OESF Portables Forum
Model Specific Forums => Cosmo Communicator => Cosmo Communicator - General Discussion => Topic started by: jornada720 on January 24, 2020, 04:04:55 pm
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I have been trying to find reviews of the Cosmo since it began shipping and there don't appear to be any in English that are more than just "hands on" clips or reviews.
I saw one post on here but that was it.
What do Cosmo backers think of their device? It's odd that there are so few reviews of it compared to when the Gemini first came out.
In the end, I just didn't like the phone call quality on the Gemini so I don't use it much any more. And the dumb plastic hinge design meant that I kept having to get replacement devices.
Is the Cosmo improved in these areas? Please let those of us who might consider buying a Cosmo know what you think of it.
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What do Cosmo backers think of their device?
Love it.
I just didn't like the phone call quality on the Gemini
The Cosmo is the only one of four phones, (E5, Jolla, cheap Alcatel standby, Cosmo), that I've had in my coloursteel clad Faraday cage of a home 3.6km past the middle of nowhere that actually works , and it works well. I've dragged it through some pretty poor signal strength areas of the North Island of NZ, (We're currently in a paddock, somewhere), in the month that I've had it and I've been repeatedly impressed with its old school Nokia levels of signal coverage. Getting your ear in the right place for the speaker is a knack, but once you've mastered that you're away.
And the dumb plastic hinge design meant that I kept having to get replacement devices.
I can't speak for the Little Gem, I never had one, it wasn't quite right for me, but the Cosmo feels very solid to me. Earlier today mine had its first spill from two metres onto old hard concrete as I exited my MotorHome at a fuel station, (the wrong trousers), and the only reminder is a small scuff on the corner it bounced on and a sight kiss on the camera bezel where it came to rest. No harm done. The trousers have been replaced.
Time will tell on the longevity of the Cosmo, (or anything), but knowing that it has come from a company with a designer with experience going all the way back to the Psion devices, coupled to the way it feels in my hands, (even after a 2m bounce from the concrete), I'm confident I will be enjoying my Cosmo for years, or until the PC03 comes along:).
I have been trying to find reviews of the Cosmo since it began shipping
I can't understand this either, wouldn't any mobile phone tech journalist be thrilled to get something different to review for the first time in a decade, (okay second time).
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I, too, love it.
The design has fixed all the problems I had with the Gemini: the keyboard is excellent (the backlight makes it usable in the dark, which the Gemini wasn't), the camera is considerably better (not difficult), the hinge is much improved (much more solid to type on; the Gemini bounced a fair bit when pressing keys and much harder to bite yourself with), and the CoDi is useful for seeing who's calling you. NFC is great, too: mobile phone payments just work, although you have to open the lid.
I've only ever had phones with keyboard (Nokia 9210, 9500, E90, Samsung Galaxy S Relay) -- never owned a touchscreen-only device -- so I can't really say how much of a difference this is over one of those, but the UI copes quite well.
Bad bits: battery life is astonishing; I sometimes manage an entire day. The CoDi is broadly useless for anything other than seeing who's calling you: I find it far, far to slow to respond, and the notifications icons disappear quite quickly. Call quality is fine. USB-C is OK; I haven't used it for anything other than charging, but both ports seem to work for that. The Gemini handled rotation much, much better than the Cosmo does. Even with rotation control apps, the Cosmo can feel a bit clunky, and there are some things which just don't work: Google Calendar really needs portrait, but forcing it means you can't add a title to new events, as the title field loses input focus when it rotates about.
All in all, I expect to use this thing until it dies. It's excellent, as I hoped it would be. The delays in manufacturing and shipping are unfortunate, but I wasn't in the slightest bit surprised by them. I backed early -- number 601 -- as I'd got a Gemini and could see the problems with it, and the Cosmo appeared to fix them. It's done that rather well. I will confess to being somewhat uncertain with the Retro Computers debacle and Janko Mrsic-Flogel's involvement in that and PC, but when the Gemini shipped I felt the risk was probably fine. In sum: buy one.
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PC Pro in the UK has a 3-page review of the Cosmo as its Product of the Month in the Jan 2020 issue 303, about two issues back from the latest issue.
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PC Pro in the UK has a 3-page review of the Cosmo as its Product of the Month in the Jan 2020 issue 303, about two issues back from the latest issue.
Looks like it's not on their website for some strange reason.
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I appreciate the replies to this thread.
Would someone who has owned both a Cosmo and a Gemini please chime in?
Also, I would like to see if the hinge cover is not made out of plastic on the Cosmo.
