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  • - Hey, guys, this is Austin.

  • This is a flip phone that runs Android,

  • and my only question, as always, is why does it exist?

  • So this is a Target clearance special.

  • I was walking around the corner,

  • I saw this for a whopping $50, it's hard to say no.

  • The first thing I noticed is that this looks enormous,

  • so actually do we have a flip phone around here?

  • So for some context, this is the size

  • of a normal flip phone, you open it up,

  • you hold it up to your face, very normal looking.

  • However, when you look at it compared to this,

  • it's like (laughs) twice as big.

  • Hey, we are activated, alright.

  • Let's enjoy the wonders of our ZTE CYMBAL-T.

  • Okay, okay, so actually you do have

  • a keyboard on the display.

  • Man, this is gonna be (laughs),

  • this is very bizarre.

  • I don't think I've ever typed like this before.

  • I feel like the way to actually do this

  • is to hold it in one hand and just do a single hand

  • for typing, this actually doesn't feel like

  • the worst thing I've ever done.

  • It's up there.

  • So we are set up with our Android flip phone.

  • And at first glance, you're actually getting

  • the full Android experience.

  • We have the play store,

  • we have Google Chrome, Gmail, even YouTube.

  • One thing this does have is

  • actual hard buttons for your Android keys.

  • For example, I have my back button,

  • I have home, I even have multitasking.

  • Once you get going, it's not like

  • the slowest thing I've ever tried.

  • There is a decent quad core processor inside.

  • It's just a slightly un-ergonomic experience.

  • So the first thing to do when you're putting a

  • flip phone to the test is trying to make a phone call.

  • Jimmy?

  • - [Jimmy] Yeah.

  • - How do I sound?

  • - [Jimmy] Uhhh, bad.

  • - What do you mean bad?

  • - [Jimmy] It's just like, it's grainy and it's soft.

  • And it's not very clear.

  • - Okay, so maybe calls not the strong suit of the phone.

  • However, let's try texting.

  • Hi, Jimmy.

  • So one of the best parts is when you have the keyboard up,

  • it literally takes up the entire screen.

  • I cannot even see the message he just sent me. (laughs)

  • It also does have a secondary display,

  • which only actually turns on sometimes.

  • So you can see your battery life and time.

  • So with blisteringly sharp three and a half inch,

  • 320 by 480 display, I really expect that this is going

  • to reset my expectations for what

  • to expect with a high end device.

  • Let's just start by playing this 4K HDR video.

  • That seems reasonable.

  • - iPhone ever, it has the biggest screen,

  • smallest bezels, and is the first iPhone

  • to drop the home button, but the question is.

  • - Man.

  • - Is it worth it?

  • It all starts with the design.

  • - (laughing) It's um,

  • you know this is one way of watching videos.

  • It's really crispy.

  • I think 360p is really the sweet spot

  • that everyone should watch all of our videos in.

  • As long as you crank the brightness all the way up,

  • you can see most of the colors,

  • at least six or seven of them.

  • I think it might be time to take this thing outside

  • and really put it through its paces.

  • Really kinda fully explore the outer capabilities

  • of this performance monster.

  • So, there's no way around it.

  • A flip phone is never going to be as comfortable

  • to use as a standard smart phone.

  • When it comes to actually scrolling on the screen,

  • you kinda have to hold it in this sort of weird way.

  • But, if you can look past that,

  • it actually does work pretty well as an Android phone.

  • Take Chrome for example.

  • Once you get into a web page, you'll find that it's

  • pretty much the same as any other budget Android phone.

  • So, loading the page is fine, scrolling is no problem.

  • Really the only way that you actually notice that this is

  • a flip phone is when you have to hold it by the screen.

  • Especially because it has not only LTE as well as wifi,

  • the experience really isn't that bad

  • as long as you're fine looking like this all the time.

  • Now, you're definitely not going to wanna play

  • a ton of games on this thing,

  • but you can play some simple titles such as 2048.

  • One of the main issues here is that

  • a lot of games you're going to run into issues

  • because the screen resolution is very low,

  • and the fact that obviously the internals

  • aren't going to be incredibly powerful.

  • But, for simple stuff, it actually does kind of work.

  • I will say that there are some things

  • about flip phones that I did kind of miss.

  • Number one of course, is that flip.

  • It just sounds so nice to be able to close it up.

  • You can toss it in your pocket, set it down.

  • It's not really something you have to worry about

  • getting like something like a screen scratched or whatever.

  • There are other advantages.

  • You do have that removable battery.

  • You're gonna get the headphone jack,

  • the micro SD card slot.

  • There are things that are actually kind of nice.

  • However, the size of this.

  • Once you close it up it's not that bad,

  • but I mean even when you compare it to something like

  • an iPhone 10, it is really chunky.

  • You can carry it around, but definitely

  • not as small as the old school flip phones.

  • Even though it might look like a flip phone,

  • we are dealing with a legitimate Android smart phone here.

  • So, of course, one of the most

  • important tests is the camera.

  • The first thing I notice is that with the camera

  • around back here, it is super easy to cover,

  • but if I line it up here.

  • I mean, that's actually not terrible.

  • It's not exactly a super crispy picture, but it works.

  • Supposedly this is 720p video.

  • Um, it actually looks okay I guess.

  • I'm gonna walk around here a little bit.

  • Get a nice close up.

  • Ken looking really professional here.

  • I mean, you know, it exists.

  • Hopefully that's not too bad.

  • Woah, okay well this is an unexpected benefit.

  • Because the phone is so big,

  • it actually looks like I've got a selfie stick.

  • Huh, alright, so if I press the center button,

  • not my finest selfie, but it's actually reasonably wide

  • especially considering just how far

  • away you can get the phone.

  • I'm actually mildly impressed.

  • For $50, this is not the worst camera I've ever tried.

  • I mean, mind you it's not the best by any stretch,

  • but it works.

  • I know I made a lot of fun of this phone

  • throughout this video, but I'm gonna say

  • that it is a kinda cool throwback.

  • And, especially if you're someone who's

  • coming from a current flip phone,

  • it might not be the worst upgrade in the world.

  • For most of us though, probably time to, you know,

  • stick with the normal smart phone and not this monstrosity.

  • But, I'm curious, what do you guys think about

  • this smart phone/flip phone, whatever it's called?

  • Let me know in the comments below,

  • and I will catch you guys in the next one.

- Hey, guys, this is Austin.

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