REVIEW: Smartisan R2 in 2023 - Best Smartphone You Shouldn't Buy? Unique Smartisan OS Phone!

Revisited review of the ill-fated, Smartisan Nut R2 smartphone - one of my favorite, underrated Android smartphones in recent history...Find more devices: https://amzn.to/3QDszCG

Details:
- 6.67 inch 90Hz AMOLED screen
- Up to 16GB DDR5 RAM
- Up to 512GB UFS 3.1 ROM
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G, Octa-core, 2.846GHz
- Quad camera: 108MP + 8MP + 13MP + 5MP / 20MP front camera
- NFC, Wi-Fi 6, Galileo, Smartisan OS
- Notification Mute Switch
- Stereo Speakers

The flagship Smartisan Nut R2 is powered by a Snapdragon 865 SoC, up to 16GB of RAM and the phone is equipped with a 108MP quad-camera setup on the back. The device is shipped out with the company’s own operating system called Smartisan OS, based on Android.

The front of the device is covered by a 6.67" micro-curved AMOLED screen with 180Hz touch latency and FullHD+ resolution. The display supports DCI-P3 and sRGB with a brightness of up to 800nit and a pixel density of 387ppi. Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

In terms of optics, you can look forward to a 108 MP Samsung S5KHMX main sensor (nearly 1-inch sensor type). The AI quad camera also includes an 8 megapixel 3x optical telephoto camera (OV08A10), a 119.7° 13-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens (S5K3L6) and a fourth 5-megapixel lens for taking macro shoots as close as 2cm. On the front of the Smartisan Nut R2 is a 4-in-1 20MP punch hole camera for taking selfies, video calls or to unlock the phone by facial recognition. The Smartisan Nut R2 is capable of video recordings with up to 4K 60fps.

The built-in battery has a 4150mAh capacity and supports 55W fast charging (QC4+ and PD3.0). The Smartisan Nut R2 also supports dual-mode 5G, Wi-Fi 6, WiFi Direct, WiFi Display, Bluetooth 5.1 and comes with a NFC chip. In addition, the dual SIM phone comes with GPS/AGPS, Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou for navigation purposes.

The Smartisan Nut R2 comes in three color options — Black, White, Green. The company has said that it has produced only 2,000 limited editions of the White color and has no plans of making more. The White Edition shows a textured pattern on the phone’s back panel when the device is subjected to direct sunlight, winning the 2021 Red Dot Design Award.

History -
Smartisan Technology Co., Ltd., was a Chinese technology company headquartered in Beijing. According to the company website, the name "Smartisan" is a portmanteau of "smart" and "artisan", signifying "artisanship in the smartphone era.". "锤子" literally translates to "hammer", as depicted in the company's logo. TikTok parent company ByteDance acquired the struggling smartphone brand in 2019, with the Smartisan R2 being the last device released under the brand.

Smartisan OS is the operating system for Smartisan devices and is renowned for its unique interface, entrancing animations, near-perfect typography, and hundreds of small, thoughtfully designed features.

Notable OS highlights include:
- Smartisan TNT Desktop Mode: using USB-C or wireless projection to an external display triggers a desktop mode with resizable windows for easier multitasking (similar to Samsung DeX). Supports digital stylus for notes and drawing, transforming the phone into a Microsoft Surface / Chromebook alternative.

- Idea Pills: Instantly record voice memos, organize recordings and transcribe voice to text using a click of a button from anywhere in the OS. Increase your productivity and capture recordings at a moment's notice.

- One Step: Mini desktop mode which can be accessed by swiping on the corners of the phone for faster multitasking between 3 apps and accessing universal copy/paste commands for words, images, and documents.

- Big Bang: Press down on any region of text using your thumb to "explode" text into single, parsed words. Easily select text, delete/add words, and reuse in any app as desired (advanced copy/paste functionality).

Comparable phones (same gen, Snapdragon 865) include:
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra / Galaxy S20 / Galaxy S20 FE /
Galaxy Note 20 / Note 20 Ultra
OnePlus 8 Pro / OnePlus 8 / OnePlus 8T
Meizu 17 / Meizu 17 Pro
Motorola Edge+
Oppo Find X2 Pro / Oppo Reno Ace 2
Xiaomi Mi 10T / Mi 10 Pro / Mi 10 Ultra / Mi 10 / POCO F2 Pro
Redmi K30 Pro
LG V60 ThinQ
Sony Xperia 5 II / Sony Xperia 1 II
ZTE Axon 10s Pro / ZTE Axon 10 Pro

Past devices: Smartisan R1, Smartisan Nut Pro 3 / U3 / Nut Pro 2

Best Smartphone You Never Knew Existed...
Best Smartphone You Haven't Heard Of
Best Smartphone You Never Head Of

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Unique OS Phone, KaiOS, Sailfish OS, Ubuntu Touch, PinePhone, Purism Librem, Pine64, F(x)tec Pro 1 X, Fairphone, Gemini PDA, Nokia N900, Nokia N9, Jolla Phone, Lumigon, Nothing Phone

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