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Suppose that you think phone design peaked with Motorolas that had slide out landscape keyboards. Or maybe you were a Psion devotee. Whatever it is, the phone should be a laptop replacement. If you agree, what about adding… 5G?
Astro Slide is basically this. From Planet Computers, a group dedicated to this mini-laptop form factor, is this large Android device with a sliding screen and hinge, so that the keyboard slides out from under the screen, and then the screen rocks up.
So what do you get that makes this worthwhile, besides a 5G radio inside? Well, for one, a mechanical keyboard. That’s backlit. Yes, you read correctly, a keyboard with mechanical keyswitches in a phone. If that anachronism feels like something out of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, you might not be wrong.
It’s got all the important Android accoutrements: 8 core CPU, 9 core GPU, and so forth. But you’re using this thing as a very thicc phone (15mm!) and laptop replacement with very tiny keys.
It has a 48MP camera. It has 2 USB-C ports, one at either end so you can spit-roast it, and a headphone jack.
The SIM tray is equally capable: you can use 2x nano SIMs, a MicroSD card, and an eSIM.
Wrapping it all up, the display size is 6.53″, and runs Android 10. The do-everything Astro Slide is an indiegogo project, and it’s currently raised 304% of the goal, or about 601,000 USD at the moment. Clearly it has some fans. If you’re one, check it out at indiegogo.
