Planet Computers Gemini review thread

[mrpalmtop]

I agree with @Grench that the web communities for the Gemini have been lacking thus far. However there is a very active Fakebook community right here:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1774620199505688

It is a public group so you at least don't have to be signed in to view it.

I also wish that there were more punctuation keys. They could have accomplished this by making the keys slightly smaller while keeping things the same width. The trick with making the Gemini even wider is that the screen bezels would get even bigger since it mostly uses up the space at the top and bottom of the display. I saw people whining about bezel size in reviews but there just is no wider screen ratio out there than 2:1 or 18:9 as it is better known.

The right shift key placement basically has to be where it is in order to have arrows in a traditional inverted "T" shape. Pretty much every typing-centric handheld ever made adheres to that convention. (I am not counting the early HP LXes or the Pandora as typing-centric.)

Nonetheless, I did see a person on Twitter had shifted their arrow keys around to the old-school Mac layout of being on a single row.

In terms of typing, I have no problem using it with two hands while standing. I primarily just hold with my left and type with my right.

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on Gemini. Hope you try Linux soon and share with us the experience .

 

[mrpalmtop]

I have installed the Debian image now. It definitely is much less polished than the Android image. Lots of stuff does not work.

* The default desktop environment is LXQT, however the default QTerminal is not properly configured so you cannot get it to accept commands. Luckily, xterm is available for use. I used it to install Konsole and things are much better in that regard

* Wifi does work although it seems that AC support is not working

* The Function key does not appear to work. This means you cannot, by default, type important characters like the quotation marks and slash. It can be fixed via the usual X keyboard remap software though. You would have to map those keys via Alt, I would guess,

* There is no graphical acceleration yet. It doesn't impact GTK or QT apps as much but applications that rely on it more like LibreOffice are slower to accept input. Window management is slower as well although I am going to experiment with that.

 

[benoitb]

If you don't mind I would be interested in knowing if the Hearthstone game works well on Android.

 

[mrpalmtop]

If you don't mind I would be interested in knowing if the Hearthstone game works well on Android.

I tried it out, it works quite well. No lags for me. This game is not that complicated though, imo. I played it all the way until the last introductory level.

 

[Grench]

So far so good. I made it through the first weekend with it. I haven't been using it continuously, but just as much as I would any other phone. Battery goes quicker than I would like, but I'm using a Blackberry corporate email & messaging application that runs more or less continuously = battery hog. Still getting used to typing on this. Typing in bed is a 3 pillows stomach and elbows setup so the Gemini is on the bed while touch typing. The bounce is a bit to get used to.

Typing technique is to have the fingers hover about 1cm over the keyboard, then shift in space a bit to match the proper finger to the key position. Trying to 'home row' would be an exercising in frustration and cramped fingers. Floating around over the keys is the key to keep your fingers from running into each other.

 

[CommanderB]

Thanks a lot for the detailed reviews! Here a couple more questions:

How is the usage of the Gemini as a phone? How bad is the touchscreen impact on Linux usage and how well is the keyboard suited in practice for Linux shells?

Am I right with my impression that Linux is not yet usable at the moment?

Gesendet von meinem SM-N9005 mit Tapatalk

 

[Askarus]

I wonder how well thumb typing does work.

 

[Grench]

Thanks a lot for the detailed reviews! Here a couple more questions:

How is the usage of the Gemini as a phone? How bad is the touchscreen impact on Linux usage and how well is the keyboard suited in practice for Linux shells?

Am I right with my impression that Linux is not yet usable at the moment?

Gesendet von meinem SM-N9005 mit Tapatalk

As a phone? Good enough for my purposes. I can take & make calls without problem. I wish they had the Android application for the status LEDs figured out and working. So few people call me, though, that opening up the unit to see who is calling is not a big deal.

I haven't tried Linux on it yet My time for puttering around on projects is very limited right now. I may even skip using Debian on the Gemini and go straight to Sailfish in the fall.
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I wonder how well thumb typing does work.

Thumb typing is OK, but obviously different from a screen letter-swiping experience.

When using this two-handed in-the-air, the index fingers naturally support the screen while the middle and ring fingers support the keyboard. Thumbs move around typing on the keys. Nothing is particularly difficult to hit. For the Fn layer ~ key, I find myself bringing the left pointer finger off of the back to push that button while the left thumb gets the Fn - that is probably the most difficult key combo to hit 'in space'. The thumbs actually also wind up doing the keyboard and the screen selections in 'held use'.

Right now the bits that are annoying me the most are the sounds. I can't seem to settle on a ringtone, notifications tone and messaging tone set that I find usable without being annoying.

