For the fxtech, dropping the processor from a snapdragon 800 series to a 660 series means this is dead on arrival. A lot less powerfull, I was already hesitant since it won't be a recent processor. Oh well!
I miss my Sidekick sooo much!😭😭 I too wish they'd bring it back with all the modern upgrades of a smartohone of course. I bet it would sell like hotcakes.
@@johnkim-tech It can be a bit quirky at times, and a few apps can behave a little oddly. Some apps don't work well in landscape, but that's mostly the way apps are written. I quite like some of the built in apps, particularly the "Agenda" calendar app, which is modelled on the Psion application, but has modern feature like syncing to external calendars. It can be a bit awkward to open up on a crowded train platform, so I think the Astro will be a better experience for those occasions.
@@lostcarpark I guess thats the price we pay for niche product buyers like us 😂 i prefer my keyboards portrait but yeh would be awesome to get my hands on the astro slide.. thanks for sharing!
These people worked so hard. Can install a second os (windows 7 or arm win 7 ) (dual boot) im getting conflicting info. i proudly did the perk backer worth every penny
Hi, I don’t know anything about technology, I work in finance, I write a lot as well, so my question is: How secure is the Astro Slide? Will it get security patches, etc? Thanks in advance
@@johnkim-tech Thanks, I think I’ll end up buying a Samsung S22 Ultra, It would be nice to test an Astro Slide but since that it not easy to do, I will forget about the Astro Slide experiment, although it’s tempting, I guess besides buying the S22, I’ll buy a Samsung tablet S8 Ultra and that’s it.
Considering my most favorite phone with a QWERTY was the last gen for the T mobile sidekick, i'm okay with this. My s9 will probably be on it's last legs by then xD
No Google Play apps on FX Tech. Next. The Astro Slide looks way better than the FX Tech one. The Astro Slide is from the original design of slide out keyboards. I had a few cellphones like the Astro Slide back in days
The Pro1X is almost perfect... almost, except for its processor. Really? a 600 series? The Cosmo looks like a lite version of the pro1x but has a much more decent processor.
I have a long experience with the company & this product. I will not buy from a crowd founded project again- because of the extreme delayed time with the Cosmo. When it finally arrived 9 months too late. I noticed a lot of issues with both the hard & soft- ware. The external display is the first thing that breaks but then the other hardware will also follow. It will call random numbers by itself & there's no off-sensor on the external display when yo holding the CC against your cheek in calls also. The typing experience is much more crappy than ya wish because of the lack of response (or sometimes incorrect double press). Ther support dont really want the warranty to be valid etc. Now i have the Unihertz Titan & al do they at first seemed to be shady because of the lack of a fair return policy i must give them credit for a really solid device in many aspects. BTW portrait mode is possible thru planet button but stay away from Planet Computers what so ever.
Gosh thats quite the customer experience you went through.. Yeh thats the thing with crowd funded products. For me my first Titan Pocket was a defect but fortunately Unihertz had pretty good A/S policies. Thanks for the heads up tho man..
Wanted the original FxTec Pro badly but read so many user comments in their forums about getting it to work with Verizon was utter misery. Any chance the Pro1X will fare better? Also - does anybody know what happened to the Blackberry Key 3? Heard much chatter about Onward Mobility coming out with one, yet nothing.
