Unihertz
The best little phone just got better – If you want a small but powerful phone then the Jelly Star (JS) is for you. N.B. Don't get the Jelly Star (Jelly 3) mixed up with the Jelly 2… Read more
(previous model) or the Jelly Pro (oldest model )
Screen The Jelly Star has a tiny 3" screen size with 480 x 854 pixels. This is more than enough to produce decent picture on such a small screen.
Camera The camera is 48 Mp rear and 8 Mp front. This is a big improvement over the previous model (Jelly 2). The camera takes great pictures during the day... although low light pictures are grainy.
Battery The battery is 2,000 mah and lasts a full day (normal use) or even two days with light use. The 10W charge rate is sufficient to charge the phone in about 1 hour or less. If you watch a lot of videos, play games or use the GPS a lot you're going to run out of battery... similar to most phones. Battery life is markedly better than than on the Jelly 2 even though the battery capacity hasn't changed. This is probably due to a more energy efficient chipset.
The Jelly Star is now a bit thicker than the previous Jelly 2... but it's not fat enough to bother most people. The extra thickness is due to the flashing lights on the back of the phone. It's a nice feature if you need a phone to be on silent but still want to know when people ring or messages arrive. The flashing lights make the phone stand out from the crowd. In practise most people don't seem to use this feature much as it is visually intrusive.
CPU The JS has a modern Helio G99 8 core CPU running at 2.0~2.2 GHz. That's more than enough to run any app you might throw at it or most games you might play on it. You will sometimes get a slight delay if you are running a graphics intensive game... so a more powerful CPU would please those who like to play CPU intensive games even on such small devices... or those people who don't know how to shut down background apps (which load up the CPU).
The JS has 8GB of primary and 256 GB of secondary storage using UFS 2.2 (Universal Flash Storage) with a bandwidth of 6 Gb/s (750 MB/s). That is fast but it doesn't seem to be taking full advantage of the speed: Can be a bit slow to load or install bigger programs. This might be due to a slow controller or slow memory.
GPS The GPS has been improved and will provide greater accuracy (down to the metre) compared to the older models.
Network support The JS supports a wide range of frequencies and customers around the world have no trouble connecting to their local networks. In Australia Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks all accept it without problems. In the US a few networks sometimes don't recognise the phone... but that's a network issue and has nothing to do with the phone. It usually takes a few phone calls to sort this out. Ask Unihertz support for help if you run into this problem.
OS The phone currently runs Android 13. Unihertz usually lags a year or two behind the latest OS... but keeps putting out upgrades for as long as the phone is being sold... or is capable of accepting updates.
Supports: -2 SIM's... which is very handy if you're travelling. -SD card if you sacrifice one of the SIM slots. -Wifi 5 (AC): It would have been nice if it supported wifi 6 or 7... but most people won't notice. -Bluetooth V5.3 (the latest version) makes it very easy to connect to your bluetooth enabled devices. It also drains less power than the earlier versions. -NFC: This is a nice feature but doesn't work with the SquareUp payment app. Still trying to establish how compatible it is overall as I haven't used it a lot.
Login The Jelly Star has a fingerprint sensor and supports face recognition... both of which work fine most of the time i.e. Most fingerprint sensor issues are due to wet fingers.
Health The SAR (Specific Absorption Rating) on the JS is 0.62 W/kg for the head (EU). This makes it one of the lower SAR phones... although the Jelly Pro (aka Jelly 1) had an even lower SAR.
Price The price on Ebay is currently $349 AUD but it's cheaper if you shop around... especially if you find a second hand one. They were only released in October 23 so you won't be buying a very old phone. They have popped up in the Unihertz Facebook forums for modest prices... so it's worth shopping around or waiting for a special from Unihertz.
Suggested Buy the protective case (~$10) and use a screen protector (comes with phone). If you do this it is very hard to damage the phone. Put the JS in a belt pouch or something similar to further reduce chances of damaging the phone N.B. Buckaroo make a thick tool pouch that fits perfectly.
Cons The only thing that it doesn't have is 5G. This something of an oversight... as it is becoming more common and more users are getting access to it.
Some people have commented on a lack of cordless charging... but even those users say it's not a deal breaker.
It would have been nice if the battery was removable... but few phones now offer this.
N.B. The phone could have been made even smaller by removing the capacitive buttons at the bottom of the screen... but most people won't care.
Conclusion This is a great phone. If you're in the market for a small but smart phone then you're unlikely to regret buying the Jelly Star.
:-)
The perfect small mobile phone – The Jelly 2 is a great phone. It does everything well in a small package: a screen size of 3" and only 1.6 cm thick! This is as powerful as a full… Read more
sized phone only shrunk down to fit easily fit in a pocket or in a holster on your belt.
Despite the small size there are no compromises on performance: It's got an 8 core CPU (Helio P60 2 GHz). 6 GB memory and 128 GB storage It has no problems running every program I've ever tried.
Reception is very good with a large range of supported frequencies. So there were no problems using this phone in Australia. SAR (Specific Absorption Rating) can be either good or bad depending on what you have turned on. It's very low if you have everything turned off... but high if you have everything turned on. Fortunately if you have everything turned on (watching videos?) you're likely to have the phone well away from your head and it's unlikely to be much of a hazard? https://fccid.io/2AK6CJELLY2/RF-Exposure-Info/SAR-Test-report-4899359
A 2000 mah battery has no trouble lasting an entire day with normal use: Internet, email, video, calls, etc... It is possible to run out of battery life but only if you turn on everything e.g. wifi, bluetooth (v4.2), location, hotspot and data (with lots of browsing). My phone often has >62% battery left after midnight so it should last 2 days with light use?