I shut off the vibration on key select. Nice novelty - pointless. The keyboard has enough travel & feel to know if you pressed a key - it doesn't need a 'thunk' sound or haptic feedback.

 

[rygD]

Right now the bits that are annoying me the most are the sounds. I can't seem to settle on a ringtone, notifications tone and messaging tone set that I find usable without being annoying.

The best ones are TNG/VOY computer sounds/alerts.

 

[mrpalmtop]

Thumb typing is OK, but obviously different from a screen letter-swiping experience.

When using this two-handed in-the-air, the index fingers naturally support the screen while the middle and ring fingers support the keyboard. Thumbs move around typing on the keys. Nothing is particularly difficult to hit. For the Fn layer ~ key, I find myself bringing the left pointer finger off of the back to push that button while the left thumb gets the Fn - that is probably the most difficult key combo to hit 'in space'. The thumbs actually also wind up doing the keyboard and the screen selections in 'held use'.

...

I shut off the vibration on key select. Nice novelty - pointless. The keyboard has enough travel & feel to know if you pressed a key - it doesn't need a 'thunk' sound or haptic feedback.

I shut off the keyboard haptic feedback as well. It is annoying in my opinion if you type with any sort of speed on this thing.

I can touch type on my Gemini, in part because I figured out a decade ago that the secret to touch typing on handhelds is to not use your little fingers for anything. With just four fingers, you can really type at a nice pace.

Two thumb typing is totally unergonomic in my opinion. Just hold the phone with one hand and then type with the fingers of the other hand. I can type much quicker using this method than two thumbs. In addition, thumb typing is highly unergonomic since it requires you to strech your hands quite a bit due to the width of the device.

My only complaint with the Gemini keyboard is that the keys are too hard to press. But this has the benefit of making it hard to accidentally push the wrong key. It's not super difficult to press down but I could get a much better speed if the keys were just a bit easier to actuate.

To this day, I still think the gold standard in portable keyboards is the Jornada 72x from Hewlett-Packard. I can literally type 70 words per minute on those things.

 

[Grench]

I shut off the keyboard haptic feedback as well. It is annoying in my opinion if you type with any sort of speed on this thing.

I can touch type on my Gemini, in part because I figured out a decade ago that the secret to touch typing on handhelds is to not use your little fingers for anything. With just four fingers, you can really type at a nice pace.

Two thumb typing is totally unergonomic in my opinion. Just hold the phone with one hand and then type with the fingers of the other hand. I can type much quicker using this method than two thumbs. In addition, thumb typing is highly unergonomic since it requires you to strech your hands quite a bit due to the width of the device.

My only complaint with the Gemini keyboard is that the keys are too hard to press. But this has the benefit of making it hard to accidentally push the wrong key. It's not super difficult to press down but I could get a much better speed if the keys were just a bit easier to actuate.

To this day, I still think the gold standard in portable keyboards is the Jornada 72x from Hewlett-Packard. I can literally type 70 words per minute on those things.

Interesting - I have found that I'm able to 8 finger touch type on it by using my 'hover a cm over the keyboard' method. That includes using the pinky fingers - though I do find myself hitting A instead of Tab if I don't slow down to think. I also wind up hitting up arrow instead of . fairly often. Again, I have to think that on that device . is a middle finger not a ring finger.

I haven't tried one-handed typing on it yet.

I did find a phone use fail with it though. Checking voice mail without resulting to speakerphone or headset using a Planet Computers Gemini is a bit of an ergonomic nightmare. I can also foresee similar issues when calling financial institutions. Voice says to input my account number or pass code - which I can't do with it open - but I can't hear the voice with it open - unless I hold it long-ways to my ear. I suspect this is a use-case where having an e-ink screen with touch in the lid would be a good idea.

I really should start carrying a bluetooth device for this thing.

 

[mrpalmtop]

One annoyance I discovered today is that you cannot install Samsung's Gear app if your device is rooted.

I don't have a Google Wear device, perhaps they have the same restriction.

Just a word of warning, reflashing your Gemini totally erases everything so keep backups!
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Interesting - I have found that I'm able to 8 finger touch type on it by using my 'hover a cm over the keyboard' method. That includes using the pinky fingers - though I do find myself hitting A instead of Tab if I don't slow down to think. I also wind up hitting up arrow instead of . fairly often. Again, I have to think that on that device . is a middle finger not a ring finger.

I guess I should have clarified. I meant that I only use my middle three fingers for typing. Sometimes I will use the right thumb for space but not usually.