hmm the pro 1x didn't elaberate on their radio improvements so.. I'm waiting for the next blackberry as much as the next person but there is still no word from Onward Mobility... Hopefully it wasn't just a cheap marketing scheme
I get where ur coming from. I thought the titan pocket would do for me. But an 8month behind security patch just doesn’t do it for me. I guess we just have to move on…
@@johnkim-tech Yeap, BlackBerry key3 isn’t happening, the project has been shelved I believe. Went to the store yesterday, tried for the first time a Samsung, finally the S22 Ultra has a wide screen and you can make the keys pretty big, I found it easy to type, I was very surprised since I have fat fingers and I’ve been using a blackberry all my life, I can type emails as fast as lightning, but the Samsung S22 will be my first phone that is not a blackberry, go to the store and try it, make the keys as big as possible, you can adjust then, and you’ll be fine if that’s the main problem for you, it was for me, but it’s time to move on and have a secure phone that is modern, secure, with an awesome screen. If by any chance you feel that you need even bigger keys, which I doubt, then try the Samsung Fold 3, it has a front screen that’s crap, but you can unfold it and then you have a massive screen with massive keys, but don’t buy it, the Samsung Fold 4 is coming out this month, hope that helps (I will keep the key2, I will have both phones, but at least when the key2 dies, I’ll have all my valuable information on the Samsung as well, that gives me peace of mind tbh.)
@@johnkim-tech By the way, the Astro Slide looks great, but check the measurements, it’s big, it’s thick, it’s a brick, it’s heavy, not sure if it will fit well in jeans pockets, I’m buying the Samsung S22 and a Samsung tablet S8, best of both worlds, also if there’s a problem with the Astro Slide what do you do? You have to send it to the UK I guess and hope the warranty covers the problem, not for me, but I like it!
Wow this Astro Slide mechanism looks tight see this recent video (5days) from one of the creators ruclips.net/video/0VzJ0fhDXLQ/видео.html hope you get to review one. There is also a video dated 2 months ago showing some of the more recent firmware updates with the buttons and sensors for slider.
@@johnkim-tech I hear yah. I was a big palm treo user back in the day. The iPhone then spoiled it for me. The Astro Slide seems appealing to me for the bigger screen overall. You gain so much space horizontally if you can avoid the virtual keyboard. I don’t know if it’s enough to get me to jump ship but if multi boot is really possible I want in. Btw that 2 month ago video is on the company’s official RUclips channel it’s over 7 min long. They put a lot thought into the auto rotation with keyboard sensor samples.
@@tomoprime217 Oh I should definitely go watch the video later. Gosh I wish I had the chance to use Palms.. I just started using smartphones with the Blackberry Bold 9000
Maybe it's me, but a 3200mah battery on a 6in screen - forget it. With proper use linux etc - if properly used - it won't last a day. All the good stuff, keyboard and multi-boot - useless with such small battery. Not to mention that after a year, it will probably last few hours only. Had they put a 5000 mah battery (minimum) - I would have paid even more, without blinking.
Personally debating between the Unihertz Titan Pocket and the Astro Slide. The Astro Slide is more capable but I like the idea of having an old school BlackBerry type of phone. That or wait for the BlackBerry 5G.
I'd personally go for the Titan Pocket if security updates doesn't bother you too much(and wait out for the Blackberry). I don't have the Astro so I can't confirm anything, but one of my commenters told me an awful Astro Slide experience.. So there's that
@@johnkim-tech I'm fine with waiting. May go for the original Titan instead. It's only going to be a secondary device anyway. My Surface Duo 2 will remain my primary one for a while.
@@johnkim-tech Yeah, second gen is a lot better than the first one, especially after the December update for the Duo 2. Still some bugs and glitches but more should get fixed in the January update.
@@johnkim-tech Hey, what did you mean by “wait out for BlackBerry”, I thought blackberry was done, finito, no more blackberries to come after the blackberry key2 which I have by the way, but I need now something more secure, newer, so I checking the Astro Slide 5G
I'm a little irritated how you try to play both pro-and-cons for both phones. You immediately dismiss the Pro X1, similar to Linus TT in his review, as a phone you're not interested in, but immediately make comments indicating it might be amazing for a certain group (ahem, those doing remote admin of networks, I would specify) Pretty much the same thing with the Astro Slide (whose name personally reminds me too much of the US "personal lubricant", Astroglide, but hey, maybe that's just me) Either be neutral and say it isn't for most people (including you, personally) note the good and your desire that more better versions and more smartphones like them to come out in the future. But, it feels like you are first saying "eeeh, yucky1" like a five year old when you're introducing the phones. Separate your personal likes and dislikes from more objective opinions, if you're capable of doing that! At least you didn't fumble the phone out of the box like Linus did. I lost yet more respect for him in his review. And then again you whining about having to use your thumb muscles with Astro Slide. That's pretty pathetic.