As you can see in the attached image, the Gemini's hinge consists of a metal pin sheathed in a plastic tube. It's very poorly designed and breaks with a lot of usage.
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I have Gemini for about a year and Cosmo for about a month.
Both are great devices. Have not had any issues with either device.
My Gemini looks like new.
I tend to handle all my phones and mobile computing devices very carefully.
Keep Gemini in the leather sleeve case when not in use.
Awaiting my Cosmo leather case to do the same.
Mark
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I've owned a Gemini and now the Cosmo. The Cosmo is probably my favourite device ever owned (previously the Gemini and before that probably my SP3 - or my Psion in the day - but that was a LONG time ago!). For me it has addressed the few frustrations I had of the Gemini. Namely the hinge (this one is a lot sturdier) and the backlight. I also like the CoDi. I didn't think I would find it useful, but now I find myself using it a lot to check notifications (so I have to open the device a lot less). Oh and the keyboard seems slightly better.
All in all I think I have an unhealthy obsession with it. I may have to see someone
Regarding the hinge. It still is a metal pin in a plastic tube, but there are more hinge points (4 VS 2 by the look) . My Gemini hinge started cracking after about 18 months. I read somewheretthat PC worked hard to improve the hinge on the Cosmo so hopefully it is more durable.
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I'm no longer really using my Gemini -- not entirely sure what to do with it. It's a lovely bit of kit.
Unfortunately, the keyboard partially died on first device I had, so Planet (after some going around) sent me a new one. I'm hoping the same doesn't happen on the Cosmo.
The Cosmo hinge does seem better engineered than the Gemini's, so hopefully it won't disintegrate. I suspect that being as gentle as possible when opening and closing it will help.
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I have Gemini for about a year and Cosmo for about a month.
Both are great devices. Have not had any issues with either device.
My Gemini looks like new.
I tend to handle all my phones and mobile computing devices very carefully.
Keep Gemini in the leather sleeve case when not in use.
Awaiting my Cosmo leather case to do the same.
Mark
My work environment involves me constantly walking around and jotting down information. I would waste an enormous amount of time putting my phone in a sleeve, unfortunately.
And the idea that you would absolutely need to use a sleeve for a phone is an indication that it's poorly designed.
I have to think that PC deliberately used plastic for the hinge to keep down costs. But they could have made the sheath for the hinge pin be thicker. Planet chose not to do that.
It's unfortunate that they decided to keep using plastic hinges on the Cosmo.
The best designed handheld PC hinge is that of the Sharp Zaurus SL-Cxx series. They were able to rotate the screen around 360 degrees and could be adjusted to any open/close angle. It's a shame that PC went with a variation of the Psion design.
The HP Jornada devices also have better hinges than the Psions or the Planet designs.
It's a shame that Planet did not try to license or imitate the Sharp or HP designs. The hinge is the most critically important failure point on a keyboard device.
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> And the idea that you would absolutely need to use a sleeve for a phone is an indication that it's poorly designed.
Before my Cosmo, I had a Samsung S8+.
Even though I kept it in a case whenever I was not using it, I eventually did crack the screen. I had it in a bicycle handlebar grippy thing and it came loose and fell after a bump in the road.
I wouldn't call my Samsung poorly designed. Before that incident it was in great shape with no scratches. I took good care of it, but everyone can have a bad day and make a poor decision like I did, or just have an accident.
I know many people who keep their phones in cases. I wouldn't say any of those phones are poorly designed. Some people are harder on their devices than others and some people just want to keep their device in great shape for a long time.
"Poorly designed" is too broad a phrase to have much meaning. These devices aren't designed to military specifications for field-deployed devices.
I used to work for a company that bought an espresso maker for our office. It was a consumer model available on Amazon. It stopped working properly after about a year and a half. I wouldn't call it poorly designed. It was a consumer model and I would expect it to be used two or three times a day, not the ten or twenty times a day that it saw in our office.
If your work environment involves you constantly using your phone, your Cosmo might be in the same boat as that espresso maker.
Let's be reasonable about what we expect from a mechanically complex device (compared to a standard brick phone, at least) from a crowd-funded campaign and not hold it to the same standards we would a device from a tech giant like Samsung or Nokia.
Let's also be open-minded about correlating case use to design parameters. The sleeve cases for Geminis and Cosmos require the user to remove the phone from the sleeve before opening it, so it doesn't make sense to correlate case usage to hinge-related issues.
When I set my expectations for the Cosmo, I consider that it's a clamshell device with moving parts.
