SERVO F21 Slide Review

 

Hello, Friends.

Today I'll write a review for the SERVO F21 Slide phone. I've been using it now for a little while and gotten quite comfortable with it, moreso than I expected.

I bought the phone on AliExpress from this listing. Why? It was the cheapest listing I could find. For $56.70, I figured that I won't be upset no matter what arrives. This phone is generally available on AliExpress, Amazon, and anywhere else you can find these sort of cheap novelty devices, so feel free to pick any listing inspires the most confidence for you.

The device shipped last mile via SpeedX, to my dismay. It managed to arrive on time, being delivered just after 1AM after being 'out for delivery' since around 8:30AM the previous day. Poor driver. 

I was surprised and mildly impressed by the phone arriving in a decent little sleek box, almost as though it were an iPhone. 

Though, it was a bit creased on account of the fact that it was packaged in a bubble mailer...

Inside the box, everything was packed neatly and safely. $56.70 buys you the phone, a charging cable, a SIM key, an instruction manual (printed in Chinese and English), and a lanyard. I was charmed by this, as well as overjoyed as it answered one of my burning questions. Indeed, this phone does come with a strap hole! Rejoice!

The Design:

Here is a 360 view of the device, freshly unboxed:

The keyboard has a nice backlight when the phone is on, which I very much appreciate.

The kindly pre-installed screen protector was installed crooked, with dust stuck underneath. I was able to peel it up, use some packing tape to remove the dust, and reinstall it properly.

Indeed, the fingerprints were there when I unboxed the phone, fresh from the factory.

In my opinion, the fake multi-cameras and the camera bump are the worst part of this design, I do wish they would just make it a single camera.

The top of the phone features a flashlight, a 3.5mm jack, as well as a strap hole at the corner. 

The bottom of the phone features a USB-C charge port and speakers. The speakers do appear to both be real, not decorative. As for the sound quality... let's just say it is quite 'retro' and 'nostalgic', and feels just about right coming out of a slide phone. I think you'll probably rather use the headphone jack. It also supports bluetooth, if you prefer.

This phone supports dual PSIM and microSD card. I have it using one SIM card and a 32GB SD for music.

One feature that I find genuinely convenient on this phone is the dedicated flashlight button on the side. I knew I will use this a lot, and I find the dedicated button extremely convenient. Not having to unlock the phone and navigate to the flashlight toggle on the dashboard is very nice. As well, you might have noticed the size of it, but the flashlight on this thing is shockingly powerful. Even modern smartphone flashlights are nowhere near this thing. 

Yes, as feared, the phone is extremely thick and brick like. I actually find that I don't mind this, as it gives the phone less of a "smartphone but stupid" feeling and more of a proper "slide phone" feeling. 

My verdict on the design and build quality is... It's both disappointing and impressive. That is, I am completely satisfied with it. I didn't expect outstanding quality for the price, so of course I am not shocked by the 3d printed housing and the peeling clickwheel. At the same time, I am genuinely happy to have a small smart slide. It is ACTUALLY small, very reminiscent of an Ericcson slide or LG Rhythm. But still with Android and a touchscreen. It's everything I've been begging for for years. 

If you know me, or if you've ever seen me commenting in r/dumbphones or related subreddits, you know my ultimate dream phone was exactly this. So, I am quite incapable of being too critical of it. What I will say, is that I wish they would have given a little more personality to the design. Better color options, some curves, throw away the damn fake camera bump, perhaps physical buttons instead of fake capacitive touch on the front. The same company already produces the fake N95, so it isn't as though they don't already have a better slide design on the production line. 

In the end, I shouldn't be too surprised that this was the design direction. This company is entirely concerned with novelty knockoff smartphones these days, so that is what they will make. 

The Functionality:

There was much preemptive criticism, on what little posts have been made about this phone, concerning the lack of functionality. Many people were quite certain there would be no bands for North America, no VoLTE, and even if there were, Android 8 would be a death sentence for any app functionality. Plus, it was assumed that texting would be essentially impossible due to the size and design of the keypad. 

I am happy to report that none of those fears are realized for me. 

I am using the phone on US Mobile Light Speed (T-Mobile), and I have almost 0 issues with connectivity. Although it isn't explicitly advertised, it does have VoLTE. I have perfect connection everywhere except for my kitchen, and living room, the deepest parts of my apartment where even 5G smartphones go down to one bar. To fix this, I just leave my phone in the bedroom with the ringer turned up. I am using such a phone with the intent of disconnection anyways, so this feels like more of a pro than a con to me. While out of the house, my connection remains strong with no issues. 

