Compact smartphones nowadays are a rarity as every major manufacturer strives to put the largest and most eye-catching display in its devices, leading to screen sizes of 6 inches or more becoming the norm. There are, however, people who miss the compact phones of the past - when “compact” meant a sub-5-inch device. Rumors of the upcoming iPhone SE 2 just reinforce the case, and while rumors are just that - unproven and speculative piece of information - there’s a device that may satisfy the iPhone SE-induced nostalgia. Behold the Unihertz Atom XL.
Some of you may have already stumbled upon other peculiar devices from this company. Predictably, the Atom XL is the successor of its smaller sibling, the Unihertz Atom, and while the original Atom from 2018 had to be put in the “miniature” category with its minuscule 2.45-inch 432x240 display, the Atom XL is much more suited to the aforementioned “compact” moniker. The XL sports a 4-inch screen with a resolution of 1136x640 pixels, and if these numbers sound familiar, that’s because the much-loved and dearly missed iPhone SE had the same display specs.
Unihertz Atom XL
The similarities don’t end here - there are big bezels on the front, steering the Atom XL away from the “all-screen” trend of late. Тhis particular design choice left plenty of room for capacitive navigation buttons as well as a fingerprint sensor, selfie camera, and an earpiece. A key selling point for the Atom XL is that it is a rugged phone with an IP68 water-resistance rating. This puts it a bit on the thick side of things, despite the compact overall form-factor. Nevertheless, sports enthusiasts and active people will be happy to know that a device exists that is not as fragile as the great majority of recent smartphones.
Under the hood, we find the Helio P60 processor - a 2018 MediaTek chipset that won’t set any performance records, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, USB-C, a headphone jack, and a microSD card slot. There is no multi-camera system on the back - just a regular 48-megapixel snapper. А modest 8-megapixel camera is at the front. The Atom XL runs Android 10 out of the box, comes with a big 4300 mAh battery and costs $259 on its Kickstarter page. It’s expected to retail at $329 when it hits the stores in June 2020.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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