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The Light Phone: Minimal Smartphone
- causality0 5y agoThis does not emit any blue light like traditional backlit screens. So is that just a straight-up lie or does this phone not have any front-lighting or back-lighting at all? The photos clearly depict the screen showing white and grey, which, in case you failed elementary school science, contain blue light.
- websites2023 5y agoAlso the blue light thing is bullshit anyway.
- squarefoot 5y agoNo, it's not. Although as many other scientific facts it is often being stretched beyond the extreme in order to use it to legitimize crazy theories and/or sell products. That is a very common practice. Blue light used during dark hours alters our sleep rhythm because our brain "tunes" itself according to the surrounding environment and light. A blue light tells our brain "we're in the morning, wake up up!" while a soft yellowish light tells the opposite "slow down, dusk is coming". Exposing ourselves to blue light or light with lots of blue components (example: cold white lamps) during night forces our brain to work in a different way that is not the one it should naturally at that hours. Spending many hours a day in a similar environment very likely alter the sleep hours with some side effects. So would a blue led on a phone kill anyone? Not at all, and it wouldn't either harm or do any serious damage; it's just really annoying to look at, especially in dark environments, but surely wouldn't be as bad as using a 6000K lamp to light a bedroom or as a TV backlight. Unfortunately blue leds are extremely cheap to produce, so that pretty much every consumer gadget, especially those cheap gimmicks from the Far East, use them profusely even in places where other colors would be, also functionally, more suitable.
- RL_Quine 5y ago> No, it's not. Although as many other scientific facts it is often being stretched beyond the extreme in order to use it to legitimize crazy theories and/or sell products. That is a very common practice. As far as I've been able to tell, there's very little in the way of literature that actually supports the "blue light" claims, but quite a lot of things which just self reference to support it. > Unfortunately blue leds are extremely cheap to produce, so that pretty much every consumer gadget, especially those cheap gimmicks from the Far East, use them profusely even in places where other colors would be, also functionally, more suitable. Huh? To begin with, all modern LEDs are blue, if you see a white LED, it's a blue LED, if you see a red LED, it's a blue LED. This is just down to physics more than anything, it's also much more economical to produce the same chemistry and just use phosphors to emit the color you actually want. Blue LEDs emitting actual blue light however are vanishingly uncommon in any product at all, I don't recall the last time I've actually seen one. If you're talking about white LEDs being used in products? Well then yes, they will obviously contain blue light.
- somebodynew 5y ago> To begin with, all modern LEDs are blue, if you see a white LED, it's a blue LED, if you see a red LED, it's a blue LED. It is true that "white" LEDs are really blue or violet LEDs coated with phosphors that glow white or yellow (RGB LEDS with independently controlled red, green and blue LEDs are rare and only used in things like color-changing light bulbs). It is not true that "if you see a red LED, it's a blue LED". Red LEDs are still made with semiconductors that directly emit red light (and the same goes for green, etc.). You can look at the spec sheets for LEDs on a distributor like Mouser and see the material used for each LED. The first red LED I came across directly emits red light using AlInGaP. I have never seen a "red LED" that uses a blue LED to excite a red phosphor. That would be even more expensive.
- RL_Quine 5y agoSurprisingly, they actually are blue dies with red phosphor. Keeping all the colours the same forward voltage makes driving them a lot easier, as well as having all the colours in the same production process.
- owroomexorcist 5y ago> The Light Phone II uses a technology called "electronic paper," also commonly called E-Ink. It was made popular by e-reader devices like the Kindle. The screen is characterized by its low power requirements, high visibility & contrast, and wide viewing angle. When viewing the screen, there is no backlight like you would find on a smartphone.
- causality0 5y agoYeah, but is there a front light like you would find on a Kindle? If so it emits blue light.
