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This tiny ruggedized 4G smartphone has a fingerprint scanner and works underwater

This tiny ruggedized 4G smartphone has a fingerprint scanner and works underwater

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Sooner or later, everyone dreams of buying a tiny and / or minimalist smartphone. Just think how convenient it would be and how much freer you life would inexplicably become! If you are thinking of making that tiny leap, you’ll be more than interested in the Unihertz Atom: a minuscule, ruggedized, 4G-capable smartphone with some impressive features.

The Atom is made by the same team that brought you the Jelly, another tiny phone with Android Nougat and a 2.45-inch display, which was released on Kickstarter last May. The Atom is also raising funds on Kickstarter, but it seems like one of those campaigns that’s doing it more for the attention than the money. It’s already made more than 10 times its funding goal.

The Unihertz Atom has a built-in fingerprint scanner.
The Unihertz Atom has a built-in fingerprint scanner.
It comes with a programmable button on the side for launching apps.
It comes with a programmable button on the side for launching apps.
The Atom also supports dual nano SIM cards and works with a wide range of 4G bands.
The Atom also supports dual nano SIM cards and works with a wide range of 4G bands.

Spec-wise, it’s a nifty device. For a retail price of $300 (though there are cheaper tiers available on Kickstarter), you get a 2.45-inch, 240 x 432 resolution display; 4GB of RAM, Android 8.1 Oreo; a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera; an FM radio; NFC capability for mobile payments; USB Type-C for charging; and a front-mounted fingerprint sensor.

It also has a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, a programmable button on the side that can be used to launch an app of your choice, and it comes with IP68 dust and water resistance ratings. Unihertz claims you even can use it to film video underwater. All in all, it’s extremely capable, with more functionality than you usually get on a phone this size and price.

ZDNet had some hands-on time with the Atom, and it praised its build quality and design, saying it was “a great secondary phone to take with you running, fly fishing, biking, hiking, and working out in the field.” So, it’s all you need to make your tiny phone dreams come true.