Unihertz Atom XL, The Smallest DMR Walkie-Talkie Rugged Smartphone Android 11 Unlocked 6GB+128GB (Support T-Mobile & Verizon only)

After researching rugged smartphones I came across the Atom XL 4G smart-phone with integrated FRS/GMRS/DMR walkie-talkie. I really liked the idea of having a rugged phone with a smaller screen, and I liked the idea of having an integrated analog FRS/GMRS walkie-talkie for when we travel to areas without cell phone reception. The walkie-talkie function also supports digital DMR. Let me tell you, I couldn't have been happier with the phone. The rugged phone with its 4" screen feels extremely well built and fits well in my hand for single hand operation. It is a bit heavier than my previous phone at 243.5g, but that is to be expected with its IP68 and United States Military Standard MIL-STD-810G ratings as well as with the integrated walkie-talkie functionality. It has great battery life and a bright screen, which is important here in sunny Florida. I am using the phone with T-Mobile without any issues. One of the reasons I bought this phone was due to the support of all of the T-Mobile 4G LTE bands (2, 4, 5, and 66), as well as the Extended Range 4G LTE band (12). While Unihertz does not officially state that the phone supports band 71 on their website, it is stated on the official website of Mediatek that the processor used in this phone (Helio P60) supports T-Mobile's band 71, so I am hopeful that is the case. I must admit that I was a bit reluctant to buy a phone that had just come off of its Kickstarter campaign, but after using it for a week now, I must say that I have no regrets and I even bought a second one for my wife.

theres so much to love about this phone - i use the remote and altimeter all the time, and the DMR is a great add if youve got other radios already for other folks. unfortunately the internet is so astonishingly bad that it is impossible to use a lot of other features you may take for granted. i use google voice and make calls over internet, and i have been unable to use my phone as a phone at all. even on wifi right next to my router. when my laptop is pulling 200+mbps, my phone is 0-30kbps, and it struggles to stay connected to the network, forcing me to restart wifi often when using internet. this phone is durable and fun, but its almost not even a smartphone with the internet as bad as it is.

TL;DR This phone is amazing. In all reality, the only con is the screen brightness in the sun, but I can deal. I've been using it for a month or so now alongside Tasker and Lightning Launcher Extreme and couldn't be happier. -This phone is possibly the best phone I've ever had. The fact that it's unlocked gives it much more prestige. -It is an incredibly snappy phone. -It fits in my pocket and I can use it comfortably with one hand! -The android update (Android 10) gives it great support with apps. -Using it with the AT&T Bring Your Own Phone sim kit with Straight Talk and the service is awesome. -The smaller screen may seem like a bad thing but you can binge Twitch, YouTube, playing games...anything for hours because the phone has less pixels to push AND it has a decent size battery (4300mAh). -Speaker is nice and loud if you need it to be (usually I don't and have it at 50-75% even for alarms and such). -The stock alarms are a great collection of birds chirping, water sounds and noticeable chimes. -The device handles heat very well. Spent 3 hours driving with it mounted to the windshield while it was hot out and had no AC and the device didn't even slow down or drain extra battery while using the GPS. -I've dropped the phone by accident a few times now and the phone hasn't seemed to be affected by it. -The quick charge is another awesome thing with this phone AND it uses USB 3(I know a lot of phones have this, but still a great plus). -I've already gotten used to the red "intelligent button" on the side and have switched around the actions a little to make using it easier for myself. -The NFC chip is very quick as well. -The Intelligent Assistant has a bunch of great things that give the phone greater quality of life changes such as the app blocker, which has 4 options for EVERY app (Boot Locker, Start Blocker, Background Blocker, and Background Cleanup). Definitely look into this part of the assistant if you want to maximize your battery life. (I can use my phone regularly for 3 days without having to charge.) -I don't have any bluetooth or wifi issues. -I haven't used the headphone jack or radio yet. I really can't think of any notable cons. I absolutely love this phone. If this changes in the future, be sure I'll update my review once again.

Great little phone that is built like a tank and looks nice too. Very functional and pleasurable to use. Very happy to have this phone instead of paying triple for an iphone.

I'm a big fan of electronics that perform niche tasks or do retro tasks in a new and cool way. This phone checks a few boxes that other phones don't want to or perhaps didn't even consider. First off: IR blaster. YES. Such a cool thing to have when they have virtually disappeared off smart phones. I work in IT for a living and it's great to have the option to just use my phone to adjust TVs or monitors on the spot without having to go search for the remote. Radio: Wow! This is actually one of the features that got me on board. As said, I work in IT and that includes radios. My side pet project was to see if I could use this phone as a tool in the field so I don't have to go ask someone to use theirs (radios being a precious commodity) or search for one. Size: I am a small statured person with likewise small hands. I drop the larger 6"+ screen phones often because I can't get my hand around the diameter of it. This phone is decidedly chunky but because it's so small, I can still comfortably get a grip on it and use it (voila) like a phone versus trying to clasp a tablet to my ear. Dual-SIM: Always a cool thing to have. Didn't get to try it because I lost momentum trying to fix the following... I am a huge fan of music and one of the tasks I ask of my phone is to play Amazon Music Unlimited playlists through bluetooth in my car or on headphones. Despite trolling through the Unihertz forums looking for help, there is no relief in sight to remedy the horribly twitchy, unstable sound quality you get trying to stream audio this way. I even tried de-optimizing battery usage on dozens of apps to see if it helps but no such luck. That's using headphones, of course, because I am no longer able to pair it with my 2015 Volkswagen at all. I get an "incompatible" error. SMH. Supposedly Android 11 might fix this, but my former Samsung phone just got it and the new OS broke my already working Bluetooth so please forgive me if I exhale. It's really unfortunate, because I really dig the aesthetics of this device. The solid feel in my hand. The concept of having a toolset other phones don't at my fingertips, but I'm afraid Bluetooth is a dealbreaker. If you have similar feelings about it, I strongly suggest you think hard before purchasing.

