it might be better still than the tiny Palm Phone. But it could be better. If it would last 3-4 days like my old BlackBerry Classic, you’d really have something.On Right to RepairLastly, right to repair. Unihertz, please take a cue from companies like FairPhone. Make your phones user upgradable and repairable! List parts and prices on your website and provide instructions to users. At least make the battery easily replaceable. Sustainability is fine, but it’s mostly about convenience and long product life for me.On Carrier and Purchase AvailabilityAs of this writing, AT&T has booted me, a customer for over a decade, off of their network citing that they would no longer support the Atom. Unihertz says that Verizon will support this phone so long as the SIM card is activated in another phone and the IMEI numbers on the phone are updated (instructions for which are available through Unihertz customer care). Verizon will neither confirm nor deny this, though I have briefly used their prepaid plan with the Atom following this method and the Atom’s convenient dual-SIM feature.Enter T-Mobile. To my surprise and glee, T-Mobile openly still supports the Atom, per their customer care AND as reflected through their website’s “bring your own phone” IMEI search. So far, the phone works great on T-Mobile, and I’m happy with the service.In short, there needs to be more support for the Atom in the U.S. And there should be more places to buy it and other unique phones like this. You can forget finding the Atom locally, and that’s a crying shame. Personally, I blame Americans, with our tendency to buy whatever top corporations sell in the phone stores. We need to work on that.In Summary…I wouldn’t say these were cons to me purchasing the phone, so much as they are a “wish list” of things I might like to see next in future iterations of the phone, and upgrades to be made.For me, though the Unihertz Atom doesn’t have a perfect score for my wishlist, I would say its most endearing feature, being size, outshines every other phone I’ve looked at. And that’s why I got it. This tiny thing is still such a novelty to me that I can’t seem to get over. In terms of form factor and general function, I think Unihertz hit this one out of the park. Looking forward to seeing what comes next for the Atom.

Good as a secondary phone or to discourage screen use
UPDATE 25May2021: I used the Atom for a month but became increasingly frustrated with the tiny keyboard and frequent errors made while texting even very short messages. I’ve now been using Jelly 2 for almost 2 months and the difference is amazing. I much prefer Jelly 2 in almost every way. Jelly 2 has more RAM and storage, plus the option to use a micro SD card in the second SIM slot, and, most importantly, the slightly larger screen is enough of an improvement that typing is worlds easier.I’d recommend Atom for folks who want a tiny, rugged phone to use as a temporary alternate to a larger or more fragile device, or something that will really discourage screen use. Those who want a small phone to use as a daily main smart phone replacement would probably do better with Jelly 2. Those who watch a lot of videos or play games on a smart phone and need to prioritize screen and battery size should probably skip both.—–I was recently forced to give up my beloved LG enV2 when I switched to a different Verizon plan. After 13 years of using a circa 2008 qwerty feature phone, I had trouble adjusting to the size and function of the Alcatel Flip phone that Verizon recommended, and I knew I didn’t want anything as large as an iPhone or similar smart phone. I only need a phone for talk and text and decided to take a chance with something that was the right size for my needs.I’ve had the Unihertz Atom for almost a month and I quite like it. First, I did the SIM card switch and so far it’s working fine with my Verizon plan. If it stops working for any reason, I’ll be switching to AT&T. Second, although I’d like it to be maybe a quarter or half inch wider (ideally to allow for MicroSD card use), I don’t find the small size problematic. It’s more narrow than the LG enV2 that I’m used to, but still feels substantial and sturdy in hand. Texting can be a bit tricky, but it’s not nearly as bad as I feared and is worlds easier than using a flip phone number keypad for texting. A tiny bluetooth keyboard is a huge help when I need more accuracy.I haven’t had a problem with battery life, either; since I mostly just use talk and text and the occasional email, my screen time is low and I can usually go 3 days between charges.Photos attached show the size of the Unihertz Atom, the texture on the back, the mini bluetooth keyboard that I slip into a pocket of my purse, and a size comparison with a few other phones that I had available.For folks who need a phone mostly for talk and text and prioritize size over features and battery power, the Unihertz Atom is a great option.

Het wordt hoog tijd om een recensie te schrijven.Ik twijfelde eerst of ik wel uit de voeten zou kunnen met dit apparaat,maar inmiddels ben ik er erg blij mee. Vooral nadat 1 van mijn kinderen me had geattendeerd op de knop om vensters (apps) te kunnen verkleinen (ja, hilarisch).Het ‘toetsenbord’ is wat klein, natuurlijk, maar door goed op de woord-suggesties te letten hoef je nog maar weinig zelf te typen.Heerlijk dat dit ding gewoon altijd in de broekzak past.Ik ben geen veel-gebruiker van een Smart-phone, maar voor mij is het allemaal meer dan genoeg. De batterij gaat ruim 1 dag mee, soms wel 2 dagen .. als je er weinig mee doet.Voor het werk gebruik ik een Apple (van mijn werkgever ontvangen), die gebruik ik nog wel eens als ik onderweg wel graag een groot scherm wil; maar voor ‘grote’ zaken heb ik het liefst een computer met stevig toetsenbord.PS: de vinger-scan doet het niet zo goed, maar dat geldt ook voor de Apple.Kortom: heerlijk apparaat, die Unihertz Atom.

I am using this Phone from past 3 months, here is my feedbackPro’s1) Phone is really Small, it just skips in my pocket, After carrying Note/ S8+ all the time in my pocket from past 8 years now i dont even feel that I am holding a phone in my pocket2) Its damn fast as any other Pro smart phones, browsing speeds / processing speeds are really good3) All apps are working fine like any other Android Device4) Truly Rugged, You can keep throwing the phone all day long over the floor, but it doesnt get hurt5) Touch sensitivity is really good6) Screen resolution is really amazing, I never felt much that I am using a small phone, I have watched almost 100 movies in the screen in Prime Video & Youtube7) My fingers are bulky, but still never got much annoyed of precision while typing, it just takes some days to adjust with the size of the key pad thats allCon’s:1) Battery life max a day long (8hrs) if you use heavily, if your are a normal user then it may last max 24 Hrs, real disappointment2) Camera dont expect anything out of it, its just a dummy piece.3) The worst part is Speaker, forget about loud sounding, you cant even listen/understand the audio in speaker phone, but with headphones on your ear its like any other phone crystal clear.Conclusion:I purchased it for ruggedness, and its tiny nature, its serving my purpose. As i dont use camera nor listen to music in speaker mode. Best one to buy if you are ok with the cons mentioned above