Astro Slide 5G Transformer is 5G Smartphone With a Keyboard

Planet Computers' latest flagship smartphone is the crowdfunded Astro Slide 5G Transformer.

Astro Slide is the first 5G smartphone with a keyboard and is the fastest 5G device announced to date. The device features a RockUp slider hinge that transforms the 6.53" touchscreen smartphone into a mini laptop, featuring Planet’s tactile backlit keyboard.

Astro Slide can be used for emails, messaging, editing documents, making calls and taking snaps. The device runs runs Android 10 OS with a multi-boot option for supporting Linux. You can run Microsoft Office for Android apps , such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook , as well as Planet’s own PDA software suite including the Agenda calendaring app, Notes app for notetaking and dictation, the Data database app and our email client, Airmail.

Powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000 chipset with 8 cores plus advanced GPU and APU processors, it offers twice the performance of other 5G chipsets with significantly reduced power consumption, achieving download speeds of up to 4.7 Gb/s with dual 5G modems.

Astro Slide also features Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, BLE Audio and NFC communications and wireless charging. Astro has a 48-megapixel rear facing camera as well as a front camera for video calling.

Key features

A newly-designed integrated physical backlit keyboard
A 6.53" touchscreen display
A 48MP rear camera
minimum 6GB of RAM and 128GB of Flash storage
Fingerprint sensor and smart toggle button for security and control
NFC for payment

Other features of Astro Slide include:

Fingerprint sensor
2x Nano SIMs and 1x eSIM
Minimum 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal memory
a MicroSD slot for additional storage
2 USB-C ports and an audio jack

	Astro Slide (Initial Specification)
Network:	Wi-Fi	WiFi 6 (2 x 802.11ax)
	Modem	Dual 5G World-wide modem 3GPP Rel. 15 NSA/SA DL 4.7Gbps 2CC UL 2.5Gbps 2CC Sub-6GHz 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G Multi-Mode
	VoLTE	Compatible
	ViLTE	Compatible
	VoWi-Fi	Compatible
	Dual SIM operation	Dual 5G Modem
Body:	Form Factor	RockUp™ Slider / Transformer
	Dimensions	16.4(W) x 7.66cm(D) x 1.5(H)cm
	Weight	Approx. 300g
	SIM	Dual nanoSIM + eSIM chip
Display:	Type	Colour FHD+ (20 : 9)
	Size	6.53 inch
	Resolution	2340x1080, 395 ppi
	Multi Touch	Yes
	Protection	Scratch resistant glass
Platform:	OS	Android 10 OS , Linux OS compatible
	Chipset	MediaTek Dimensity 1000, MT6889 Octa-core 5G SoC
	CPU	4x A77 @ 2.6GHz, 256KB L2 4x A55 @ 2.0GHz, 128KB L2 2MB L3
	GPU	ARM G77 9-Core Manhattan 3.0: 120fps
	APU	3rd Generation, 6-Core Total 4.5 TOPS
Memory:	RAM Card Slot	6GB - Ultra-fast 4-channel LPDD4x microSD
	Internal	128 GB
Camera:	Rear Camera	48MP + Flash
	Front Camera	5MP
Sound:	Speakers	Stereo Speakers
	Microphone	Integrated ambient Microphone
	3.5mm Jack	Yes
Comms:	WLAN	Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
	Bluetooth	v5.1, BLE Audio
	GPS	AGPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo Band L1 + L5 GNSS
	NFC	Yes, including payment
	FM Radio	Yes
	USB	2x USB Type C, OTG support, Display Port support (via adapter cable)
Features:	Keyboard	Mechanical full keyboard 24 Layouts Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dvorak, Finnish / Swedish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian / Danish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swiss, Thai, English UK, English US
	Charging	Wireless charging + Fast charging
	Sensors	Accelerometer, compass, light sensor, gyro, magneto-sensor
	Fingerprint Buttons	Fingerprint sensor on display surface Volume up / down, On / Lock button
Battery:		Li-Ion 4000mAh battery (approx.)
Misc:	Colour	Black with silver keyboard edge

Planet Computers aims to raise $200,000 through a crowd funding campaign. Funds raised will go directly to funding the final design phases, manufacturing of the units ordered through the crowd fund, and development of the Android 10 and Linux boot firmware.

The Astro Slide launched today for an early-bird starting price of $491, with shipping estimated for March of 2021.