Minimal Phone Review: A Phone You'll Want to Use Less

For years, I dreamed of idiosyncratic releasing a fully-featured smartphone with an E-Paper show successful the US. The Minimal Phone is that telephone and more, acknowledgment to the included carnal keyboard. This is simply a bully enactment for anyone acquainted with E-Paper who is connected the lookout for an intentional telephone inactive compatible with modern integer life.

Price and Availability

The Minimal Phone is disposable straight from the Minimal Company's website. It comes successful 3 colors: Pebble (white), Onyx (black), and Fusion (white with a achromatic bezel astir the screen).

There are 2 models. The mentation with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of retention costs $500, portion the 8GB RAM exemplary with 256GB of retention goes for $600. Both prices are reduced by $100 during the pre-order period.

An Unconventional, Retro Design

The Minimal Phone tin beryllium succinctly described arsenic an E-Paper, Android-powered Blackberry. The beforehand of the telephone has a 4.3-inch show with a carnal keyboard containing 35 keys. In betwixt the two, determination are 3 old-school capacitive buttons for returning to the location screen, going to a erstwhile screen, and opening caller apps.

The telephone has each the ports and buttons you would expect if this were a telephone released respective years ago, meaning there's some a microSD paper slot and a headphone jack. On the close side, determination is simply a powerfulness fastener that doubles arsenic a fingerprint scanner. On the left, determination are 2 measurement buttons with an E-Paper refresh fastener sandwiched successful between, successful summation to a SIM paper tray that besides has abstraction for the microSD card. The bottommost has a USB-C port, microphone, and speakers, on with the aforementioned 3.5mm headphone jack. There is simply a 5MP front-facing camera and a azygous 16MP rear-facing camera with flash.

The telephone isn't overmuch smaller than modern phones, contempt its sanction and the tiny display. Thanks to the carnal keys populating the country beneath the screen, the telephone comes retired to 5.59 inches gangly and 8.6mm thick. It's the width that stands retired astir to me. At 3.07 inches wide, it feels similar the widest non-foldable telephone I've held. For comparison, a Pixel 9 is 9mm taller, 0.1mm thinner, and 7mm little wide.

The Physical Keys Are a Blessing and a Curse

The keyboard is the crushed I'm consenting to place these dimensions. My archetypal telephone was Verizon's Alias diagnostic phone, and my archetypal smartphone was the Kyocera Milano, followed by the Kyocera Rise. All 3 of these phones had carnal keyboards. The nostalgia I felt erstwhile picking up the Minimal Phone was contiguous and strong. There's thing viscerally satisfying astir typing with carnal buttons.

Yet, to beryllium honest, I inactive benignant faster connected a touchscreen. This could alteration with time, perhaps, if I invested months, letting my fingers get acclimated. For the clip being, I tin peck retired words quicker connected my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6's narrower screen display. On that phone's larger interior surface that I'm much comfy with, it truly is nary comparison.

Much of the contented comes down to the placement of alternate characters. I find ending 1 condemnation with a play and capitalizing the archetypal missive of the adjacent to beryllium a tedious affair. This is thing a bundle update tin fix, but for now, this was my astir predominant vexation and 1 that encouraged maine to usage dependable dictation much often than I bash with the Samsung Keyboard. Similarly, selecting characters not contiguous connected immoderate of the carnal keys feels particularly jarring since you person to modulation up to the touchscreen.

The Same Is True of the E-Paper Display

E-Paper makes a integer aboveground look similar a carnal one. The exertion is mostly reserved for eReaders similar the Kindle and the assorted options from Kobo. Companies similar Boox agelong the exertion arsenic acold arsenic it volition go, releasing note-taking tablets and full-featured E-Paper Android tablets. The institution advertises its Boox Tab Ultra C Pro arsenic a afloat e-paper PC, and the tiny Boox Palma 2 eReader is fundamentally a smartphone without the telephone bits.

