Smartphone Keyboards Are BACK (With a Twist!)

So, the next thing I'm going to talk

about is the Titan 2.

This is a phone from Unihertz who

continue to just, you know, excite me

with the direction they're taking in

smartphone. Smartphone is one of these

things that I really think about a lot

in terms of what it is as a device. You

know, where does the utility lie? Where

does it go too far in terms of becoming

a distraction thing and then destroying

our intention and attention. So, I'm

very interested in phones that explore

different form factors. You know, we've

been fed this idea of a scrolling slab

for so long with no keyboard. This by

definition this is a device that is

designed for consumption of stuff. It's

not a device that's designed for

productivity. It cannot be a

productivity device without a keyboard.

This is a layer of of kind of expected

use that sits above in my mind where the

real utility of a smartphone lies. So, I

think what's fascinating about the Titan

2 Elite is they've kind of made a

cyberdeck without even realizing. So,

the cyberdeck is this idea that it's a

sort of DIY usually Linux kind of

machine, very small, very portable with

a keyboard that lets you do accurate

typing into a command line or something

where if you want to be a little bit

more productive and look at that as a

portable product productivity machine

rather than a portable distraction

machine. So, obviously we're seeing a

lot of the industry pushing towards just

folding phones which I think actually

does nothing for the productivity of

these things. It just makes them more

like tablets which again for me have

only proven themselves to be kind of

useless devices as well. It just makes

them more suitable for distracting and

consumption content and not useful as a

productivity tool. You know, I bought

the 12-in MacBook from 2017. I picked

this up off eBay for a couple hundred

pounds. This was an amazing tool. It's

incredibly small. It's the full Mac

experience with a real full-size

keyboard in the smallest possible form

factor and that it is a device that

interests me. You know, that's my

ultimate portable productivity tool. But

I think there is this case for something

that is even smaller, a bit more like

this idea of a cyberdeck or like the old

Sony VAIOs, you know, those tiny little

sort of folding thin things with the

keyboard. Those kinds of devices

fascinate me.

So, this is a device that I think is

really pushing in that direction. Of

course, it is a thumb typer. You know,

this is the difference. You're not

typing with your fingers on this. It's a

thumb typer. But that has its own set of

really interesting things because it's

just small enough that you can actually

thumb type with one hand on it. But of

course, if you use two thumbs, you can

level the whole thing up and and type

even faster and more accurately on this.

And we'll get more onto the keyboard in

a second. So, from my time with the

Jelly Star which is a 3-in Android

smartphone, this was just the ultimate

exercise for me in demonstrating

all you need is a 3-in phone for the

utility. The main utility in a

smartphone is achieved by a phone with a

3-in screen. Easy. Done. I believe that.

I love the Jelly Star. It's an amazing

thing. But there is this idea that

obviously you can't do any productive on

the Jelly Star. It is purely for that

sort of smartphone package of utility.

Generally sort of interacting with

things through Bluetooth or you know,

logging onto an app to pay for something

when you're out and about or you know,

these kinds of things or maps or

plugging into the car of course,

powering the car screen.

You know, great utility from smartphones

in that kind of area and the Jelly Star

does all of that absolutely fine.

But the idea is what if you made it a

little bit bigger, gave it a real

keyboard? Could it then become actually

a useful productivity tool that would

let you connect over a terminal or you

know, command line to a server and

actually do some sort of important task

in a way that would just be infuriating

with a touchscreen keyboard. That is the

interesting thing about the Titan 2

Elite for

So, the obviously the striking thing

about this is the form factor. It's not

a tall phone. It's basically got a

square screen. I'm not sure if it's

exactly a square, but it's not a far

off. And of course, then the keyboard

sits below it. But overall, the phone is

still very small. You know, actually I

was sort of getting this thinking it

might be a bit more of a kind of tablet

hybrid sort of experience. It's not.

It's really small. It's small enough to

be treated like a normal smartphone. It

can go in your back pocket. It's there.

But it has this real keyboard. It's got

a fingerprint sensor on the side which

is super responsive. Had no issues with

that. You can set up multiple fingers.

Obviously do it with your left index

finger as you're holding the phone or

you can set up with your right thumb.

And you know, whichever way you hold it,

it'll pick it up. It just works super

fast.

Very effective. You know, the screen

itself is exactly what you'd expect from

a modern smartphone. Incredibly bright,

incredibly fast response time. It just

looks great and does everything you'd

want. And it's got a bunch of really

good cameras in as well if that's your

thing. For me, I carry real cameras with

me.

So, the role of a camera on a smart

device like this for me is really just

QR codes and and video calling. It

doesn't have wireless charging. I think

you know, they wanted to try and keep it

as small as possible. It's still quite

chunky, you know, compared to an iPhone.

But it's got great battery life. It does

what it needs to do. It doesn't need to

be any thinner. I'm quite happy with its

proportions.

>> [music]

>> Okay, so let's talk about the keyboard.

Now, I'm obviously a keyboard

enthusiast. This is this is you know,

this is my thing. I'm super into

keyboards. So, the idea of a keyboard on

a smartphone like this is absolutely

fascinating. The first thing that really

struck me was that actually the homing

bump, there's only one homing bump and

it's on the D key. So, you know,

normally your homing bumps are on the F

and J keys on a normal keyboard for your

index fingers. I thought maybe they

would do the same thing you know, on the

F and J key but to orient your thumbs

like maybe that would be the approach.

But they haven't. They've just put the

one homing bump on the D. So, the

there's obviously this idea that it is

actually a device that can still be used

from one hand.

Obviously in reality when you're holding

the phone with both hands, the

orientation and the homing element isn't

a problem. It's very easy to feel your

way around that keyboard. And that's

something they've taken quite seriously

with the profile of the keys. Each key

has a very tactile kind of bump. It's

got a sort of ridge cut out of the side

and you can see that shape on the relief

of those keys. You you can move your

finger your thumbs around the surface of

the those keys and really feel where

they are. I'm I'm almost touch typing on

it. Not quite. I'm still glancing at it

every now and again. I think it'll be

you know, before long I'll be able to

feel my way around this and I'll be able

to touch type on it whilst looking at

the screen. And this is where the

feeling of using this device really

comes into it feeling like a small

computer because you can look at the

screen while you're typing. Now, this is