I don't know how you can call something minimal that is built on top of Android. This isn't going back to the basics, this is another complex abstraction layer added to the top of an abstraction skyscraper.
Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
111–120 of 168 posts
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#112I appreciate these basic phones but what I need is something different. I would prefer 2 phones: a regular smartphone and a basic feature phone. Then I’d take the one I need when I leave the house. The problem is you either need two lines with your carrier or swap physical sims. Swapping physical sims is inconvenient and means you cant use an esim.
I've always thought this was a good solution too. I'm not sure how difficult it is to have a cloned eSIM and have your carrier call/msg both devices at once for a small extra fee?
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#113And it’s most likely gonna cost $300-500 like Mudita, Punkt and Light Phone.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#114I'm the owner of a Light Phone II [0] and (other than battery life), the biggest downside to the Light Phone I can envision for most people is the absence of apps like Uber, Apple Pay and Spotify. I think 5G isn't that necessary on a phone like that, except maybe for future-proofing. This phone seems to have a camera, though, and access to Play Store (although it will likely be messy) really sets it apart from most "…
> I think 5G isn't that necessary on a phone like that, except maybe for future-proofing. 5G is more than future proofing, at least where I am, 5G is deployed at new lower frequencies (taken from broadcast TV) that provide for more full coverage. With my new 5g phone, I have less dead zones than my old 4g phone.
I've had 5G turned off on my phone since I got it. There is a dead spot near my house that really annoys me any time I go anywhere. You're making me thinking I should try turning 5G on to see if it helps... but I really don't want to take the hit to my battery.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#115This will fall. So much of our life is online that a real handheld computing device is necessary. This will sell only to those in addiction treatment.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#116I recorded a video of another e ink phone running many common Android apps really well (in direct sunlight)! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvO9ScTdwz8 It's the Hisense A9 with a beautiful and fast Carta 1200 e ink display. It's very capable, I would have preferred a phone more like that instead. It's biggest drawback is terrible USA cell reception. This company was initially going to make a phone like this but appa…
I have a Hisense HiReader Pro and it's awesome + super usable for actual day to day phone things on wifi, but the cell reception overlaps with a single LTE band in the US that's not really usable around where I live.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the biggest downside to the Light Phone I can envision for most people is the absence of apps like Uber, Apple Pay and Spotify. You've hit it spot on. I got a light phone years ago to help cure my cell phone addiction, but it was too problematic. I still need to use the "tools" of my phone - things like Maps, Uber, authenticator apps, texting, etc., but I just wanted to block the "dopamine dealers" like social medi…
I'm with you. As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd have a Light Phone if it could use Telegram and a few other "essentials." Throw in a good camera and it'd be incredible. At the moment I use greyscale mode on my Pixel and have uninstalled apps, only using them in the browser if I "need to." It's not much, but adding that small friction helps somewhat.
Some more friction, use a password manager and change the password to a really long string of characters, then don't install the password manager on the phone.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lack of 5G is a major oversight. The iPhone had that 4 years ago. Good condition iPhone 12 models go for under $300, and they want to sell this thing for $400. Seems like it's better to grab an iPhone 12, set the screen to greysfale in the accessibility settings, and then turn on screen time to block social media apps and other distractions. An OS settings preference selection isn't a product.
> Seems like it's better to grab an iPhone 12, set the screen to greysfale in the accessibility settings, and then turn on screen time to block social media apps and other distractions. Better to use rsync than bother with Dropbox?
I mean, if you really think this thing is the next Dropbox…sure.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#119I recorded a video of another e ink phone running many common Android apps really well (in direct sunlight)! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvO9ScTdwz8 It's the Hisense A9 with a beautiful and fast Carta 1200 e ink display. It's very capable, I would have preferred a phone more like that instead. It's biggest drawback is terrible USA cell reception. This company was initially going to make a phone like this but appa…
Thanks for this. I've been thinking about pulling my phone use right back. I was really wanting to use the Light Phone, as I like how small and minimal it is. The only problem is it doesn't run Telegram/Whatsapp which is kind of essential these days. This phone looks like it would be exactly what I'm after. How do you rate it overall? Ideally I'd like something half way in between this and the Light Phone - small, st…
I absolutely love it compared to my current iPhone. Super comfortable eink display that looks like paper. Messenger works great with a monochrome theme. And great battery too since screen doesn't emit light. Love using it for reading, especially right before bed. If you want to learn more check out the r/eink subreddit.
Good call, when I upload my camera test video I'll include a small section of viewing the photos taken as well on the eink screen. But for still photos it will look pretty similar to how b&w mode looks like on normal phones.
Re: Minimal phone gets back to basics with E Ink display and real keyboard
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lack of 5G is a major oversight. The iPhone had that 4 years ago. Good condition iPhone 12 models go for under $300, and they want to sell this thing for $400. Seems like it's better to grab an iPhone 12, set the screen to greysfale in the accessibility settings, and then turn on screen time to block social media apps and other distractions. An OS settings preference selection isn't a product.
> Seems like it's better to grab an iPhone 12, set the screen to greysfale in the accessibility settings, and then turn on screen time to block social media apps and other distractions. Better to use rsync than bother with Dropbox?
This phone is not the next Dropbox.