I’ve had mine since they shipped out the Kickstarter orders (two years). Thing is an amazing piece of engineering. Even has unusual extras like call recording, IR blaster, headphone jack, & an FM radio. About the only thing missing is 5G radio support (unless you care about wireless charging, but it charges so fast that it’s no big deal), although I wish the battery were user-replaceable. At least the AccuBattery app estimates I got one with a capacity roughly 20% over spec.
The next model they came out with would have been the one I’d have waited to get had I known they were working on it, though. The Tank Mini has basically the same specs, but also with a more usable 4.3" screen size, a second programmable function button, roughly 2.75x the battery capacity, a powerful flashlight/emergency warning light (used to also have a laser rangefinder, but they seem to have eliminated that). The battery longevity & extra programmable button would have been good to have.
ETA:
AccuBattery has helped me keep the battery in decent shape even after two years. Basically, the lithium-ion batteries prevalent in phones today will last several more years if you keep them charged in the middle third range (33-66%) as much as possible - doesn’t have to be every time, but the more you do it the more it helps. I’m typing this on my OnePlus 7 Pro that I bought used five years ago - it arrived with 89% of stock capacity, and just dropped below 80% a few months ago because I’ve been doing this. This model is over six years old, and still has decent life left in it (and I virtually never use the selfie cam, but its pop-up one is extremely cool & doesn’t eat a hole in my screen).
But the Jelly Star does fit perfectly in the palm of my hand - even with my slightly smaller than average sized hands. It’s fantastic for subtle usage and easy to pocket. The feature list for something so small is unreal even two years later.
I’m more of a function over form type, so I keep a case on it & don’t even use the glyph lights on the back. Just more proof that it’s great for a variety of use cases.
I look at eSIMs much like i do physical copies of games: all electronic is more convenient, sure - but I don’t trust the carriers not to make freely transferring them between devices more difficult again once they have the vast majority of users dependent upon them. I’d rather have a physical SIM I can move freely between devices without allowing them the possibility of blocking it via software control.
I’ve had mine since they shipped out the Kickstarter orders (two years). Thing is an amazing piece of engineering. Even has unusual extras like call recording, IR blaster, headphone jack, & an FM radio. About the only thing missing is 5G radio support (unless you care about wireless charging, but it charges so fast that it’s no big deal), although I wish the battery were user-replaceable. At least the AccuBattery app estimates I got one with a capacity roughly 20% over spec.
The next model they came out with would have been the one I’d have waited to get had I known they were working on it, though. The Tank Mini has basically the same specs, but also with a more usable 4.3" screen size, a second programmable function button, roughly 2.75x the battery capacity, a powerful flashlight/emergency warning light (used to also have a laser rangefinder, but they seem to have eliminated that). The battery longevity & extra programmable button would have been good to have.
ETA:
AccuBattery has helped me keep the battery in decent shape even after two years. Basically, the lithium-ion batteries prevalent in phones today will last several more years if you keep them charged in the middle third range (33-66%) as much as possible - doesn’t have to be every time, but the more you do it the more it helps. I’m typing this on my OnePlus 7 Pro that I bought used five years ago - it arrived with 89% of stock capacity, and just dropped below 80% a few months ago because I’ve been doing this. This model is over six years old, and still has decent life left in it (and I virtually never use the selfie cam, but its pop-up one is extremely cool & doesn’t eat a hole in my screen).
But the Jelly Star does fit perfectly in the palm of my hand - even with my slightly smaller than average sized hands. It’s fantastic for subtle usage and easy to pocket. The feature list for something so small is unreal even two years later.
I like the tank in theory but the translucent green plastic is like a sirens call to me.
I’m more of a function over form type, so I keep a case on it & don’t even use the glyph lights on the back. Just more proof that it’s great for a variety of use cases.
The tank looks like what I wanted last time I bought a phone. Only seems to be missing eSIM, but that’s not a deal breaker.
I look at eSIMs much like i do physical copies of games: all electronic is more convenient, sure - but I don’t trust the carriers not to make freely transferring them between devices more difficult again once they have the vast majority of users dependent upon them. I’d rather have a physical SIM I can move freely between devices without allowing them the possibility of blocking it via software control.
Having both options is ideal. I see eSIM as more disposable, such as when travelling.