sad the screen is not e-paper, but would have been maybe too hard to use on a daily basis for regular content
smaller footprint (130mm × 78mm × 12mm), for 170g[2]
have some cool quality of life features all around that make it quite a nice device to use potentially
it also is Android Strongbox ready, not sure what it means exactly tho (marketing or actually useful)
It’s not specifically a privacy-first device and I’m not sure how it could be in comparison to other ones, but if the GOS team decides to partner with Clicks that would be quite a refreshing collab + pushing the smaller form factor forward.
Especially for ladies like @ellie that are just begging for a smaller device.
The cofounder is a bit aggro at the end with his stance but eh, gotta market it somehow I guess.
I remember some of those BlackBerry devices were quite good (for the size and type of smartphone use it offered) I used to be able to type fast enough and it helped me not waste time on smartphones. But we all had to move on.
GOS + BlackBerry style phone would indeed be a dream wishlist product. Dual physical SIM + removable and self replaceable battery would be cherry on top.
I don’t think so. But I wish more companies started doing this again. I don’t care if this makes the smartphone a little thicker. Just let me replace my own battery.
But I suppose those service costs for devices and the industry around it will collapse if they make this possible again.
I recently watched Breaking bad, was funny how they could just wipe out the battery out of their phones haha.
That was the good old times when you could still swap it mid-day to juice it fully yes!
Too many (bad) reasons to not have a swappable battery unfortunately tho.
Yeah I agree. Tech was better implemented but enshittification was inevitable with increasing goals to keep making money. There is a limit to everything but as smart as the companies are, they don’t get it.
It looks cool. A very old school look, but GOS aren’t going to touch that when the phone manufacturer is only committing to two years of Android updates.
This is always one of those things such companies/OEMs don’t do right. They should provide support for as long as they can. You’re asking people to buy your products so you should also support them in the future too.
Communicator will run Android 16. We’re comfortable committing to 2 years of Android updates and 5 years of security updates.
I think that they want to see if the thing even picks up first, so that they don’t need to support devices for 5 years while they sold only 50 of them haha. If they do partner with GOS, that line might change but yes, they might be a bit too small for that kind of planning.
If you’re launching something, it’s hard to promise 6 years of support if your logistics for RMA/support/etc will be 20x your miniscule sales.
But that’s how you truly differentiate between yourself and the hoi polloi of such other OEMs. Plus, I’m only asking for battery, screen, and OS support only. Not anything unreasonable.
It might be a limitation based on the chip they have chosen to go with. Vendors like Mediatek/Qualcomm will only support a non flagship SoC for so long.
Once OS upgrades are no longer available, Google may also only provide partial security support until Android N+4 is released (for example Android 18 would get maintenance and security patches until Android 22 is out).
I’ve been a Michael Fischer fan since his Pocketnow days and am very happy to see his efforts with Clicks doing well.
With that said I don’t think this device is aimed at the privacy community. Even in their promotional material the apps shown on the Home Screen are Telegram, Slack, WhatsApp and Gmail.
(marketing or actually useful)
