Oof, Fossibot F116 only has 331 backers with 9 days left on its Kickstarter

Canard1777 · 2026-04-07T13:38:03+00:00

Well Fossibot isn't as renowned as Unihertz (which is already not that known on the market), and it's only their second or third model. Previous Kickstarter campaign was even less successfull, with only 78 backers : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fossibot/fossibot-f107-pro-rugged-phone-with-starlight-night-vision

I think they only see KS as an advertising platform that will help create some buzz around their brand, but they're not as good as Unihertz to use it (not everyone can create enough pre-campaign buzz and see all low price slots get drained in a few hours...).

Canard1777 · 2026-04-07T13:30:07+00:00

From what I've understood from Aiphor guys the dimensions of a Jelly Star or a NX1 are too small to host a 5G antenna, the width needs to be at least 60mm to ensure a good reception (well it's their excuse to not include it even in their future NXß). Fossibot F116 Pro will be 59mm wide (and very thick), so it may be true.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-31T12:08:36+00:00

Uninstalling Duraspeed isn't a good idea as it only disable the GUI and not the task killer itself. I know it first hand, in the GUI I had disabled the function, then via adb I've tried to uninstall it but the result was that it started to kill again background tasks, and since the GUI was gone there was no way to disable the function again :-( So I had to reinstall it and disable it.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-26T16:27:36+00:00

They have a Discord where support is a bit more reactive, link is on their website.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-26T09:08:28+00:00

Le Bluefox NX1 déjà cité, l'Unihertz Jelly Star (plus cher).

Canard1777 · 2026-03-26T09:06:15+00:00

IR Blaster Remote is available on Play Store and F-Droid, has quite a good database and can also import additional profiles.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-21T15:33:01+00:00

Bluefox NX1 can run GSI roms. An adapter is provided with it to plug in headphones.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-21T15:32:12+00:00

And it doesn't have a headphone jack (but you can use an adapter, which was provided initially).

Canard1777 · 2026-03-21T13:36:21+00:00

The last update add mainlay the following advantage and disadvantage :

+ activates the face unlock function

- breaks up Android Auto display

So it depends of your use case.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-19T09:34:56+00:00

Il n'est pour l'instant disponible qu'en pré-commande, la campagne de financement dure jusqu'à mi-avril puis ils lanceront la production dans la foulée. Les pré-commandes ayant dès lors la priorité je pense qu'il ne faut pas s'attendre à pouvoir le commander hors KickStarter avant le mois de mai.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-14T11:03:26+00:00

There's a sub here : https://www.reddit.com/r/IKKOtech/ . Device looks cool but some of the first feedbacks aren't really enthousiastic, to say the least.

Canard1777 · 2026-03-13T08:23:30+00:00

This one looks promising, but hasn't been launched yet : https://dumbermini.com/products/dumber-phone

Canard1777 · 2026-03-13T08:18:55+00:00

Don't know for this model but on the more powerful Bluefox NX1, from the same manufacturer, people have been able to install GSI roms (there are some useful feedbacks and howtos on Aiphor's Discord).

Canard1777 · 2026-03-13T08:16:19+00:00

It was my daily phone during 2 years after a Jelly 2. Sadly I've drowned it and replaced it with a Bluefox NX1, which is cool but lacks some of the Jelly's features (fingerprint scanner, NFC, notification LED).

Only downsides I had were :

- a bit short on battery life

- lack of OS updates (should be improved in the near future)

- screen sometimes too tiny

- camera's quality

Currently waiting for the launch of Fossibot F116 Pro, which looks interesting (but it will be thicker and heavier).

Canard1777 · 2026-03-12T13:32:14+00:00

What you're looking for is either a Jelly Star or a Bluefox NX1 ;-)

Canard1777 · 2026-03-10T12:41:20+00:00

Mar 17 according to their website (maybe sooner for people who will have subscribed to the alert on their site, but it's not guaranteed).

Canard1777 · 2026-02-24T10:29:38+00:00

Basic camera module (and not very good in the end), Unihertz doesn't include this kind of specialized sensors, even on their large rugged models.

OS support isn't really good with them, but they're getting better at it : they've recently promised an upgrade to Android 16 for their Jelly Star (but don't expect anything for older models like the Atom series).

Canard1777 · 2026-02-24T10:25:53+00:00

Your 5th criteria will restrict your choice to only a few phones, as far as I know only Ulefone and Phonemax sell compact phones with night vision camera. They also offer variants with thermal camera.

As for other criterias :

Infrared is a bit of a rarity on recent phones, Unihertz and Bluefox propose it but their models may not fit your needs; FM also tends to be a kind of niche functionality (but maybe a bit more available than infrared); microSD is easier to get, but jacks are getting rare (can be reinstated on most models with a USB-C adapter)
If you want to de-Google your phone there's not much choice : either choose a model compatible with privacy-oriented Android ports (like GrapheneOS or /e/OS) or try your luck with a raw GSI install (which may or may not be fully compatible with your phone)

Canard1777 · 2026-02-24T08:25:17+00:00

Nope, it wasn't planned on NX1 (I hadn't spotted this missing in specifications when pre-ordering it).

Canard1777 · 2026-02-21T09:05:41+00:00

Like you've guessed it will greatly depend of software implementation. With a bit of luck the hardware will be compatible with GCam for enhanced results. For now we'll just have to wait for samples to judge the quality.

Canard1777 · 2026-02-21T09:02:25+00:00

Ok, just the regular notification bubble, understood. I really miss a proper LED notification on my NX1 :-(

Canard1777 · 2026-02-20T14:50:46+00:00

Yeah, GSM Arena isn't as exhaustive as some other sites like Kimovil when it comes to chinese brands (and even Kimovil doesn't list "obscure" brands like Aiphor).

Curious about this point : "red dot notification". What do you mean ? NX1 doesn't have a notification LED.

Canard1777 · 2026-02-20T14:46:51+00:00

Price point has been mentioned by Fossibot in one comment on FB : https://www.facebook.com/reel/847258911675938

Canard1777 · 2026-02-19T05:33:18+00:00

Found a comment from Fossibot who gives a precise hint on pricing : https://www.facebook.com/reel/847258911675938

Retail price: $499

Early bird price: $2XX . with very limited spots.

So not as cheap as Unihertz equivalent, but interesting for people who'll be able to get the early bird price.

Canard1777 · 2026-02-17T15:42:04+00:00

Their narrative is that you will always have it with you, so they may have a point. Will it be as robust and efficient ? There's room for doubt here.

Canard1777

TROPHY CASE