Since I have a new phone, and it is not the same size as the old phone, I needed to make a new phone tray.
New Phone Tray from Cherry
I made this from some 1/4″ cherry I had around after doing some re-saw work on a thicker cherry board from the Alben Sawmill. The sides are just tall enough to hold the phone, and the assembly is glued and pinned together with no fancy joinery. I left it all unfinished so it can age naturally in the sun. The cut-out at the bottom enables me to plug in a USB cord if I need to charge the phone or connect it to the Android Auto system. It also makes it possible to grab the phone and lift it out of the tray when needed. Can’t press the side buttons, but maybe that’s a good thing?
Phone plugged in via USB
Underneath the tray is a metal clip that attaches the tray to the parking brake lever. The clip is screwed to a wooden block that is attached to the tray with removable adhesive strips. The other wood block keeps the tray level, which was a problem with the old tray that I fixed this time.
Mounting System for the Phone Tray
If you need a tray for your Unihertz Titan 2, but you don’t have the time or ability to do woodworking, you can get this perfect fit plastic tray at IKEA for $3. You will have to figure out a mounting system yourself, however.
I just upgraded my phone, and I could not be happier. Anybody who knows me well knows that I have never owned a smartphone that did not have a physical QWERTY keyboard. I have been using pocket computers since the Palm III in 1998, and I got so sick of not having a keyboard for typing that when smartphones became a thing I bought the best QWERTY phone I could at the time (2010), a Motorola Backflip, and went all in on Android. Palm had already abandoned their original PalmOS and my ~12 years of history, so I migrated what I could and re-typed the rest. I knew that Apple would never give me the kind of device I wanted, and my best chances were with Android.
Who knew that Blackberry would be convinced as well? When the Blackberry branded Android devices became available I had exactly what I wanted. Quality hardware and an open software environment. The Priv is still one of my favorite phones ever. It was a thin, lightweight device with a slide-out keyboard, a great battery, and a gorgeous screen.
The only problem was, the hardware was too fragile for my clumsy habits. I broke two Priv screens and a Key 2 LE before Blackberry would stop licensing their name. When Unihertz came out with their Titan Slim, I had already been waiting extra-long for an upgrade. The original Titan was legendary for its rugged design but its hardware and OS were a little aged. The Slim was a better in almost every way Key 2, with a serious battery and a protective case right in the box. I did not trust them for the Kickstarter, but I have been very happy with my retail purchase for the last 3 years.
When Unihertz announced the Kickstarter for the Titan 2, I was somewhat torn. My ideal plan would have been simply a new model of Titan Slim. I really did want a 5G phone, though. I signed up on the second or third day of the Kickstarter after it was clear they were going to reach their goals. I watched them blow through their stretch goals and prove “the market” completely wrong about keyboard phones. There is plenty of demand for niche hardware, as long as you are not trying to dominate the market. If you are just trying to make phones that a reasonable number of people want, you can probably stay in business. Heck, most of the phones that Unihertz makes are not “for me”, and that’s OK. I don’t need to ridicule them for following a slightly different path, because I have met people who are very happy with the oddball Unihertz phones they have bought. There are already so many “not for me” phones in the world that a few more, even if they are from a company I have grown to trust, do not signify a personal betrayal. The Titan 2, it turns out, is very much “for me” and is basically the phone for which I have been waiting.
With Titan Slim
The Titan 2 is significantly wider that the Slim/Key2 form factor, but it is noticeably shorter. It is also thinner than the Slim, closer to the Key2 in thickness. The new 3.5″x4.5″ footprint means that it does not fit all of the 3″x6″ infrastructure I have had in place since 2018, but it is a small price to pay for the benefits.
The benefits are of course the wider screen and keyboard. The increased size of the keyboard means that the keys are much larger and easier to hit. My Slim’s keyboard has noticeable wear because it was easier to hit keys with my nails than my fingertips. I am typing this whole blog post on my Titan 2 just to demonstrate that it is a comfortable experience.
The wide, high resolution display is comfortable and attractive as well. Some people are put off by its square aspect ratio, but remember that I spent almost 10 years using square screens on PalmOS. Remember that I spent another 6 years using QWERTY phones where the keyboard was only available in landscape mode. Even when I was transferring my data to the Titan 2 and I was physically switching back and for the with my old Titan Slim, the tall skinny display on the Slim began to feel awkwardly narrow and confined. Typing and viewing pages on the wider screen is just more comfortable. If I run a terminal emulator I can get a shell window that is a very natural 79×32 characters, only 1 column narrower and 8 rows taller than the standard 80×24 terminal. Graphics are sharp at about 450 dpi, and I dim the backlight to about 25℅ in most lighting. Even with the on-screen typing suggestions, toolbars, and other interface annoyances, there is still plenty of room to work.
Back, Showing Sub-screen
The sub-screen on the back is a little silly, and I would probably be just as happy without it, but I am getting used to having it. Imagine having a smartwatch embedded in the back of your phone and you will get the idea. It is a bit easier to use the subscreen for a quick time check or notification display, especially in a dark room. You can also use the sub-screen as a viewfinder for the camera, peek at media player status, or show a compass. You can actually use the sub-screen to interact with any application on your phone, though the interface may be awkward at small scale and full compatibility is not guaranteed.
Subscreen with Foobar 3000
I would like to address one last thing. Too many reviewers have classified the Titan 2 as a “Blackberry Passport clone”. The first Titan may have been intended to fill the Passport niche, but it became its own thing and has its own place in the hearts of its owners. The Titan 2 is an updated Titan. That is what it was intended to be, and that is what I think it succeeds at being. It is a communication device that fits in your pocket, although it may need a slightly wider pocket than you are used to.