I’ll take note of that. I actually would have considered both phones if I had not already bought my Titan Pocket(came with a screen defect but thats another story). I’m more of a portrait keyboard guy. What I meant to portray in the video was that I respect what both companies are doing and just mentioned potential parts of the phone that worried me. And yeh niche products like these, I wouldn’t recommend it to the average user. Thx for the comment!
For the fxtech, dropping the processor from a snapdragon 800 series to a 660 series means this is dead on arrival. A lot less powerfull, I was already hesitant since it won't be a recent processor. Oh well!
660 is pretty weak(especially for that price…) might be a better idea to wait for the fxtec pro 2 😂
But the price has dropped to compensate
@@johnkim-tech
870 should be better.。。。or at least 865。。。
If Tmobile Sidekick phones came back, they would knock out these fxtec phones outta the water. Wish they came back
Yeh I’ve seen the videos. Very satisfying hinge lol I wish companies like motorola or nokia would resurrect the slideout qwerty form factor
I miss my Sidekick sooo much!😭😭 I too wish they'd bring it back with all the modern upgrades of a smartohone of course. I bet it would sell like hotcakes.
The slider keyboard is really neat actually
Ikr😂 the price is a little high for my taste(especially the fxtec pro 1X), but still both cool phones indeed
I've been using the Planet Cosmo Communicator for 2 years. Really looking forward to the Astro Slide.
Wow i really wanted one after watching a few reviews but never met anyone who actually bought it! How’s the software experience?
@@johnkim-tech It can be a bit quirky at times, and a few apps can behave a little oddly. Some apps don't work well in landscape, but that's mostly the way apps are written.
I quite like some of the built in apps, particularly the "Agenda" calendar app, which is modelled on the Psion application, but has modern feature like syncing to external calendars.
It can be a bit awkward to open up on a crowded train platform, so I think the Astro will be a better experience for those occasions.
@@lostcarpark I guess thats the price we pay for niche product buyers like us 😂 i prefer my keyboards portrait but yeh would be awesome to get my hands on the astro slide.. thanks for sharing!
@@johnkim-tech What phone with portrait keboard do you use?
For now the Titan Pocket, but because of work I’m using an iPhone
These people worked so hard. Can install a second os (windows 7 or arm win 7 ) (dual boot) im getting conflicting info. i proudly did the perk backer worth every penny
This is exactly the info I was looking for!!!!!
You just made this video worthwhile thx!!
Hi, I don’t know anything about technology, I work in finance, I write a lot as well, so my question is:
How secure is the Astro Slide? Will it get security patches, etc?
Thanks in advance
Hello, well I don't have an Astro Slide to confirm anything. But if security is your priority I would suggest looking into more mainstream options..
@@johnkim-tech
Thanks, I think I’ll end up buying a Samsung S22 Ultra, It would be nice to test an Astro Slide but since that it not easy to do, I will forget about the Astro Slide experiment, although it’s tempting, I guess besides buying the S22, I’ll buy a Samsung tablet S8 Ultra and that’s it.
Sounds like a good combination. Gd luck!
As of today, the "trial assembly" of the Pro1-x has begun. This is going to be one ancient phone by the time it actually arrives.
For real? OMG 😂
Considering my most favorite phone with a QWERTY was the last gen for the T mobile sidekick, i'm okay with this. My s9 will probably be on it's last legs by then xD
There’s just something satisfying about slide out keyboards. Let me know how that goes!
