If you work outdoors doing physical work as I have done most of my life you will realise that most smart phones are quite unsuitable. It is just about impossible to carry them in such a way that they will not break. I used to carry my small (4″) Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini in a padded pouch suspended from my belt but I still broke screens/phones.
The fob pocket was invented just for the purpose of protecting a pocket watch in these circumstances – so you need a phone which will fit in your fob. Fortunately there are a few such.
This is my Atom in a pair of very worn farm jeans. As you can see from the attached mud in the lanyard hole it has done some pretty hard work around the farm helping build fences , deliver lambs, rebuild vehicles & etc.
There is a wonderful new model. See Below.
I never wear it face out like this as it would be more likely to break the screen. The Atom is a very thick phone (compared to some other models). The Palm and the K10 for example have a bigger screen, are lighter (60 grams) and are wider but thinner – so they will still fit in your fob. A 50%+ bigger screen would be a plus, but I find I can do everything I need to do with the 2 1/2′ screen. 
At the moment I have been carrying Unihertz’s Atom like this for about a year. It is a great little phone. It has excellent connectivity (here in Australia) on Telstra’s (country) NextG and 4G LTE networks (and lots of others) which provide the best overall geographic coverage for our nation. No-one else’s network here goes even close.
Telstra’s current Bands are – I think – (3G) B5 850 MHz and (4G) B1 2100 MHz, B3 1800MHz, B7 2600 MHz, and B28 700 MHz – this is the best ‘country’ band for high speed data. They may use a couple of other 4G bands in some places B8 (900) for example. If you make or receive a call at present it will always use the 3G B5 band (until 2024 – by which time you will probably need a new phone anyway, as 5G will be more widely available then too)! Things change.
Whichever phone you choose it will have to have connectivity on the bands your carrier uses in your country – so you need to check before you buy. The Atom seems to have the widest connectivity of any of these miniature phones so will work in more different places, particularly when you are traveling. Some of the phones almost certainly won’t work on Telstra in Australia. many lack the all-important band 28. This includes one of the top-of-the-range ones, JB Hifi’s Palm – so watch out!
Of course it is always possible to buy a very expensive phone from a store which simply will not work very well for the purpose you bought it for. You cannot rely on the salesman for this advice, and (in Australia) many retailers will not allow you to return the phone once you open the box – so beware! You can’t always know what the connectivity will be until you open the box! Great isn’t it? You can check https://www.gsmarena.com/ who are a useful guide, but their information might not include every available phone or the specific one for sale in your local store. You will notice that they list only one of the phones below for example. It took me ages to find that the Palm wasn’t suitable, and to get the data below from JB.
The Atom has quite a good camera (16 mHz) takes two sim cards (I use a pre-paid data card in one and a $10 phone plan in the other), is waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, and has pretty much all the features of high-end phones including 64 gigs of space. I find the WiFi hotspot function useful as I can use my 8″ tablet with a larger screen (which will fit in a coat pocket) when I am out somewhere. Its only drawbacks are its weight (111 grams) and its 2.45″ screen, and it is not expandable with a micro sd card. It aslo has excellent navigatio0n tools. You need A-GPS (trust me on this) and a Compass – some phones don’t seem to have one. They would be really good if you wanted to get lost!
It is also fairly pricey at US249 – but overall good value. It has been a tough, reliable phone. I have not found another which works on the necessary networks here so I am pretty much ‘stuck’ with it, and will probably be buying a spare for my birthday (as against inevitable disasters)!
I would like a slightly larger screen (your fob limits it to about 3.3″) with a camera at least as good (or better) and perhaps lighter. Some weigh only 60 grams! (If you are a hiker/hunter this is likely 2-3 ounces – maybe 90 grams – lighter than your current phone which probably won’t work (as a phone) most places you want to go anyway, so the weight is important – but again check the GPS and compass functions.
Other savings I have made in in electronics include a lighter satellite communicator (the Inreach Mini – 3 ounces saved) a new satellite phone (Extreme 9575 – 3 ounces saved), lighter head torches, lightweight camera, lighter power bank, and lightweight solar charger (with reflector) for longer trips. I will be making a charger which utilises the waste heat from my tent heater (when I build one). Read this post to understand hiking electronics: Keweisi USB Amp Tester
If you are mainly using it to link to your satellite communicator, as an ebook, music player, as a navigation tool & etc the the weight is really important. I also like replaceable batteries, if possible. This is becoming harder to find in phones – is this so that Big Brother can track us better even when the phone is switched off? I wonder. The Jelly Pro still has replaceable batteries and is a reasonable weight.