The camera is 16 Mp (back) and 8 Mp (front)... which takes OK photos but struggles as the light drops. It's probably why it struggles with QR codes sometimes? It's the one area of the phone that could be improved.
The screen resolution is 480x854 pixels which works just fine on such a small phone. You can do all normal tasks on the screen: Remember you can increase the font size if the default is not to your liking?
The phone sports a USB C connector and a headphone jack.
It can handle up to 2 nano SIM's.
It includes facial recognition and a fingerprint scanner... which work about 70% of the time. The other 30% you have to use your 4 digit pin number: Facial recognition works OK if you remember to show your face to the phone. The fingerprint scanner works OK if you don't have wet or dirty fingers... and the lens is clean.
A wrap around case and screen protector came with this phone but they aren't standard. The case and screen protector do a good job of protecting the phone so it's worth purchasing them with the phone.
The phone lives in a belt holster, purchased off Ebay, which provides further protection.
In the car there's a magnetic disk on the dash which the phone attaches to when driving: Via a metal disk stuck to the back of the phone
Currently it's running Android 10 and as Unihertz bring out regular firmware updates it's likely to remain up to date.
Here's a link to the specifications: https://www.gsmchoice.com/en/compare/unihertz-jelly2-vs-unihertz-jelly/
The price is <$300 retail which is great considering all the features.
The Jelly 2 is perfection in a tiny package.
I love my Jelly 2!!!
:-) P.S. I also own the original Jelly phone... and a later iteration called the Atom (a ruggedised waterproof version) which are all brilliant phones but had a battery half this size and cameras that aren't as good.
If you know what you're getting, it's perfect – It's not the phone for everyone. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. BUT - If you want what it has to offer, it's absolutely perfect. Huge… Read more
battery, rugged design, and that all important physical keyboard. It feels great to type on. If you miss the old fashioned keyboards on blackberries, this is the way to get one.
It's heavy, it's enormous. You get used to it quickly and it feels great in your hand when you do, but on first impression its definitely HUGE. the square screen resolution is occasionally incompatible with apps or websites and when this happens you need to switch to "mini mode" which letterboxes the left and right sides of the screen to make a more standard rectangular screen shape. These things may or may not be a downside for you. But you should know about them before you buy the phone.
On the plus side, the keyboard is clicky and satisfying once you wear it in, the battery goes easily two days of my very heavy usage which drains most phones in half a day. Wireless charging is nice. It's splashproof and dustproof which is nice for peace of mind. The camera isn't great but it's perfectly adequate, it's more than enough for taking happy snaps or Instagram shots, but you won't want to be getting any of these printed up as posters or anything and there's no night mode or optical image stabilization. If you were happy with an iPhone 4/5 camera you will be happy with this but it doesn't have the bells and whistles of 2020 flagships. All apps work but some (not many, but some) need to be used in the aforementioned "mini mode" if they don't scale well to the square screen. NFC payments work, Bluetooth works, everything you expect is present and accounted for. The programmable red button on the side is nice, I have it set to turn the flashlight on or off even if the screen's off, and use it many times per day.
With a phone like this you either know you're the niche customer who wants it or you're not. Most people won't want or need this one but if you do, nothing else on sale today offers what this offers. If you want it but you're not sure about build quality or bugginess or whatever from a no-name brand: don't worry about that, this is as well made a phone as I've had!
Not as good as the Blackberry Key2 but acceptable for the price – Updated ownership notes as of August 2025, unit has performed OK except for the inevitable swelling battery problem that has deformed the back case,… Read more
either a faulty charger or from being in a hot environment, anyone buying these new should only use genuine chargers and not intend to use in hot climates. Let down by poor battery quality and cheap plastic materials. Other keys and hardware buttons well built and all function normally, despite the swollen battery the actual battery life is still good but you feel like you are walking around with a potential bomb in your pocket nonetheless. Released with Android 11 and never upgraded to Android 12 so poor customer support.
Purchased 2022 but only dragged out of the box in Dec 2023 so early days yet, a few technical issues/bugs which are quite common require the user to fiddle" with home WiFi settings which I have never had to do with any other consumer device before. Has a worse interface and UI than a Blackberry Key2 which was a flagship phone designed almost 10 years ago, but not supported and running outdated versions of Android. Pre-installed screen protector starting to bubble and distort around edge of screen.
Two obvious issues:
1. Right out of the box, unable to sustain a stable WiFi connection to my completely stock standard WiFi network, this is a common issue and makes the phone useless in a world where infinite 3G/4G data isn't available. 2. The execution of the Shift Fn & Alt keys at the top, and placement of the fingerprint sensor next to a psychotic Home button that launches Google Assitant make this very hard work indeed, almost impossible to write text, and does not play nicely with some Android Apps and websites requiring complex passwords.
The loss of screen real estate compared to the Blackberry Key2 is noticeable, and the unit is quite tall and narrow and considerably thicker than the Blackberry Key2, and all the keys being smaller could make this a fat-fingered nightmare for some, although I am getting used to it. And the loss of screen size and smaller physical keys haven't given users a much lighter load to carry around in their pocket, due to its thickness and hefty weight.
Everything else works fine once the user retrains the keyboard and personalizes it, the performance is good, call quality and reception in dodgy regional 2G/3G areas is good, Bluetooth behaves fine, no 3.5mm audio jack which is sad, the performance of the camera is adequate but inferior to some any of the Samsung and Apple smartphones. Runs on Android 10 out of the box and upgrades itself to Android 11 almost immediately. Battery life is very good, but will see if that is maintained over time.
Would recommend to someone who has to have a physical keyboard, wants relatively up-to-date Android and is prepared to live with the compromises listed above. Second hand buyers should be aware of Android 11 lifespan and look for evidence of swelling/overheated batteries deforing the back of the unit.