Shout out to the T-Mobile Sidekick
Man i miss having a phone with a keyboard
I feel your pain brother
Subscribed. Where have you been all my life bro?
Lol well here I am~ thanks bro
Prefer the full keyboard but also like Ubuntu as an option
No Google Play apps on FX Tech. Next. The Astro Slide looks way better than the FX Tech one. The Astro Slide is from the original design of slide out keyboards. I had a few cellphones like the Astro Slide back in days
Wait fx tech doesn’t have google play?? That is.. insane
Looks great reminds me of the Nokia e7
Thought the same thing 😂
The Pro1X is almost perfect... almost, except for its processor. Really? a 600 series? The Cosmo looks like a lite version of the pro1x but has a much more decent processor.
I have a long experience with the company & this product. I will not buy from a crowd founded project again- because of the extreme delayed time with the Cosmo. When it finally arrived 9 months too late. I noticed a lot of issues with both the hard & soft- ware. The external display is the first thing that breaks but then the other hardware will also follow. It will call random numbers by itself & there's no off-sensor on the external display when yo holding the CC against your cheek in calls also. The typing experience is much more crappy than ya wish because of the lack of response (or sometimes incorrect double press). Ther support dont really want the warranty to be valid etc. Now i have the Unihertz Titan & al do they at first seemed to be shady because of the lack of a fair return policy i must give them credit for a really solid device in many aspects. BTW portrait mode is possible thru planet button but stay away from Planet Computers what so ever.
Gosh thats quite the customer experience you went through.. Yeh thats the thing with crowd funded products. For me my first Titan Pocket was a defect but fortunately Unihertz had pretty good A/S policies. Thanks for the heads up tho man..
Very goodo.
Wanted the original FxTec Pro badly but read so many user comments in their forums about getting it to work with Verizon was utter misery. Any chance the Pro1X will fare better?
Also - does anybody know what happened to the Blackberry Key 3? Heard much chatter about
Onward Mobility coming out with one, yet nothing.
hmm the pro 1x didn't elaberate on their radio improvements so..
I'm waiting for the next blackberry as much as the next person but there is still no word from Onward Mobility... Hopefully it wasn't just a cheap marketing scheme
I thought blackberry was history, I have a key2 and I love it, but need something newer and more secure
I get where ur coming from. I thought the titan pocket would do for me. But an 8month behind security patch just doesn’t do it for me. I guess we just have to move on…
@@johnkim-tech
Yeap, BlackBerry key3 isn’t happening, the project has been shelved I believe.
Went to the store yesterday, tried for the first time a Samsung, finally the S22 Ultra has a wide screen and you can make the keys pretty big, I found it easy to type, I was very surprised since I have fat fingers and I’ve been using a blackberry all my life, I can type emails as fast as lightning, but the Samsung S22 will be my first phone that is not a blackberry, go to the store and try it, make the keys as big as possible, you can adjust then, and you’ll be fine if that’s the main problem for you, it was for me, but it’s time to move on and have a secure phone that is modern, secure, with an awesome screen.
If by any chance you feel that you need even bigger keys, which I doubt, then try the Samsung Fold 3, it has a front screen that’s crap, but you can unfold it and then you have a massive screen with massive keys, but don’t buy it, the Samsung Fold 4 is coming out this month, hope that helps (I will keep the key2, I will have both phones, but at least when the key2 dies, I’ll have all my valuable information on the Samsung as well, that gives me peace of mind tbh.)
@@johnkim-tech
By the way, the Astro Slide looks great, but check the measurements, it’s big, it’s thick, it’s a brick, it’s heavy, not sure if it will fit well in jeans pockets, I’m buying the Samsung S22 and a Samsung tablet S8, best of both worlds, also if there’s a problem with the Astro Slide what do you do? You have to send it to the UK I guess and hope the warranty covers the problem, not for me, but I like it!
