Web User - UK (2019-12-11)

24 11-26December 2019

ProductTest CosmoCommunicator

TheCosmoCommunicator

is amobile devicethat’sall

about thekeyboard.

Although thereare plenty

of phones, tabletsand

compatible Bluetooth

keyboards around,there

aren’t manythatare

combined inasingle

device, withaphysical

keyboardasgoodasthis,

thatcan still fit intoa

pocket. It isn’tperfect, and

aphoneoperating system

th at favours being in

portrait mode leavesalot

of apps difficult or

impossibletouse in

landscape,but ifyou’re

nostalgicforthe old Psion

Series 5, then thisisright

up your street.

Cosmo Communicator

PRODUCTINFO

Cosmo

Communicator

Price:£799

Buyfrom

PlanetComputers:

http://www.planetcom.co.uk

SPECIFICATIONS

■Octa-coreMediaTekHelioP70

processor

■Mali-G72graphics

■6GBofmemory

■128GBofstorage

■6in2,160x1,080pixelsIPSscreen

■External1.91inAMOLEDtouchscreen

■microSDslot

■24-megapixelsrearcamera,

5-megapixelsfrontcamera

■171x79x1 7.3mm

■326g

FOR

✓Grea tmechanicalkeyboard

✓Ditch yourlaptop

✓UnlikeanythingsincethePsion

Series5

AGAINST

✗Landscapeorientationdoesn’t

suitallAndroidapps

✗Disappointingcamera

✗Featuresdon’tcompetewith

similarlypricedsmartphones

OURVERDICT HHHHHHHH

FEATURES HHHHHHHHHH

PERFORMANCE HHHHHHHHHH

EASE OF USE HHHHHHHHHH

VALUEFOR MONEY HHHHHHHHHH

Anew Android phone tha

the spirit of the Psion Ser

Thescreenis a6in IPS

display, witharesolution of

2,160x1,080 pixels. It’s fine,

but it doesn’trival thescreens

we’vecometoexpect on

similarly pricedtop-of-the-

range smartphones.Thesame

can be said of theexternal

camera, which lags behind the

quality ofthebestphone

cameras.Therearenofancy

extras–noopticalzoom or

ThePsion5wa

it wasaminicom

but theCommun

brought phone fu

toitsredesign. It

makecalls when

closed, displaying

asmall screen

that’sgood

enoughtoshow

the firstfewlines

of an email.Like

premium phones

afingerprintread

unlockingthe dev

a24-megapixel c

Unfoldingthe device

unleashesitskillerfeature: the

keyboard. Ifyou’reawhizz

withanonscreenkeyboard,

youmayturnyour nose up

atsomethingasarchaic as a

physicalkeyboard, butthisis

avastly superior deviceto

type on.Designedwith the

helpofMartin Riddiford, who

designedthe original Psion

Series5keyboard, this gets

closetorecreating the

brillianceoftheoriginal.Yo u

won’t findyourselftyping as

quicklyasyou might on

afull-sizedcomputer

keyboard, but it’s notfaroff.

Thedeviceruns Android

but hasafewapps of itsown,

specificallydesignedtotake

advantageofthekeyboard

and theCommunicator’s

landscape screen. Chief

among these isAgenda, which

emulatesPsion’soldcalendar

but updatedto sync with

Google Calendar.Thereare

also notepads, emailsoftware

and othertools. However,

it’s worth checking whether

yourfavouriteAndroidapps

workwell in landscape mode

onyourexisting device

beforecommittingtothe

Communicator, because not

all ofthem do.

videostabilisation–but it can

use HDR(High Dynamic

Range)tocapturehigh-

contrastshots.

Because this isaniche

device,notreally targetedat

theregular phoneconsumer,

it’s expensive.However,ifit

stopsyouneedingalaptop or

Chromebooktogo alongside

atraditionalsmartphone,you

couldstillbequids-in.

I

fyou’restillmourning the

lossofthe much loved

Psion Series5PDA

(personal digitalassistant),

which launched in the

Nineties, theCosmo

Communicatormaybring a

tear of nostalgiatoyoureye.

This folding screen and

keyboardcombo looks like

something fromabygone

era, but as anyone who had

one willtellyou, the Psion

Series5wasaBritish design

classic that’sworthrevisiting.

Thisisavastly superior deviceto type

on comparedtoan onscreenkeyboard

atchannels

ries 5PDA

asn’taphone,

mputer,

icator has

unctionality

letsyou

folded

g

most

,ithas

derfor

viceand

camera.

device