Jelly 2

The Unihertz Jelly was small and fine, and I did like it but I had to give it up. The battery wasn't good enough for my use when travelling, and now that my eyes are fifty years old I admit I found the screen too small.

At the time I wrote that a smartphone should be small and light, have a large screen and battery, be fast enough, and not have too many bugs. Obviously there's a conflict between overall size and screen/­battery size. Now that Unihertz has shipped a slightly larger Jelly 2 I decided to buy one to try (after worrying for a while about whether the screen was a large enough part of the phone's front). I've used it for a while now.

The phone isn't elegant, chic, stylish or pretty. I want it to stay in my pocket, out of sight, so logically speaking I shouldn't mind its looks. I really shouldn't. On the other hand, it's well-built and feels solid. It lies well in the hand.

There's a visible Torx screw (that does nothing?).

The apps I want to run work, even though they clearly are designed for bigger screens. The battery and screen are OK. A very small screen is a very small strain on the battery, but the screen is big enough for my eyes and I can enter text.

Like its predecessor, the Jelly 2 is not fun. That's a good thing in my opinion. This phone can be used to call, it can speak in my ear and tell me to turn right at the next intersection, it can be used for 2FA and my other apps, and it isn't a timewaste magnet. Browsing Instagram, Twitter and so on is possible, but that kind of thing isn't attractive on this phone's display. This is perhaps one reason that I don't worry about the battery. I charge it I notice it's low and don't worry. If I charge it in the morning, I always have >50% battery left in the evening.

It fits in every pocket I have, even in my tightest jeans, it runs the apps I need, and if it makes me spend less time on Twitter, that's fine.