Wow this Astro Slide mechanism looks tight see this recent video (5days) from one of the creators ruclips.net/video/0VzJ0fhDXLQ/видео.html hope you get to review one. There is also a video dated 2 months ago showing some of the more recent firmware updates with the buttons and sensors for slider.
Wow thx for the update! I’m more for a portrait style keyboard like the Titan pocket, but yeh the Astro is definitely a cool phone.
@@johnkim-tech I hear yah. I was a big palm treo user back in the day. The iPhone then spoiled it for me. The Astro Slide seems appealing to me for the bigger screen overall. You gain so much space horizontally if you can avoid the virtual keyboard. I don’t know if it’s enough to get me to jump ship but if multi boot is really possible I want in. Btw that 2 month ago video is on the company’s official RUclips channel it’s over 7 min long. They put a lot thought into the auto rotation with keyboard sensor samples.
@@tomoprime217 Oh I should definitely go watch the video later. Gosh I wish I had the chance to use Palms.. I just started using smartphones with the Blackberry Bold 9000
Maybe it's me, but a 3200mah battery on a 6in screen - forget it. With proper use linux etc - if properly used - it won't last a day.
All the good stuff, keyboard and multi-boot - useless with such small battery. Not to mention that after a year, it will probably last few hours only.
Had they put a 5000 mah battery (minimum) - I would have paid even more, without blinking.
Now that sounds more like it!
Personally debating between the Unihertz Titan Pocket and the Astro Slide. The Astro Slide is more capable but I like the idea of having an old school BlackBerry type of phone. That or wait for the BlackBerry 5G.
I'd personally go for the Titan Pocket if security updates doesn't bother you too much(and wait out for the Blackberry). I don't have the Astro so I can't confirm anything, but one of my commenters told me an awful Astro Slide experience.. So there's that
@@johnkim-tech I'm fine with waiting. May go for the original Titan instead. It's only going to be a secondary device anyway. My Surface Duo 2 will remain my primary one for a while.
@@WaffleusRex oh surface duo! Nice lol I heard it got way better after some software updates.
@@johnkim-tech Yeah, second gen is a lot better than the first one, especially after the December update for the Duo 2. Still some bugs and glitches but more should get fixed in the January update.
@@johnkim-tech
Hey, what did you mean by “wait out for BlackBerry”, I thought blackberry was done, finito, no more blackberries to come after the blackberry key2 which I have by the way, but I need now something more secure, newer, so I checking the Astro Slide 5G
If it was November now, I would have definitely got this instead of an iPhone this month.
iPhone12? Well Unihertz mentioned delivery will be in September so..I’m praying my unit will be here before October
Oops sry yeh the team at fxtec and planet still have a few months before launching their phones 😂
I'm a little irritated how you try to play both pro-and-cons for both phones. You immediately dismiss the Pro X1, similar to Linus TT in his review, as a phone you're not interested in, but immediately make comments indicating it might be amazing for a certain group (ahem, those doing remote admin of networks, I would specify) Pretty much the same thing with the Astro Slide (whose name personally reminds me too much of the US "personal lubricant", Astroglide, but hey, maybe that's just me)
Either be neutral and say it isn't for most people (including you, personally) note the good and your desire that more better versions and more smartphones like them to come out in the future. But, it feels like you are first saying "eeeh, yucky1" like a five year old when you're introducing the phones. Separate your personal likes and dislikes from more objective opinions, if you're capable of doing that! At least you didn't fumble the phone out of the box like Linus did. I lost yet more respect for him in his review. And then again you whining about having to use your thumb muscles with Astro Slide. That's pretty pathetic.
I’ll take note of that. I actually would have considered both phones if I had not already bought my Titan Pocket(came with a screen defect but thats another story). I’m more of a portrait keyboard guy. What I meant to portray in the video was that I respect what both companies are doing and just mentioned potential parts of the phone that worried me. And yeh niche products like these, I wouldn’t recommend it to the average user. Thx for the comment!