- 3 months ago
Honor Purse phone got me like ✨
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TechTranscript
00:00I had no idea that smartphones like this existed.
00:04And I've managed to secure nine phones just like this,
00:07with each one possessing an increasingly bizarre capability
00:10that you probably won't see coming.
00:12So let's test them and rank them.
00:14From S, I want every future phone to be like them,
00:17to F, I never want to see this weird feature again.
00:21Starting with the side phone,
00:22which is already pretty unique
00:23because it comes in pieces.
00:26So you get most of the phone over here.
00:32But then a severed number pad right next to it.
00:36And the idea is that this lets you swap
00:38between three different forms of physical input.
00:40So the number pad feels pretty standard.
00:43But what is cool is because each of these modules
00:45is connected to the phone via physical pins,
00:47there is zero lag when you're entering a number
00:49or clicking the home button.
00:51And then when you want to change,
00:52there's a tiny lever at the bottom.
00:53It's not actually as fiddly as it looks.
00:55And then your new module, like the keypad,
00:57just kind of falls into position.
00:59Man, that's satisfying.
01:01Oh, look at this.
01:02So it's saying I can make any of these keys trigger an action.
01:05So record trigger.
01:07Let's press this right side button.
01:08And then I can say I want a short press of that
01:11to launch an app.
01:13And that app can be gallery.
01:15That's fast as hell.
01:16This I did not expect.
01:17And even when you're typing,
01:18I kind of thought looking at this,
01:20that it would be like one of those old Nokia bricks
01:22where you have to tap each key three times
01:24to select the letter.
01:25Whereas actually it's using smart predictive text
01:28to figure out which of the two letters on each key
01:30that I'm meaning to enter.
01:32It's perfectly picking up what I'm trying to write.
01:34And this is legit my first time typing on it.
01:36And then the final module,
01:39basically just an iPod scroll wheel.
01:41Feels like even the packaging of it is inspired by Apple.
01:44Except the funny thing about this
01:46is it doesn't actually scroll.
01:48This is just a series of nine buttons
01:51arranged to look like an iPod.
01:53And it doesn't feel very high quality to use either.
01:56I can only think this was purely designed
01:58because it looks cool for marketing.
02:01Overall, I'd say B tier for side phone.
02:04I can do one better though,
02:05because it turns out Honor has made a smartphone into a purse.
02:10Just to be clear, it doesn't go in your purse.
02:13This is the purse.
02:14So the device is on top.
02:15It's a folding phone.
02:17And then aside from the usual stuff,
02:18it does also come with this extremely gappy case.
02:22Can you even call this a case?
02:24Spine?
02:25Crust?
02:35So the idea is you buy and attach this chain.
02:38Yeah, I know, incredibly.
02:40The purse phone doesn't actually come with the purse chain.
02:43What are they expecting you to do?
02:44Like, hold it in your armpit for the whole night out.
02:47And then you're meant to pair that with this magic wallet app,
02:49which can make the screen display an image of a purse.
02:52Wait a second.
02:53That's crazy good.
02:55It's actually using the gyro sensors in the phone
02:57to display realistic chain effects on your virtual purse.
03:02Can't lie though, as far as attention to detail goes,
03:04the fact that your digital purse still obeys gravity is kind of impressive.
03:09I'm just curious, like...
03:11What?
03:12Yeah.
03:13What do you think to your husband?
03:14You look very pretty.
03:16You wear that all the time.
03:17Yeah?
03:18Your screen's timed out.
03:20Oh, there's some pretty wacky options.
03:23Enable.
03:24Wow, that is busy.
03:26You'll stand out.
03:27I'm seriously impressed with the amount of styles you can pick from.
03:31There's even one that's just an Honor logo.
03:32The amount of options they've given you for purse faces is...
03:36It's actually insane.
03:38Oh, wow.
03:38That is stunning.
03:40I think I spent too much time with the purse.
03:41And you can even set it so that your purse stays on for a total of 30 minutes before going
03:46dark.
03:46But it's just who?
03:47On a night out, for example, where you most need your phone to make sure it lasts all night
03:52so that you can call a cab at the end is prioritizing using their phone's very limited battery to set
03:57a new moving motion purse background once every 30 minutes.
04:02Not to mention, this feels like an absolutely fantastic way to smack your phone into door handles.
04:08And bear in mind, this isn't just any old phone screen.
04:11This is a folding screen.
04:12The most notoriously delicate surface known to man.