I never listen to music (as I am deaf) so the existence or otherwise of an earphone ‘jack’ is something I would just not notice. the Atom has one though. You can buy a toughened glass screen protector for it (now) and I need one. Mine is getting pretty scratched after over a year of rough use. Some spare parts are also now available if you fix your own phones as I do (everything actually).
As I mentioned before you must also check whether the phone has the sensors you require, eg compass. what GPS does it have, movement, gravity etc. It will be too late after you buy the phone if it does not have the sensors you require for your use.
Unihertz’s other phone is the Jelly Pro which is lighter and cheaper – but with a poorer quality camera (8x). Unfortunately it does not cover all the necessary frequencies, missing the 4G LTE for example otherwise the size, weight and price saving make it a useful option.
As you go through the following list you will find these problems over and over. However, you may live somewhere else where one of these phones works really well for you, so I have included them here. The list is probably not exhaustive but represents all I could find. I am also just using the published data from the linked web pages. It may not be correct. You need to check for yourself. If you find another good fob sized phone please let me know.
K-Touch i9s Android 8.1: 101.6 x 44 x 8.1 mm AU $146.61
K-Touch i10 Android 8.1: 103.2 x 45.5 x 9.9 mm (May not support Google Play which nonetheless may be able to be loaded from third-party sites)
K-Touch M16h Phone data here.
Ulcool 104 x 49 x 8mm
Palm (Available from JB-Hifi for A$399 – July 2020). This would probably be my choice because of the 12 mp camera but the seller cannot tell me the frequencies it operates on and both the manufacturer and gsamarena tell me it will not work on Telstra’s Australian network – which is unlikely else JB would not be selling it. I am guessing they commissioned a special order of this phone but they cannot seem to tell me so.
Details:
- Processor: Qualcomm® 435 processor. Octa-core CPU
- Display: 3.3” HD Display – 445 ppi high pixel density LCD
- Glass: Impact resistant front and rear Corning Gorilla Glass
- Cameras: 12MP rear camera with flash + 8MP front camera
- Construction: Crafted billet aluminum mid-frame
- Durability: IP68 water and dust resistant
- Memory: 3 GB RAM / 32 GB Storage
- Audio: Dual speaker
- Sensors: G-Sensor, Glonass GPS, Proximity, E-compass, Gyro
- OS: Android 8.1
- Security: Face unlock
- Dimensions: 50.6 X 96.6 X 7.4mm
- Weight: 62.5 grams
- Australian/European Model (JB HiFi Australia)
- 3G UMTS 1/2/5/8
- LTE FDD 1/3/7/8/20
- American Model
- 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900
- 3G: UMTS 1/2/4/5
- 4G: FDD 2/4/5/12/13/17/66
- Battery: Palm uses a USB-C charger that is compatible with any standard outlet for all-day use. With Life Mode, Palm gets an all-day battery life with typical use:
- Talk-Time: Up to 3 hours and 20 minutes
- GPS Workout: Up to 4 hours and 45 minutes
- Music LTE Streaming: Up to 5 hours and 30 minutes
- Music Wi-Fi Streaming: Up to 6 hours
- Local Music Playback: Up to 9 hours and 30 minutes
- Music Over LTE + GPS Workout: Up to 3 hours outdoor workout with streaming audio, GPS, and LTE
Standby Time: 3+ days
Charge Time: 50% at 31 minutes, 100% at 68 minutes
Unihertz Atom A$399.99
Unihertz Jelly Pro A$199.99
And now the Rolls Royce:
Unihertz Jelly 2
Before I had finished this post (or decided to buy a new phone (for my birthday which is coming up) I had an email from Unihertz telling me they were releasing a brand new phone which had everything I wanted. It is available now in Kickstarter. I bought two for around A$200 each which I consider absolutely excellent value. The Jelly 2 has a 3″ screen, the same cameras (i think) as the Atom. Lots of connectivity. Really good sensors – great navigation. It has 128 of ROM to begin with dual SIM plus expandable microSD card (one or the other). This phone has it all. It is pretty much exactly the same size as the Atom so it will fit in my pocket just as the pone pictured above does. I recommend you treat yourself to one or two for Xmas as well! I’m sure it will also be up on Unihertz web age soon.
PS: Just a comment on the camera – most of the photos I have posted here for nearly a year now were taken with the camera on my Atom phone instead of my much better camera (convenience/speed etc). I have never been able to use photos from my phone before as they just weren’t good enough quality.
- Update: I received my Jelly 2 for Xmas, and it is great. review coming soon. They are now available for purchase on Indiegogo (January 2021 and soon on the Unihertz site.
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PPS Unihertz now have two new Atom models with 4″ screens and 48 mp cameras and full Telstra coverage! Their Atom XL with a 4″ screen and 48 mp camera includes a UHF radio – this would be a great phone for deer hunters – but it would not fit in your fob.