I see the exposed flex cable behind the hinge. I don't expect it to be water resistant. I wouldn't expect it to survive a fall from a few feet. I haven't had my Cosmo for long but I've read reports on this forum from users whose Cosmos have survived drops from a few feet. To me that's a good sign. It exceeds my expectations.
This is the second generation for this form factor from PlanetC. I imagine they've made some improvements. Certainly the keyboard is brilliant. I expect improvement compared to a Gemini but I'm not expecting it to be in the same league as a Nokia, HTC or Samsung.
Let's be reasonable about what we expect.
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+1 for NormMonkey comments...
For my work mobile phone I use an iPhone XR Max. I have it in a silicone case that covers back and sides.
While I'm very careful with all my computing devices and phones, I have had phone slip out of my hand while getting in my car. Phone landed on asphalt pavement. Glad I had the case on phone, as there was zero damage after dropping it from about 3.5 feet above pavement.
Most people I know keep their phones in some sort of case for fall protection reasons.
And even if you don't use a case on Cosmo, you need to open it up if you want to use keyboard. So, there's the hinge opening issue due to clamshell design, as with using a laptop.
My experience with Gemini (about a year...) and Cosmo (about a month...) is that if you handle them with reasonable care, they should do fine.
Just my 2 cents, as we say....
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+1 for NormMonkey comments...
For my work mobile phone I use an iPhone XR Max. I have it in a silicone case that covers back and sides.
While I'm very careful with all my computing devices and phones, I have had phone slip out of my hand while getting in my car. Phone landed on asphalt pavement. Glad I had the case on phone, as there was zero damage after dropping it from about 3.5 feet above pavement.
Most people I know keep their phones in some sort of case for fall protection reasons.
And even if you don't use a case on Cosmo, you need to open it up if you want to use keyboard. So, there's the hinge opening issue due to clamshell design, as with using a laptop.
My experience with Gemini (about a year...) and Cosmo (about a month...) is that if you handle them with reasonable care, they should do fine.
Just my 2 cents, as we say....
You guys are really not rebutting my arguments. Using a case is irrelevant.
The reality is that Planet realized their hinge design on the Gemini was in need of improvement. They changed it to try and make it more reliable. This is a fact.
I have had a Zaurus and an HP Jornada 720 for over 15 years. Neither one has ever developed hinge problems. I used them daily just in the same way that I used a Gemini. The Gemini broke after a few months. I never dropped them on a hard surface. I had an HP 200LX that lasted 20 years before it developed a hinge crack.
Planet cut some corners on the Gemini hinge. That's just how it is. If yours isn't broken, that just means you don't open and close it as much as I do. Congrats.
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PC Pro in the UK has a 3-page review of the Cosmo as its Product of the Month in the Jan 2020 issue 303, about two issues back from the latest issue.
Looks like it's not on their website for some strange reason.
It can, however, be found here (https://www.docdroid.net/tmmYMQU/pc-pro-cosmo-communicator-review.pdf).
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PC Pro in the UK has a 3-page review of the Cosmo as its Product of the Month in the Jan 2020 issue 303, about two issues back from the latest issue.
Looks like it's not on their website for some strange reason.
It can, however, be found here (https://www.docdroid.net/tmmYMQU/pc-pro-cosmo-communicator-review.pdf).
Excellent. Thanks for that!
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+1 for NormMonkey comments...
For my work mobile phone I use an iPhone XR Max. I have it in a silicone case that covers back and sides.
While I'm very careful with all my computing devices and phones, I have had phone slip out of my hand while getting in my car. Phone landed on asphalt pavement. Glad I had the case on phone, as there was zero damage after dropping it from about 3.5 feet above pavement.
Most people I know keep their phones in some sort of case for fall protection reasons.
And even if you don't use a case on Cosmo, you need to open it up if you want to use keyboard. So, there's the hinge opening issue due to clamshell design, as with using a laptop.
My experience with Gemini (about a year...) and Cosmo (about a month...) is that if you handle them with reasonable care, they should do fine.
Just my 2 cents, as we say....
You guys are really not rebutting my arguments. Using a case is irrelevant.
The reality is that Planet realized their hinge design on the Gemini was in need of improvement. They changed it to try and make it more reliable. This is a fact.
I have had a Zaurus and an HP Jornada 720 for over 15 years. Neither one has ever developed hinge problems. I used them daily just in the same way that I used a Gemini. The Gemini broke after a few months. I never dropped them on a hard surface. I had an HP 200LX that lasted 20 years before it developed a hinge crack.
Planet cut some corners on the Gemini hinge. That's just how it is. If yours isn't broken, that just means you don't open and close it as much as I do. Congrats.
To clarify, was not trying to argue with you or deny your experiences.
