I'm (Almost) Returning to BlackBerry

This article is a transcript of a video that you can watch by clicking the thumbnail below. Hence, certain statements may not make sense in this text form, and watching the video instead is recommended.

Intro

If you would’ve watched my last video, you know how I come from a time when cellphones weren’t shiny toys with yearly revisions. As cellphones started to get expensive and became fashion accessories more than being tools, manufacturers stopped making something for us, the enthusiasts, as the sales numbers didn’t justify making these oddballs. Fast forward to today, I switched to an enthusiast smartphone again, and this time, a special one that brings back some of my best memories using these digital companions from the last twenty-two years.

Still Using Android

With Linux phones still not being ready to be used as a daily driver, Android is the closest to what I’d need from a mobile operating system. Firstly, it lets me use all the modern apps, and then, also get some work done, fitting well in my workflow, instead of treating me as a four-year-old, unlike the common trend today. I’ve had an experience with pretty much every major phone brand, but the enthusiast phone segment has long been lost recently, and then there came something interesting.

UniHertz Titan Series

I found UniHertz to be one of the very few manufacturers that seem to be catering to a very niche audience, filling in the void left by some of the best phone designs of the recent past. One such series by them has been the Titan series. Each of the three earlier offerings had something that I’d love to have in a phone, but left out something significant.

1. The original Titan resembled the BlackBerry Passport and was the only one with wireless charging and a high-resolution screen, but it was heavy and bulky, and being the first of its kind, it had minor issues like a reversed button layout.
2. Titan Pocket resembled the BlackBerry Classic, and was perfect for what it provided in a much compact size, but lacked wireless charging, and a keyboard not at the level of its predecessor.
3. Titan Slim resembled the BlackBerry Key One, and had the best camera out of the three, and offered a more conventional screen form factor, but wasn’t as positively received by the critics.

Here Comes Titan 2

And then comes the Titan 2. This design was like a godsend, and to quite an extent, a dream come true. It does drop a few features from the original Titan, but it is arguably the most practical Titan yet.

• This design and dimensions are even closer to the BlackBerry Passport than the original Titan. I wish I still had my BlackBerry Passport around, but at least I have this passport that I can compare it with.
• The chipset, though not the best, is pretty decent for a modern device.
• It comes with Android 15, and UniHertz promised updates up to Android 17.
• It comes with better support for networks with Dual SIM card slots.
• It’s also one of the cleanest designs I’ve seen from UniHertz, minus the secondary screen, which I do not mind much, in exchange for the other goodies. Time will tell how useful this other screen ends up being in my workflow.

And, I could just go on…

How I Purchased the Titan 2

The announcement of a new Titan perfectly overlapped my search for a new cellphone. I was one of the early backers on KickStarter, so that helped me pick up a cost-effective phone for even cheaper.

How I Define the Titan 2

Now, people have seen me with all kinds of weird phones before. These phones have received quite a lot of attention in public, and at times, I’ve seen overly enthusiastic reactions and a few very difficult to answer questions coming from the normies, especially for a techie like me. This time I’ve prepared my response.

So let’s say you asked me what in the world is the thing that I’m holding, and why do I have to do this to myself? I’d say:

“It’s a UniHertz Titan 2, basically an Android phone for enthusiasts, homage to one of the popular designs from BlackBerry. I don’t use my phone for entertainment, just for getting work done, and this one does that perfectly.”

That’s still a lot of words, but at least it’s structured appropriately to get the point across instead of creating more questions instead of answering the first one.

Last Experience with BlackBerry

The BlackBerry Passport was unrealistically good for its time, but BlackBerry stopped supporting its own device by gradually disabling apps and features one at a time.

1. If I remember correctly, one of the first things that stopped working was Evernote.
2. Then, we lost Dropbox integration with the built-in File manager.
3. Soon, Amazon App Store stopped letting us install Android apps.
4. I also had a setup with Google Play Services and Google Play Store, and that too stopped working after a point.

All these issues sadly made such a great phone unusable. Recently, quite a lot of folks, like my friend, have started acquiring the BlackBerry Passport. Tony also has a working setup on it with the Google Play Store, kind of similar to what I had back in the day. Do watch his videos on the Passport, as he covered it well.

My Safe-Guards for This Time

With the horror story of the slow death of my BlackBerry Passport, here are a few safeguards for me with Titan 2:

1. The Titan 2 ships with a recent Android version, unlike the Android 4.3 in disguise of BlackBerry 10, which was way outdated back when the BlackBerry Passport was released. Also, they have promised updates at least till Android 17, so at least I’m covered for software support.
2. UniHertz knows what they’re doing as this isn’t the first phone in their Titan series. The device has already received quite a cult following, and I hope to be able to receive any support from the fans in the community.
3. I’ve heard and read about people unlocking root access on their UniHertz devices, and some about de-bloating the stock ROM. I could potentially use something like that in the future.

Upcoming

In the next video, I plan to take you through the process of setting up Titan 2 as my daily driver, followed by a detailed review.