04:15So I'm always glad to see companies experiment like this.
04:18But this particular experiment, I don't feel like I ever need to see again.
04:24D-tier.
04:25Give this thing even six months and it's gonna look like a toddler's iPad.
04:29Now, we've tested a ton of minimal phones over the years.
04:32But the problems are almost always the same.
04:36To get a device that lets you truly disconnect,
04:38you end up having to sacrifice having decent hardware.
04:41The quality of your cameras, screen, battery,
04:44that you would otherwise get on a more mainstream phone.
04:46And so, the Balance phone does something a little different.
04:50Because they've made their own minimal software.
04:52And their own brand and packaging experience.
04:55Even their own case.
04:56But the actual smartphone that Balance's entire experience is based on
05:00is unashamedly just a Samsung Galaxy S25.
05:04Which intriguingly arrives still sealed.
05:10I'm kind of curious.
05:11If this company is taking a Samsung phone and flashing their own software onto it,
05:15how is the original box still intact?
05:21Turns out what this company does is buys a load of Samsung phones,
05:25but then assigns the IMEI numbers to their servers.
05:28And so it's only when you first set them up and connect the phones online
05:31that they realize they actually need the Balance software,
05:34and they download it and install it themselves.
05:36Sounds like a massive faff.
05:37But honestly, I think it's paid off.
05:39The phone feels much faster than any minimal device I can remember.
05:43And it's such a relief to have proper Samsung cameras.
05:46As opposed to something rustled together by a company who has zero history of image processing.
05:51Feels like a good example of just leave the experts to do what the experts do best.
05:56And then layered on top of Samsung's hardware is the Balance software.
06:00And this is the real deal when it comes to keeping you on track.
06:03You see all of your apps in a list with no color, no icons, no notification dots.
06:08So it is definitely reducing the temptation to quickly pop into something for a scrolling sesh.
06:13You get the full Play Store too.
06:15But look at this.
06:16If I try and download a distracting social media app like Instagram,
06:19security policy prevents installation of this app.
06:22Same is true for games, dating apps, gambling apps, even like video players.
06:28I'm curious, does it even let you use YouTube then?
06:30Oh, it's got an enable button and you can't press it.
06:32It's just like having another mum.
06:34One of the other things they're trying to do here is keep you away from adult content.
06:38And the extent that they go to to try and avoid this is kind of mad.
06:42Because even though you have an internet browser,
06:44you can't even go into Google Images just in case you stumble into some.
06:48So I definitely wouldn't go as far as to say that all phones should be like this.
06:52But if I was seeking a way to truly lock in on life without completely disappearing off the grid,
06:58this is amazing.
06:59Like it's not just adding some arbitrary restriction app
07:02that you can uninstall as soon as you have a slight lapse in discipline.
07:06Once this software is installed, there's no removing these restrictions.
07:10But if the balance phone is like a seriously strict parent,
07:14then the Ukitel WP100 Titan is like the cool uncle who basically says,
07:21do whatever you want because you're about to see this phone has it all.
07:25Feels like you could lose a foot if you drop this box at the wrong time.
07:28My goodness.
07:29I love that they've added this little AI sticker on top,
07:32as if they forgot to print it on the box itself.
07:34And then we're like, oh my god, no one's going to buy this phone if we don't say AI.
07:38Well, I can't say I'm surprised, but the phone itself is absolutely monolithic.
07:43And then there's a hand strap that adds up, a nice orange cable.
08:05So staggering feature number one, the camping light.
08:09Let's get the lights off.
08:14Okay.
08:15Okay.
08:15So this is the phone's normal flashlight.
08:18To be fair, it doesn't feel particularly lacking in any way.
08:21But then right next to the flashlight, there's an app that you won't have seen before.
08:25Camping lights.
08:26I assume this will be brighter.
08:28Oh my god.
08:30Is that as bright as our video lights?
08:32Could we actually just light our entire videos with this phone?
08:35Seriously impressive capability.
08:37Definitely enough of a step over a traditional flashlight to count as a feature.
08:42Number two, you tap this little widget on the home screen and that turns on an inbuilt projector.
08:48Blimey heck, that was quick.
08:49It's got an inbuilt fan.
08:51Wow.
08:52So imagine we're doing a movie night for four.
08:55It's just a Mr. Who's the Boss video.
08:57I've actually seen quite a few phones over the years that come with projectors inside,
09:00but they always fall down when it comes to brightness.
09:03That is extremely usable.
