AT&T Cingular Flip IV test im (2023)

4G compatiblevoice phonesare becoming one of those frustratingly underserved markets likeWLAN access points, where there simply aren't many options. Unlike 2G and 3G devices, any 4G voice phone must be approved by the network operator using it; you cannot import or use it.unlockeddevices and often you can't even move them between US carriers. A virtual clone of the Alcatel Smartflip, AT&T's $62.99 Cingular Flip IV (made by Tinno), does a similar job, turning some smartphone features into a foldable phone experience thanks to its KaiOS software, which supports popular mapping, messaging and social networking. applications, but its performance is slow enough to recommend it.Sonim XP3as our editorial choice.

Project

The Flip IV's design is classic. It's a 4.13 x 2.14 x 0.74-inch (HWD), 4.59-ounce, black plastic flip phone with a large 1.8-inch color screen on the front that displays the time and identifier. Open it up and you've got a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240 LCD screen and a reasonably tactile chiclet-style plastic keyboard that lets you feel the keys without looking.

The phone charges via micro USB and has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. You can insert a microSD memory card under the removable battery. Unlike the super-tough Sonim XP3, it's not tough or waterproof in any way.

Large, color external display shows Caller ID information

It's not just a case, it's not a smartphone yet

KaiOS unites the world of simple voice phones and smartphones. If you're looking for a phone without internet access, this isn't for you: the Flip IV phone requires a data plan, and you can't turn off the web browser or the tiny app store.

Instead, this phone is aimed at people who still like the foldable phone form factor but have friends or family who communicate via Facebook, Google Duo or WhatsApp; People who want to sync their calendars or don't want to enter thousands of contacts manually; or people who like a simple spin but still want to find places using Google Maps. There's also a Find My Phone feature, which isn't common on entry-level flip phones.

On the home screen you'll find icons for KaiOS App Store, Google Assistant, Google Maps and YouTube, showing how this phone differs from most Flips. The App Store offers several basic games and utilities, an activity tracker, and Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. All apps are free.

The phone has a limited number of built-in applications.

The Google Assistant icon shows how voice-to-text is available in almost every text input field on this phone. This is particularly useful for texting and WhatsApp, where word recognition is very poor.

Google Maps includes voice search and directions, but there are no voice directions and you can't link it to your car's infotainment system. Still, it's better than what other foldable phones offer.

The contact book and calendar sync with both Google and Outlook, so uploading contacts is relatively easy. However, the phone only handles 1000 contacts. So if you have more than that in the synced account, you'll need to shrink them on the server side or create a new account just to sync with this phone.

Failed emails are not rendered in full

The phone also has music and video players (plays local files from a microSD card), a newsreader app, an email app, and a browser. The email app works with Google or Microsoft accounts and tries to display emails in rich format, but images often fail to load when I try.

The Flip IV suffers from slowdowns. I don't have a Smartflip handy to compare it to, but there is a noticeable delay in the phone's dialer, and rendering emails or advanced web pages takes a long time. My Flip IV also crashed once in the email app and had to do a hard reset.

This isn't entirely due to the Flip's slow LTE speeds. The Flip supports AT&T bands 2/4/5/12/14, providing good coverage across the entire AT&T network, including FirstNet's specialized public safety network.

In a browser speed test, I dropped 19.64 Mbps, while with a browser I dropped over 100 Mbps.samsung galaxy s10. However, loading, rendering, and browsing web pages were much slower than expected at speeds of 20 Mbps. This comes from the operating system and chipset, not the network.

The photos are a reminder of times gone by.

The Flip IV has a 2-megapixel camera, but the less said about it, the better. The photos are drunk, blurry, and blurry, like flashbacks to 2007. (I have photos from 2007 in my Google Photos, and they look a lot like this one.) Cropped videos at 352x288 are also a flashback, and not remotely welcome. Diffused light? Do not even try.

The web browser does all it can

call and text

Phone call quality is good here, though it doesn't match the audio quality of the Sonim XP3. While the Flip IV has good speaker capabilities, the XP3 is 5dB louder at maximum volume and offers richer sound thanks to a larger speaker cavity. There is noise canceling on the microphone. Flip IV polesHD calls though not EVS, the highest quality form of calls available only on the most powerful smartphones. There's no Wi-Fi calling and you can't make calls via WhatsApp; Traditional calls over the 4G network are your only option.

You can create groups, block numbers, use your own ringtone music, and assign ringtones to individual people (but not entire groups).

See how we test the phones

The phone works withauriculares bluetooth. One thing to note: you can't activate Google Assistant on the headset, so you can't make calls with the headset without opening your phone. You need to open your phone, press and hold the OK button to launch Google Assistant and speak into the headset.

For SMS, you can use the built-in SMS app or Whatsapp. You really should use WhatsApp as it is smoother and works better. The built-in SMS app can send and receive images, but not emoji. Group texting works chaotically, spitting out an individual text to everyone on the list. Group texting on whatsapp works just like on whatsapp which means it works as long as everyone has whatsapp. You can dictate text messages which is much faster than using predictive text mode.

Battery life is good. I got 10 hours and 4 minutes of talk time in the test and I expect about three days of standby time.

The best change for AT&T?

The AT&T Cingular Flip IV is an inexpensive flip phone with some useful internet features. If you're in a Whatsapp family or need Google Maps, it's worth considering. Still, the Sonim XP3 is a better phone for voice alone. It's beefier, louder, and has a more responsive UI, making it our top pick yet.