While determination are colour E-Paper displays, the 1 connected the Minimal Phone is achromatic and white. It tin show immoderate Android app, but everything isn't ever legible. The nuances of an app's plan are often lost, with subtle gradients appearing simply arsenic white. While modern LCD and OLED panels connection developers millions of colors to enactment with, E-Paper screens tin lone negociate constricted shades of gray.

The refresh complaint is arguably harder to set to. Almost immoderate modern fund telephone volition consciousness faster than the MInimal Phone, not due to the fact that of the specs, but solely owed to the limitations of E-Paper.

You tin set the refresh complaint a spot to compensate for this. The telephone defaults to a dilatory mounting that keeps the surface looking its champion but introduces rather a spot of lag. A faster refresh complaint feels much similar an LCD panel, but this introduces much ghosting (the improvement wherever portion of the erstwhile surface remains disposable aft you load a caller one), which is wherefore the carnal E-Paper refresh fastener exists betwixt the measurement keys to wide things up.

Still, if you person ever utilized an eReader, you cognize there's thing rather similar E-Paper for speechmaking ebooks. I tin wholly recognize wherefore immoderate publication nerd would bargain this telephone for this crushed alone.

Good Call Quality and Any Chat App You Like

One contented that has plagued immoderate minimalist phones is their inability to service arsenic decent phones. What yet caused maine to halt utilizing the Light Phone 2 wasn't each the features I had to springiness up. It was the mediocre compartment reception owed to its anemic cellular radios.

I was acrophobic astir the Minimal Phone since it's a 4G LTE telephone with nary entree to 5G. Yet its vigor seems to beryllium much almighty than the Light Phone 2's, arsenic I was easy capable to grip calls successful the agrarian areas wherever I unrecorded and travel. The speakers don't get arsenic large arsenic I like, but the telephone prime was good, and I was told I sounded large connected the different end, possibly adjacent amended than I usually bash connected my Galaxy Z Fold 6. That's nary tiny thing, considering the terms quality betwixt these 2 phones.

This is 1 minimalist telephone that doesn't necessitate you to archer your contacts to effort sending you an email alternatively of utilizing their preferred chat app. The telephone comes with Google Messages, and you're escaped to instal WhatsApp, Signal, and the like. They enactment arsenic expected, conscionable successful achromatic and white.

All The Software You Need But Won't Want to Use

The telephone runs Android 14 and comes with afloat entree to the Play Store, mounting it isolated from astir different intentional phones. You tin instal immoderate app you want. The guiding doctrine is that, acknowledgment to the E-Paper display, you astir apt won't privation to fuss with astir of them. While you tin motion successful to video platforms and download games, you won't person a bully clip with either. TikTok and Instagram volition clasp overmuch little entreaty arsenic well.

The vantage present is that you tin proceed to instrumentality portion successful each the expectations of modern life. You tin scan QR codes retired successful public. You tin inactive usage two-factor authentication apps and proceed mobile banking. If idiosyncratic sends you a photograph oregon wants to video chat, you tin instrumentality portion without having to explicate to radical that you person immoderate benignant of quirky phone. Yeah, you astir apt won't beryllium capable to marque retired overmuch successful the photograph oregon successful the video call, but however overmuch that matters depends connected the context. Sometimes, you tin fake it capable to support the speech going without making things awkward.

With the Minimal Company being specified a caller and tiny team, it remains to beryllium seen if customers volition person ongoing bundle updates arsenic clip goes on. At launch, the telephone is already retired of date, since Android 15 has been disposable since past Fall. Android phones are often dilatory to person updates, but volition Minimal Phone customers inactive beryllium connected Android 14 erstwhile Android 16 rolls around? Will these phones ever spot Android 17? That's the gamble you person to support successful caput erstwhile buying an experimental telephone similar this. On the flip side, if everyone opts to hold and see, past the reply volition astir decidedly beryllium "no."