09:06Oh, but the other cool thing is it actually has keystone correction built in.
09:10So as I rotate the phone around and shoot at different angles, it's correcting for that angle by itself.
09:15Did not expect to say this, but bang on.
09:19But there's one more night feature.
09:20This phone has night vision.
09:23So open up the camera, go over to night vision.
09:26It's using four infrared lights.
09:27They basically flood the scene with invisible infrared,
09:30and then it's got a sensor to be able to pick up how that light bounces back.
09:34So what I can see is it's as good as daytime.
09:37It actually runs at a decent frame rate too for night vision.
09:39And then number four,
09:41this phone has a 33,000 milliamp hour battery inside.
09:46Or should I say this 33,000 milliamp hour battery has a phone built around it.
09:51You think your iPhone does a good job lasting all day?
09:53They're saying this can do up to two weeks of continuous use.
09:58How about we just open up a massive 10 hour YouTube video and then leave it playing.
10:02See where it ends up at the end of the video.
10:04But now on the complete opposite end of the spectrum,
10:07did you know that ZTE made a phone so portable that you can wear it?
10:11Yes, at least as far as the marketing is concerned, not a smartwatch.
10:15The Nubia Alpha is an actual fully functional smart phone.
10:20The fact that they've got this OLED display wrapping halfway around your wrist is genuinely impressive.
10:27Wow, that's a lot of settings I can see all at once.
10:30There's a pre-installed app here called Barrage,
10:32which I think is just displaying text of your choosing in a continuous loop.
10:37Gotta say, I feel pretty cool right now.
10:39I feel like one of those NPCs from Cyberpunk.
10:42Although I have absolutely no idea what message I'm currently broadcasting.
10:45I'm also thinking, is this not just like a little bit too much display?
10:49Because from almost every angle you look at it, something is being cut off.
10:53So realistically, am I going to really just spend half my time going like this to try and read things?
10:59Oh man, not comfy.
11:02Maybe that's why they added gestures.
11:04So apparently if I just...
11:07Oh, really responsive.
11:09Damn.
11:10Although come to think of it, do I just look like I'm consistently swatting a fly?
11:15Have I lost the one gram of aura I had?
11:18You can't do that for very long.
11:20It does have all the smartwatch health tracking features you'd expect.
11:23You can call and you can send texts.
11:26But there isn't anything resembling a proper app store here, which I guess makes sense.
11:30I can't imagine they've made Genshin playable in a 1 to 10 aspect ratio.
11:35What about the camera?
11:36That is not flattering.
11:37Why is it upside down?
11:39I'm definitely using the watch the correct way they intended.
11:42And the shutter button is in the right position.
11:43Is this how you let people know that you're calling from a Nubia Alpha smartphone?
11:48Technically, this product has already failed.
11:50It was released in 2019 and I don't think many people bought one.
11:54But the question is, do I think a 2026 reboot could have a chance?
11:58Not for me.
12:00Probably not for most people.
12:01I'd go see to it.
12:03But then again, for someone looking for a digital detox device.
12:06The kind of person who would be interested in the balance phone, where you can't really do much anyway.
12:10So at that point, why not just have the most lightweight, seamless form factor too?
12:17Don't judge me, but I bought a phone from TikTok.
12:20For some reason, there was a moment a few months ago where my entire feed was suddenly randomly filled
12:26with people using this supposedly transparent phone.
12:29Completely clear phone spotted in San Francisco, it says.
12:32And the device actually sold out entirely after going so viral.
12:35So it's here.
12:39And obviously, it's every bit as stupid as I thought it would be.
12:43Because here's the phone and it's a block of acrylic.
12:48But really, it's the note that comes with it that has me truly worried about us as a society.
12:53Hand it to a child and watch their mind light up.
12:56Rub it for comfort when you're anxious.
12:59As a prayer, softly recite the apps that you aren't opening.
13:04Is this the right time for chat? Are we cooked?
13:06Genuinely, though.
13:07If this is some sort of joke that I'm just not privy to, fantastic.
13:11If people are actually unironically buying this phone to help them, we have some big problems.
13:17Either way, I hate TikTok.
13:20F.
13:21So here's our next TikTok phone.
13:24I wish I was joking.
13:25The Ico Mind1 is one of the most funded phones on Kickstarter of all time.
13:30Largely fueled, I imagine, by reams of TikToks with millions of views.
13:34Because it has a rather unexpected form factor.
13:37Surprisingly good unboxing experience, though.
