Unihertz is one of the only phone manufacturers still making small phones. The Jelly Max is the only compact 5G Android phone on the market.
BUT... Unihertz has a terrible track record when it comes to supporting their phones. Most OEMs issue Android and security updates for years. Unihertz phones often get less than 1 year of software/firmware support, including security updates. In a recent email to me, Unihertz confirmed, verbatim, "We don't update our phones very often. And we're not sure of the exact frequency of updates."
This is crazy, and it doesn't have to be this way. Chris Allegretta has argued that Unihertz could allow the Lineage project to take over the Jelly Max and ensure that the phone is supported for years to come, simply by sending them some restore zips and 5 pre-prod units. That's it!
Tell Unihertz: Either support the Jelly Star, or help the Lineage team take it over.
Unihertz also told me, "we do collect user feedback and forward it to our technical department. They will evaluate the feedback and implement updates if necessary." So let's give 'em some feedback!
Their email is:
Follow me for a second:
Why do you have a Unihertz phone? Because you value small phones
What other phone will you buy after this one? Another Unihertz, because you value small phones
What will happen if Unihertz starts supporting Lineage? You will keep your current phone
Why would Unihertz put effort into that?
Yours is a noble campaign and I wish you all the luck.
That said, I must admit I myself would have been using Jellies exclusively since long ago if they were supported in Lineage.
btw: it's a shame the community has no way to pay Lineage towards supporting specific phone models (yeah, I guess I could search for like-minded people and arrange a deal directly with one or more developers, but that would be a too much extra hassle).