I was trying to point out that my experiences have been different.
No criticism of your experience is intended.
As I said, it was just my 2 cents, as we say.....
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All contributors have valid points IMHO.
None of the devices mentioned is guaranteed to survive a fall from height onto a hard surface- or other substantial trauma- without significant if not fatal damage.
That's equally true even for highly-engineered top-end smart-phones. Nevertheless some devices are inevitably by design more robust than others.
For hinged devices, repeated stressing of the hinge and its electrical connectors by opening and closing, particularly if unbalanced or forceful, or by flexing to-and-fro from walking, bending, squatting etc. when held in a tight pocket, may also eventually lead to failure.
It's also true that the likelihood of functional and cosmetic survival for all these devices can be prolonged by the use of a case.
But there's a trade-off. The more protective the case, the less convenient it's likely to be in terms of portability and useability of the device.
As every use case is different, only an individual can decide where the sweet-spot lies for them between armour-plated protection and no case at all. Or maybe varies, depending on circumstances.
Engineering the hinge mechanism naturally also involves trade-offs between robustness and other considerations including cost, opening mechanics and form-factor. Devices with the thickness of the Zaurus Cxxxx or Jornada 720 would for example be very difficult to market as a 'phone today.
Whether the engineers have made the right trade-offs for most use-cases only really becomes apparent some time after launch with feedback from experience of real-world use, whatever efforts are made to test robustness in the factory. Recall the bendy iPhone as an example. Evidently the Apple engineers didn't think to jam prototypes in their jeans back pocket and flop down forcibly onto firm seats.
Planet have clearly decided that the hinge mechanism could benefit from being upgraded cf. the Gemini. Despite this, it being an inherent weakness of clamshell devices, no doubt some will fail sooner or later- as did some of the Zaurus and Jornadas. How many and how soon is at this stage impossible to say- all we can do as individual owners is remember that these are not unbreakable devices and so look after and protect our own device as well as circumstances allow, or accept that ours might be one of the earlier ones to fail.
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The best hinge I've ever owned was on the Nokia E90. Superb device. They clearly learned a lot from the 9000-series; the 9500's hinge is similar to the Gemini's and is what did for mine.
Hopefully Planet will do something similar for the next Cosmo (which I fully-expect to be backing).
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Thanks, all. My third Gemini is currently broken in the same way (hinge detached). I'm debating whether I should file a warranted claim on it. They do have a 1 year warrantee on them, right?
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Thanks, all. My third Gemini is currently broken in the same way (hinge detached). I'm debating whether I should file a warranted claim on it. They do have a 1 year warrantee on them, right?
How do you mange to do that? I have literally dropped it in open position several times, and the hinge itself seems fine still. The hinge-cover gets "loose" with time, but like I said the hinge seems fine. I'm usually quite careful with my equipment, but has still dropped it on quite a few occasions, both in open and closed state, and it seems mostly fine (at least I can't see anything really broken, apart from a few "dings" in the cover-plates...).
I'm not trying to suggest that you are "abusive" of your Gemini, but am trying to suggest that there might be some difference in the quality of the hinge on the Gemini, but seems you have been really unlucky to have broken the hinge three times already. And I do believe I open and close my Gemini quite often each day, if nothing else to try and shut off those irritating, repeating alarms of the Agenda....
(Hmm, seems the board didn't accept my post, trying again. And that might have been the case on a few other occasions as well, I usually just dismiss the window after posting, without really checking if it got trough or not. Might be contributing to the topic in this thread???)
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Hopefully Planet will do something similar for the next Cosmo (which I fully-expect to be backing).
Well, they set out to reinvent the Psion, with its fixed angle screen, and hired Martin Riddiford to do it. But, yeah, as the Cosmo already goes beyond the PDA concept, by being a proper phone with an outer display and a built in rear camera, a new hinge perhaps could be next (I'd prefer scissor-type key switches, but perhaps they wouldn't fit). Either way, I sincerely hope Planet will NOT just get the new MediaTek Dimensity 1000 5G SoC and start on a new device, without first working out the productions issues for real, or, if predictable scheduling just can't be had in the small-scale factories we can afford, planning accordingly.
Also, since the Cosmo project begun, little attention has been given the remaining software issues with the Gemini, and the Cosmo has so many of them, it will reasonably need many months of dedicated work. Both devices needs security patches, coming regularly. Planet MUST learn to communicate regularly and promptly speak up about problems, or backers (= investors) just learns that silence equals trouble. And there's Android 10 to think about. Then it might be time for new hardware, when the world actually has a bit of 5G coverage.