13:43It comes with a case.
13:44Pretty big help.
13:45Can't think of a lot of phones with the dimensions of a sticky note.
13:48Not one, but two glass screen protectors.
13:51Because even they know you'll screw up the first one.
13:53Then the phone itself.
14:03They've even got a custom sim ejector.
14:05Gotta respect little touches like this.
14:07But here's the meat and potatoes.
14:08If the last few phones had something strange about them,
14:11then this thing is like layers upon layers of weird.
14:15So, it's a square for starters.
14:18But honestly, I thought this would make it super hand friendly.
14:20It's actually surprisingly uncomfortable.
14:22And the power button is so far down that you basically need to hold the thing up here
14:26if you want it to be reachable.
14:27Which combined with just generally how much wasted space there now is
14:30when you're watching videos or playing games,
14:32is a good reminder of why this is not a common sight.
14:36Then there's this camera.
14:38Yes, camera, single.
14:40So you can take photos of what's in front of you as usual.
14:43But then if you want to take a selfie, you pull the camera around.
14:47To be fair, if it took amazing photos and videos,
14:49then being able to use this one camera on both the front and the back would be a blessing.
14:53But it doesn't.
14:55Well hey, at least it stops at any angle so you can take a nice shot of the ceiling.
14:59Great news for J Jonah Jameson.
15:00But the single most bizarre and by far coolest thing about this is that if we hold this button
15:05down, we can slide on over from stock Android to Ico's own AI operating system.
15:11They're saying that for all the AI tools you see here,
15:13even though they need internet, this phone gets you that internet for free.
15:16You don't need Wi-Fi.
15:17You don't need a SIM of your own.
15:19And they're supporting this across like 60 countries.
15:21And they seem like pretty great AI features.
15:25It feels very tailored to students.
15:26So there's a chatbot that gives you access to ChatGBT,
15:29DeepSeq, Gemini and Claude.
15:31AI study is really interesting too, where you take a photo of your problem
15:35and it's pretty well designed to suggest how you might go about solving it
15:39without actually solving it for you.
15:40And then AI Notes, which incredibly is the prettiest notes app I've ever used.
15:45And it ain't close.
15:46So I do think other companies could learn a thing or two from Ico about interface design
15:51and this whole internet features included business.
15:53But then again, you could also just use Zaley, our sponsor,
15:56to download a data package for whatever country you're going to
15:58on whatever phone you're using already in like 30 seconds.
16:02You might pay like $10, but then it means you don't have to use a square phone
16:06with a weird rotating camera.
16:08I just really like that Zaley lets me organize my life
16:11because I can buy the data now, but it only activates and starts getting used
16:14the moment I land in that country.
16:16So I'm going to give the Mine One phone a B tier on balance.
16:19And with the code BOSS, you can also get 15% off any Zaley eSIM plans.
16:23Now, if you thought that modular side phone we saw at the start was cool,
16:26then the Techno Atom modular concept phone that I've managed to get in this box
16:31is about to blow your mind wide open.
16:34I feel like I've just discovered the holy grail of consumer technology.
16:38Oh my gosh.
16:40There's a power bank attachment, a speaker,
16:47a 4.9 millimeter super slim phone.
16:50Well, this doesn't feel like a 4.9 millimeter super slim phone.
16:54Oh, well, of course we've got a full-on dedicated mirrorless camera module in here.
16:58So the labeling system clearly failed.
17:00Where's the actual phone then?
17:03Oh, this bag looks promising.
17:08Wow.
17:09Oh my god.
17:11That is thin.
17:14So let's just get some perspective here.
17:16Our chubby champion on the side is 35.6 millimeters.
17:21A standard pro iPhone, current generation, is 8.75.
17:26The iPhone Air, one of the thinnest phones on the market, 5.6 millimeters.
17:31So this being 4.9 is bonkers.
17:35This is so thin they couldn't even fit a USB-C port.
17:38So yeah, this is an entirely portless phone and a pretty sexy one too.
17:42I wouldn't mind one of these.
17:43Assuming the battery lasts longer than about 40 minutes.
17:46And the idea is there's two sets of pins, one at the top, one at the bottom,
17:50and each of them has magnets behind them so that like the side phone,
17:53each of these modules can snap on either here or here and be powered by the phone.
17:58So what modules do we actually have?
18:01It's lightning round time.
18:03A 3,000 milliamp hour battery pack.
18:05And incredibly, you can stack them.