I did find a phone use fail with it though. Checking voice mail without resulting to speakerphone or headset using a Planet Computers Gemini is a bit of an ergonomic nightmare. I can also foresee similar issues when calling financial institutions. Voice says to input my account number or pass code - which I can't do with it open - but I can't hear the voice with it open - unless I hold it long-ways to my ear. I suspect this is a use-case where having an e-ink screen with touch in the lid would be a good idea.

I really should start carrying a bluetooth device for this thing.

Yet another reason I love having my watch connected to my Gemini. And you can get a Gear S2 for less than $100 on eBay now.

My preference as far as displays would be for Planet Computers to make the display rotatable similar to what HTC did with its little-used 7 Pro cellphones. They had full qwerty keyboards that opened to a nice angle and also could be used with the display facing outward when closed.

 

[Grench]

One annoyance I discovered today is that you cannot install Samsung's Gear app if your device is rooted.

I don't have a Google Wear device, perhaps they have the same restriction.

Just a word of warning, reflashing your Gemini totally erases everything so keep backups!
[doublepost=1525723761,1525723079][/doublepost]

I guess I should have clarified. I meant that I only use my middle three fingers for typing. Sometimes I will use the right thumb for space but not usually.



Yet another reason I love having my watch connected to my Gemini. And you can get a Gear S2 for less than $100 on eBay now.

My preference as far as displays would be for Planet Computers to make the display rotatable similar to what HTC did with its little-used 7 Pro cellphones. They had full qwerty keyboards that opened to a nice angle and also could be used with the display facing outward when closed.

That results in a much larger and more complicated hinge mechanism though. Using a less expensive (cost & power drain) 2nd display might be cheaper in terms of complexity and pocket-volume? Not sure what those eink screens cost in bulk. Individually they are prohibitive of the idea.

 

[mrpalmtop]

That results in a much larger and more complicated hinge mechanism though. Using a less expensive (cost & power drain) 2nd display might be cheaper in terms of complexity and pocket-volume? Not sure what those eink screens cost in bulk. Individually they are prohibitive of the idea.

Why do you think the hinge mechanism would have anything to do with power consumption? If anything, a second display would require more power, even if e-ink.

 

[Grench]

Why do you think the hinge mechanism would have anything to do with power consumption? If anything, a second display would require more power, even if e-ink.

eink ~ less expensive and lower power drain than a conventional screen.
Combined costs of eink and existing minimalist hinge less expensive than a flipping rotating hinge mechanism both in terms of design costs AND physical space.

Planet computers did a very good job with the Gemini for minimizing the hinge volume. It is essentially a hinge like you would find on a regular household door - only much much skinnier. Skinny enough that I'm wondering about it's long term durability. Data lines have no twist-through-the-hinge thing - they go behind the hinge and flex/slack out into the 'kickstand' space when open. I can see two of them in there when looking down the inside of the hinge from the side. Eventually pocket lint & random grime are going to infiltrate that space.


On an entirely other note...
I want a set of wired earbud headphones with inline mic and volume controls that all work on the Gemini without having to install an additional app. Does anyone have a recommendation?

 

[rygD]

Would a standard set work without needing something else? I just plug mine into Android devices and they work. I might have a suggestion if that is what you need.

 

[second exodous]

I keep coming back to this thread looking for more pictures but no one is posting any. . .

 

[Grench]

Would a standard set work without needing something else? I just plug mine into Android devices and they work. I might have a suggestion if that is what you need.

For 90% of the ones I'm seeing out there with volume controls, the volume control only works on iPhones. For the 'Android compatible' ones, they often require the user to download or even sideload an app - which shouldn't be necessary. Google's Nougat specs documentation includes up to 4 button headphone controls - not that there are any 'in the wild'.

Three button iphone remotes turn into one button Android remotes (volume controls don't work).

I found these as a 'cheap try'. They should be here Saturday.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077BG89WM

I bookmarked these too, but that is a lot to spend on a set of earbuds imho. No idea if they're 'worth it'.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M8OFIX3

But, so far those are the only ones I'm finding with an Android specific version that -should- work with volume controls.

Why so specific about needing a 3 button (or more) remote? Gemini has no outside volume control buttons and the one exposed button that could work for answering a call is on the opposing side to the headphone jack.
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I keep coming back to this thread looking for more pictures but no one is posting any. . .

It's a device without a camera and you want pictures? Oh, wait - ...

Seriously, what would you like a picture of that doesn't already exist somewhere? OESF has pictures of a 50% teardown. The unit looks like the one on the Gemini site. There are reviews showing the keys and Gemini specific application software. What is left that hasn't been covered?

 

[levi]

The benefit of threads like this tends to be that you don't have to go elsewhere to look for photos, news updates and reviews.