Stellar Battery Life That's Sometimes Bad

The Minimal Phone has astonishing artillery life. If you usage this telephone arsenic intended—as in, arsenic small arsenic possible—then you volition apt spot artillery beingness lasting respective days. With the telephone mostly conscionable lying around, I started reasoning of artillery beingness successful presumption of getting maine done astir of the week alternatively than getting maine done astir of the day.

On the different hand, the artillery beingness drained somewhat rapidly erstwhile I utilized the telephone extensively. While the telephone has a carnal keyboard that tempts you to type, each quality you benignant causes the telephone to usage much power. Yet that's not arsenic large a artillery drain arsenic scrolling is.

This is the quality of E-Paper. The show exertion doesn't usage immoderate powerfulness erstwhile idle. Instead, it draws powerfulness whenever the surface changes. Since changing what you spot involves moving carnal particles around, and E-Paper exertion was ne'er designed for creaseless animations, the accelerated refreshes required to picture typing and scrolling enactment acold much of a wounded connected your artillery beingness than it does connected different phones. As a result, during times of dense usage, the Minimal Phone tin instrumentality backmost to being a 1 oregon two-day phone.

A Camera That's Barely Better Than Doing Without

The Minimal Phone has a 16MP rear-facing camera that enables you to seizure moments and nonstop representation messages similar you would connected a regular phone. This is functionality lacking connected galore deliberately minimalist phones, and it sets the Minimal Phone apart.

That said, conscionable similar the show exertion discourages you from actively utilizing the device, the surface and chosen camera hardware combined discourage you from taking pictures.

Trying to framework a changeable connected an E-Paper surface wherever you tin hardly marque retired what's going connected is an workout successful frustration. After you instrumentality the image, the black-and-white show tin lone supply you with a unsmooth thought of however the representation came out. If you take to nonstop it to someone, you're mostly successful the acheronian astir whether your photograph had question blur oregon if the taxable was retired of focus. Prepare to go that idiosyncratic friends and household subordinate with taking crappy photos.

Even if you instrumentality a large shot, the representation processing leaves overmuch to beryllium desired. Images taken nether cleanable lighting conditions tin supply the illusion of being a decent image. Still, the details autumn distant the 2nd you zoom in, revealing a photograph that looks similar it was crafted with watercolor. Photos taken indoors are not dressed and presentable capable to permission the house. If you effort to seizure a child's aboriginal moments with this camera, expect to look done your representation assemblage years aboriginal with regret due to the fact that present your photographic representation is arsenic fuzzy arsenic your existent one, and you can't spell backmost to instrumentality them again.

There's besides a 5MP front-facing camera. If you're expecting to usage it for video calls, don't expect much. At slightest you tin person the bid of caput that you look amended connected their surface than you bash connected yours. By however much? Probably little than you'd like.

Should You Buy the Minimal Phone?

The Minimal Phone is arriving astatine astir the aforesaid clip arsenic the Light Phone 3, the astir well-known and widely-covered of intentional minimal phones. It's the large food successful a tiny pond. Yet the Minimal Phone is the much viable enactment for each those usage cases, the Light Phone 3 inactive doesn't service well. Everything from accessing electrical car charging networks to managing mesh routers is really feasible connected the Minimal Phone. Using this instrumentality tin person the desired effect connected your smartphone usage without breaking each these different workflows that don't lend successful immoderate mode to societal media addiction oregon binge-watching.

For anyone who has utilized a minimalist telephone successful the past oregon has ever picked up a instrumentality similar the Boox Palma, past the Minimal Phone is an casual recommendation. You already person an thought what its limitations are, and the further telephone bits person been precise good done. It's bully to spot telephone calls with reliable awesome (your mileage whitethorn vary) and substance radical utilizing acquainted apps connected specified a caller device. But if you're picking up the Minimal Phone due to the fact that its keyboard gives you Blackberry vibes and you privation to spot what that's about, the remainder of the acquisition whitethorn conscionable beryllium much than you bargained for.