Pros: -1/2-mile range on short range radio between phones -Battery life: 2-4 days -Android OS -Small but beefy profile w/ lanyard loop -Aux jack Cons: -Dull screen -Basic UI -Basic camera software -No network guarantee Average: -Bluetooth seems to work -Spare, programmable button (Bixby button without Bixby) -Camera hardware -4G works on my CDMA network I enjoy the half-mile reach of the short range radio on this phone. You can map it to the spare button, but a con is that there is no way to quickly switch between radio button mode and shortcut mode. You have to go into settings, intelligent assistance, and toggle the switch every time. Other reviews will tell you all about the radio. I also enjoy the long battery life of the phone, compared to other modern offerings. I get 2-3 days of normal Snapchatting, reading the news, and general time wasting. The Intercom (SR radio app) says it sucks battery but it only amounts to 2-5% extra per half hour. When I go to sleep, my Samsung Galaxy S8 loses 20-30% by morning but this phone has only lost 5-10%. My partner likes to use the battery-saving options and can get 4 days. This is good because she forgets to charge her phone. My biggest gripe is that this phone is straight out of 2010. I never realized how much more useful Samsung makes their interfaces until I used this one. It has everything Android OS offers, but that means you miss convenient menu layouts, options, and sophistication. The screen is bluish and dull. Granted, nothing looks pixelated, even when I look closely, and maybe the cheaper screen helps with battery life. The touch screen works fine. I took off the lamination. The screen itself is about the size of an iPhone 4, but the body is a brick. I haven't dropped it on concrete yet, so I don't know if the apparent ruggedness is real. It does have a lanyard slot, which is why I haven't dropped it yet. Just be aware that there is an extra half inch of phone thay they conceal in the product pictures due to the chamfered back edge. See above pics. I don't notice any hiccups due to the older processor. I don't play any shooters, but do use Maps, play strategy games, and multitask many apps at a time. The camera is indeed 48 MP, but when compared to my 12MP S8, it is apparent that the only difference is a more fish eyed lense, not image density. That is, the extra pixels go towards making the picture larger, not any clearer. The camera interface is spartan. You get video, normal, time lapse, and pro modes. No software to account for image color, and no actual gallery app (I use Google Photo, out of necessity). There are not any super, free camera apps on Play Store. I'm not expecting Google Pixel saturation, but judge for yourself; I took the above photos with this camera. All in all, it's a well-priced, no-frills alternative phone. I haven't been fined, so it seems their radio zoning by country is helpful and effective. User beware that literally no phone company will guarantee that it works on their network, but I swapped in my US Cellular sim card and it works fine on their home CDMA network (haven't roamed yet). If you don't care about the radio, I'd skip the Atom L and just get a regular, cheap phone. I may still go back to the S8 and buy a Baofeng (RIP my battery life).

This was originally a very angry review because the phone I got somehow had broken networking at the hardware level. The support went as far as providing me the images to flash the broken phone to stock for a return. This phone is perfect for the paranoid prepper type. I'm a former (and now reserve) Grunt who works cyber security on the civilian side. I want max privacy on a simple platform and usually carry UHF radios anyway. You know, just in case. This does all of that (especially I you put LineageOS on it) and is small enough to use with one hand. My only gripe (other than the first phone being broken on the hardware side) is the gaudy colors and dim display. The colors are great for civilian purposes and not loosing the phone, but sometimes you're not trying to be seen.

I have had my phone for 3 days now. I haven't charged it since the day it came in the box and its still running at 19%. It's a really solid and well built phone....I have not dropped it or gotten water on it yet, but in general it's a brick. Camera is FANTASTIC. Speaker is FANTASTIC. I'm coming from a Moto G, for referene. which in all honesty is a budget phone, I had it for 2 years. But I'm so impressed with my new one. I took it to verizon and they fumbled around trying to get me service. Went to ATT the next day, and the store manager immediately popped out his sim card, inserted and said "we can get you service!" So those of you who are struggling to get service on this phone, tell the clerk to put a sim card in. That's the trick. Don't spend hours wasted on hold waiting for someone to find the phone in their system. Life. Hack. I'll also say, ATT was super impressed with this rugged phone and wants to carry it in the store (Sheridan Wyoming) the only rugged they had ran about $700 and it wasn't nearly as robust as this phone. Yes, the screen is smaller...but it's very smooth and up to date. I just love this thing. What a win.