The term hand phaser refers to any hand-held phaser-type weapon, in particular to the basic, miniature, unit known as the phaser type-1.
- The Original Series hand phaser was a small black device about the size of a communicator that could be separated from the pistol grip of a phaser type-2. The production staff of Star Trek: The Next Generation found that the smaller 24th century version of the small hand phaser used in TOS was far too miniaturized to be seen on TV screens, and used it very infrequently. Besides calling it the "hand phaser" they also referred to it as "the cricket."