18:06So you can stack other modules on top of one or even just multiple power banks on top of each
18:10other.
18:10Something called a free link.
18:12So you attach this one to your phone and then you attach another one to your friends,
18:15your friend who also happens to have this unreleased concept device.
18:18And then the two phones can communicate directly with each other without even needing a network.
18:22Very cool idea.
18:23A speaker unit.
18:24So clip that on.
18:24This is what the phone's audio sounds like without the unit.
18:30Yep, pretty trash.
18:31And now the speaker is on.
18:34Oh.
18:36Yeah, quite a bit better.
18:38A three times optical zoom module for the camera.
18:40And this takes you from this far away to this far away.
18:43My phone looks like Bender from Futurama.
18:45And then if that's not enough, you have this entire camera system,
18:49which actually has its own dedicated camera sensor alongside a mount for this
18:52fairly unportable telephoto lens, which is incredibly shaky.
18:56But to be fair, also incredibly capable.
18:58Definitely does not look like phone footage anymore.
19:01Because, well, I guess it isn't really.
19:04Then also, an action camera.
19:07This has a stable ultrawide camera built in.
19:09And like everything else, you can snap it onto here.
19:11But the extra benefit of all this being modular is you can also take it off and attach it to
19:15a
19:16clip like this or a lanyard like this, and it will carry on shooting.
19:19So you can even wear the thing.
19:20This is one of those things where it's incredibly technically impressive.
19:24Obviously, it's buggy.
19:25And these connections are not secure enough because it's a concept device.
19:29But you can absolutely see the appeal of the picture it's painting.
19:32The problem I see, though, is to sell a lot of these,
19:35to have a custom module ecosystem that's actually viable,
19:39you need to sell a lot of these base phones.
19:41For you to sell a lot of these base phones, this has to be really good in its own right.
19:45No one's going to buy something that's so compromised it needs you to attach extras
19:49just to get basic functionality like a normal size battery or ports or a good speaker.
19:54Or a basic telephoto camera.
19:56But then, if the phone is really good on its own right, why do I need all this?
20:01The whole modular phone thing always boils down to a niche proposition.
20:04But the problem with niche propositions is then you're not going to sell millions of base units.
20:09You're starting to see the problem.
20:11So while, of course, the implementation here is class,
20:14the idea?
20:15I can't give more than a B to.
20:17But it turns out the Atom was not the only bonkers boundary-pushing phone
20:22that Tecno cooked up recently.
20:24Because this one changes color.
20:26And it arrived in a bag, as all the greatest top-secret devices seem to do.
20:32Oh god, I forgot there's three phones inside of here.
20:35I'm so sorry, Tecno.
20:38All's well, though, I think.
20:41So the idea is pretty much as simple as you pick a color.
20:45So if I select this blue, oh my god, this looks psychedelic.
20:49And because it's using e-ink tech, whatever you set isn't consuming any battery.
20:53And this frosted coating they've added on top is doing a stellar job, too,
20:57of making this e-ink display just feel like part of the body,
21:01as opposed to some kind of second screen.
21:03Here's the funniest part, though.
21:05You can take a photo.
21:06So let's say this is my current favorite pair of swimming trunks.
21:09I do capture color.
21:11The phone can draw out the key colors from that photo.
21:14And you can pick one of them.
21:16So I could match my phone to my outfit for the day.
21:19So let's go for this sage green.
21:20It does do this classic e-ink refreshing process before it gets to the final result.
21:24But now we're there.
21:28It's not perfect, but it's not bad.
21:30This is cool.
21:31I wouldn't choose it over actually important features.
21:33But if this became like a really space efficient thing that you could implement into a phone,
21:37and it meant that you could customize your phone's back just as easily as you do the front,
21:42then why not?
21:44A tier.
21:45Right.
21:46Time to check in on the Chungus.
21:49This has been playing videos for 2 hours and 27 minutes.
21:54Final chance to get your guesses in.
21:55The battery percentage is 97.
21:5997%.
22:00After that much video, and the projection, and the camp light, and the flashlight.
22:04You know what?
22:06Fair enough.
22:07It's a tough one to rate.
22:08Because is anyone really daily driving a phone that's thicker than a literal brick?
22:13But the battery.
22:14Staggering.
22:15Camping light.
22:16Brighter than expected.
22:17Projector.
22:18No longer a complete gimmick.
22:20I'd go A tier again.
22:21Not a bad showing from the weird and wonderful.
22:24Actually more wonderful than weird.
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