British company Planet Computers has presented its third smartphone with keyboard, for which supporters are now being sought via crowdfunding. Like the predecessors Gemini and Cosmo Communicator, the Astro Slide comes with a physical keyboard that can be pushed open in the new model using a slide mechanism. The previous models are smartphones with folding keyboards.

Rock-up Joint

In contrast to other smartphones with push-on keyboards, the screen in the finished Astro Slide can still be angled after the keyboard has been pulled out. This would allow the device, like the Gemini and the Cosmo Communicator, to be placed on a table and used. Planet Computers calls the new mechanism rock-up joint.

The layout of the keyboard is similar to that of the Gemini and the Cosmo Communicator. Planet Computers had experimented a lot with the keyboard when developing the Gemini to find a compromise between usability and limited space. As with the predecessor models, the keyboard should have built-in lighting. At 15 mm, the Astro Slide is relatively thick when pushed together, and at around 300 grams it weighs significantly more than other current smartphones.

Mediatek SoC & 5G

The Astro Slide is said to have a 6.53-inch LCD screen, while Mediatek’s Dimensity-1000-SoC (MT6889) should work at a maximum clock rate of 2.6 GHz. The working memory should be at least 6 GB, the built-in flash memory 128 GB. A slot for micro SD cards should be built in, alternatively users can use two SIM cards. In addition, the smartphone should have a built-in eSIM.

The Astro Slide is said to support 5G (SA and NSA), as well as WLAN according to 802.11ax. A 48-megapixel camera will be installed on the back. The smartphone is to be delivered with Android 10 with the later option of a Linux operating system.

Interested parties must currently make a contribution of at least 491 euros to secure an Astro Slide. For a financing Planet Computers needs 180,000 euros, of which almost 80,000 euros were reached when this article was published. The campaign runs until mid-May 2020. The smartphone is to be delivered in March 2021.