Being on Android 8 also does not harm my ability to use it. Perhaps if I were to try doing more than the basics any true dumbphone would provide, I would find that more apps are inaccessible. But, again, in that case I wouldn't be using this phone. I will mention that the phone came pre-loaded with Google Play Store, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, and some other guff. I removed all of this (I highly doubt the 2GB RAM on this thing could've run them anyways) and I don't use the play store it came with. I went ahead and side loaded F-Droid and AuroraStore from which I download any apps I need. 

I was shocked to find that this phone comes with full Google Play functionality, meaning I can use LINE out of the box and it receives notifications with the app closed. This is monumental, as LINE is a huge pain in the ass, and is the single thing that makes it the hardest for me to use a feature phone. Now, it is not the latest app version, and I will eventually have to stop using the phone when it drops support, but such is life. Hopefully by then, higher Android version slide phones might exist.

The stock launcher was bad. I'll just say it plainly. It did make me laugh that, for some reason, the phone came pre-loaded with Apple app icons. I did not get a photo of that, but here is a photo from u/MathematicianBusy731 on Reddit that shows some:

source

The issue with this launcher is that you can not add or remove apps from the home screen, and there is no app drawer (or perhaps I simply couldn't figure out how to get to it), making it essentially useless to me. 

I went with my old reliable +HOME launcher, as it is perfectly suited for such a device. Here is how my home screen is looking now:

As for ease of use, I will rate it middlingly. 

USB-C charge is modern and convenient, but note that it does not support fast charge.

 Maps and navigation also work just fine. 

It has some d-pad support, but it is not fully integrated. For example, I can navigate to an app on the home screen, but I can not then select and launch it, I must touch it on the touchscreen to do so. This is not annoying due to the fact this phone is so small, so it is actually quite intuitive to use a combination of the physical buttons and touchscreen. But, it may be a little disappointing for some, as I know many people prefer to use only physical buttons. I have yet to try any specifically d-pad optimized launchers or apps, but usually +HOME works fine on non-touchscreen phones.

I really like that the phone has the ability to slide-to-wake and slide-to-lock. It feels incredibly satisfying to receive a text, slide open the phone to type a quick reply, slide it closed, and put it down. 

In fact, there is no lock button on this device, so if you have 'notifications wake screen' turned off like I do, sliding it open is the most convenient way to turn it on. You can press the select button to check your notifications on your lock screen, but it won't automatically unlock the phone. There doesn't seem to be any 'raise to wake' feature, though maybe I missed it in the settings, so the phone well and truly stays off until you interact with it. Great for those looking to digital detox. 

As for battery life, I think it's also middling. I saw people complaining about the 2000mAh, but for how little I use the thing, it serves me fine. It has never gone below 50%, even when I've taken it on long walks listening to music, and I just charge it at night. 

A small detail I enjoy is that playing music causes a color-shifting rainbow border to appear on the screen. I find this cute, you may find it annoying. 

Overall the experience of using this phone is quite nice (but I am not demanding much out of it, your mileage may vary). I am able to text easily, I can use the phone with one hand, it loads quickly, and it's generally reliable. I really have no complaints, If only it were updatable past Android 8. 

For ease of use, I have added TT9, and keymapper. I mapped the top left button to launch LINE. I also replaced the default SMS app first with QKSMS, then with CHOMP SMS. This is just for customization reasons, not for functionality reasons. the default SMS app worked just fine. 

For the camera... don't expect much. It's utilitarian. Quick snap on-the-go, scanning a QR Code, that kind of thing. don't bother trying to take any nice photos with it. 

Back camera sample:

natural light

artificial light

Front Camera sample:

natural light

artificial light

Final Thoughts:

If you are like me, and you just need a simple phone with one smart app that requires google play, and you like the slide phone form factor, I think you'll be happy with this little toy. for $56, I have been actually impressed, and I will continue to use it as my daily driver.

If you are the type who demands high specs in your phone even if it's only meant to do simple tasks, or is bothered by cheap build quality, I think you will not like this phone and should pass on it. However, if you desperately want a vertical slide phone on 4G, I do believe this is quite literally the only option on the market right now.