Samsung’s incredible Galaxy projector smartphone now has a heir: Meet the Tank 2
Rugged smartphone vendors think outside of the box to deliver some stunning designs
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Unihertz is one of the more adventurousrugged smartphonevendors out there with outlandish models such as the BlackBerry-esqueTitan(andTitan Slim), the lilliputianAtom, the two-facedTickTockand the hugeTank. Turns out there’s aTank 2and it comes with a unique feature, one not seen since theSamsung Galaxy Beam. That’s right, more than a decade after theexciting but short lived projector smartphone was launched, there’s a new smartphone that wants you to use it as a projector.
Big, bold and brash could be three terms used to describe it; it is hefty (weighing more than 500g) and bulky - at 23.5mm, it is almost twice the thickness of the just-announced15-inch Apple MacBook Air. It is powered by a Mediatek CPU (Helio G99) and comes with 12GB RAM (expandable to 22GB using some onboard wizardry).
Add in 256GB storage, a 6.8-inch FHD+ display, Android 13, a quartet of camera sensors (32-megapixel front facing, 108-megapixel, 64-megapixel night vision and 16-megapixel wide camera) and a huge 15.5mAh battery and you have a pretty compelling rugged smartphone already.
A mobile projector
However it is a rather unique selling point that seals the deal: its laser projector. Don’t expect miracles though; Unihertz claims it has a native resolution of 1280 x 720 (i.e. HD) and a brightness of 40 lumens. Its throw and contrast ratios of 1.2:1 and 80000:1 respectively means that it will barely be usable for a large audience. So, yes, it is a greatportable projector, but no, it can’t be used as abusiness projector(saved from boringPowerpointpresentations)
But then, how many underwater projector do you know of (the Tank 2 is IP68/IP69K certified, so I’d expect it to be waterproof). At less than$340 (excluding taxes)at Chinese online retailer, Aliexpress, it is not as expensive as I’d expect, especially given the projector feature. Just be aware of its limitations: there’s no5G, no wireless charging, the processor is a bit slow and aftersales is likely to be a challenge.
Let’s just hope that it doesn’t get the same lukewarm reception as theLenovo Smartcast smartphone, theBlackview Max 1and theVoga V. Can’t wait to see what Unihertz has next in store for us? Our money is on a 2024 take on the iconic, yet under-appreciated,Samsung Galaxy Camera.
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Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled inwebsite buildersandweb hostingwhen DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.
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