It’s like if the smartphone, Kindle, and Blackberry had a baby… and frankly, it’s gorgeous.
The Minimalist Phone stands at a rather unique junction of two trajectories – one, with smartphones getting more and more advanced, and being able to do much more than they previously did, and another, with phones that are designed to be ‘dumb-phones’ that just handle the basics, and don’t have you becoming a screen addict. Strangely enough, even though the two of them should really never have an intersection point, it seems like the Minimalist Phone IS that intersection point. It’s a unique combination of traditional smartphone features, coupled with a no-nonsense design that cuts all the clutter, but reintroduces the QWERTY keyboard, bringing a world of user-focused functionality back. And just if you’re wondering, yes, the Minimal Phone works exactly like any other smartphone – it runs Android 13, supports all your favorite apps, has a fingerprint reader, 4G LTE, and surprisingly enough, both rear and front-facing cameras so you can click color photos just like you would on a regular phone. (You’ll still need to view them in color on a regular screen though)
Oh, and it also has a 3.5mm jack.
Designers: Andre Youkhna and Armen Youssefian
$450 ($125 off, exclusive perk for YD Readers only). Hurry, only a few left!
“Live more. Scroll less,” say Andre Youkhna and Armen Youssefian, the folks who designed the Minimal Phone, a smartphone designed to switch the existing relationship where we’re slaves to our technological devices. Here, the smartphone empowers you, giving you the features of a phone without the layer of addictive interfaces and notifications. In essence, the Minimal Phone behaves just like your existing smartphone but has a different approach to interface, features, hardware, etc.
The e-ink display of the Minimal phone offers users a comfortable, glare-free reading experience, significantly reducing eye strain even during prolonged use.
Just like the Fairphone focuses on supply-chain transparency, the Minimal Phone focuses on a user-centric design. The device boasts a 3.5-inch-wide e-ink touchscreen that runs all your apps, lets you send/receive messages, watch videos, and even browse the internet. It has a 300PPI resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate, which even by regular OLED screen standards, is pretty impressive. However, the e-ink screen notably, trades color for high-contrast, daytime visibility, and a much longer battery life. The lack of color isn’t really a bug, but rather a feature that helps deliver information without any distractions, ensuring you use your phone for exactly what you need and don’t spend more time on it than necessary.
Under the screen lies a 43-key QWERTY keyboard that brings back the glory days of being able to type out messages without accidental presses and those godawful typos that are still a problem with touchscreen keyboards. The Minimal Phone’s QWERTY keyboard is 70mm wide, and each key has a respectable travel of 0.15mm, giving you a confident and reliable typing experience.
When you’re not typing out messages and emails (or sh*tposting on X), the phone’s touch-sensitive screen lets you easily browse the internet, use apps, and perform regular smartphone-related functions. Building on the ongoing trend of the minimal OS courtesy brands like Nothing, the one on the Minimal Phone is fairly utilitarian too, with clear text, easy-to-navigate menus, and even widgets. The only difference, however, is the landscape nature of the display, which means apps look/feel different on the Minimal Phone. Nevertheless, you can still use all your favorite Android apps like Uber, Spotify, Instagram, WhatsApp, even Maps.
Its software capabilities aside, the Minimal Phone has some impressive hardware too. Under its hood you’ve got a MediaTek 6769 processor with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4000mAh battery that should last up to a week on a full charge. The Minimal Phone has Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band WiFi, NFC, and 4G LTE. The phone stands at 4.7 inches tall, 2.8 inches wide, 0.39 inches (or 10mm) thick. It’s got a fingerprint reader built into the power button, a USB-C port, a single SIM tray, a 12MP main camera and an 8MP front-facing selfie-cam, and most impressively, still retains a 3.5mm aux input, quite literally giving you the best of all worlds! The Minimal Phone starts at a discounted price of $325, and is designed to be completely repairable, complying with the latest EU regulations.
$450 ($125 off, exclusive perk for YD Readers only). Hurry, only a few left!
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