- mewse 5y agoAccording to https://support.thelightphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360031129331-E-Ink-Screen https://support.thelightphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/36003112... there is a screen light which automatically engages in low-light situations. (although it doesn’t tell us the color of that screen light) But it kind of doesn’t matter. The web site quite clearly said that the screen doesn’t emit blue light, and since the screen is e-ink it presumably doesn’t; it only reflects it. The site made no such claim about the separate screen light. (Live by the “technically correct is the best kind of correct”, die by the “technically correct is the best kind of correct”. ;) )
- int_19h 5y agoIt does not emit light; it reflects it.
- omot 5y agoI bought the phone on Kickstarter. When it arrived, pretty disappointed with the form factor. I was expecting like a zen like iPhone but got a Kindle from the 90s instead. Don't recommend it.
- hammyhavoc 5y agoIf only the Kindle had been a thing in the 90s! :- )
- dogma1138 5y ago“International model doesn’t work in the US” eh? So for say someone in Europe that want a phone that works globally what model should they buy?
- Aeolun 5y agoIt’s like going back in time. How long has it been since you needed to worry that your phone bought in one part of the world might not work in another?
- MBCook 5y agoIf it doest have an interest browser or email or any of that other stuff, what makes this a ‘smartphone’? It doesn’t even have a camera, so you can’t call it a cameraphone. Isn’t it a feature phone with a touch screen?
- Jtsummers 5y agoIt's just barely a feature phone at that. If I were in the market for one I might even entertain this, but I think I could get used to sending text messages on a $20-30 flip phone again if I go that route. It's capabilities are: 1. Contact list 2. Phone calls 3. SMS (MMS?) 4. Alarms 5. Music I had all that on an LG flip phone in the mid-00s. Plus basic web capabilities (which was great, I could see where the buses on my bus route were so I knew if it was worth waiting or if I should just hustle on foot).
- MBCook 5y agoThe only ‘smartphone’ thing it does in my eyes is WiFi hotspot, simply because I don’t remember feature phones doing that. My feature phones at least had little time-wasting games built in.
- Jtsummers 5y agohttps://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/nokia-6300-4g-nokia-8000-4g-bring-back-classic-designs-with-wifi-hotspot-whatsapp-support-1740627-2020-11-13 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/nokia-6300-4... A feature phone with wifi hotspot and WhatsApp support. So this is below the baseline of feature phones circa 2020. > My feature phones at least had little time-wasting games built in. TBF, I think one of the points of this is to provide basic communication needs without the distracting parts of smartphones that promote time wasting. But it seems to have cut things too far, to the quick as the saying goes. Feature phones already exist and don't cost $300 and have excellent battery life and international support and are more useful than this without going to the extreme of being as distracting and time wasting as smartphones can be (without discipline).
- jadedtuna 5y agoI feel like this phone would benefit from having a larger battery. 950 mAh is not bad considering there aren't any battery-draining apps, but having around 3000 mAh would make this more attractive as a sort of device one always carries with.
- tigger0jk 5y agoYeah I'd assume they're saving a lot of battery usage on the display. I would think long battery life would be one of the biggest upsides of this device, but they went with a smaller battery and thus advertise "1-2 days of 'light' regular usage", which really isn't blowing out any current smartphones. I just wonder if you're using it to listen to music throughout day via bluetooth, how much is that smaller battery going to bite you?
- ricardobeat 5y agoI’m using one for that exact purpose. Lasts a week on stand-by, 2-3 days of light music listening.
- prox 5y agoYou use a light phone? Do you like it?
- ricardobeat 5y agoGave it to my kid. I bought it under the premise it would have maps, Uber and other useful services, but it took over a year for even the music app to be added (and you can even add songs via usb). It’s not usable as a daily phone at all. It was a nice idea but by the time the software is complete there will be much cheaper e-ink tech around.
- ricardobeat 5y ago* can't add songs via USB
- p4bl0 5y agoI really don't see the point of this device. There are a lot of feature phones with just the same capabilities, and even a little more (like basic web browsing support). Some of them can even have WhatsApp in case you need it (e.g., international text message). And they're way less expensive than this one (which is $300!).
- auslegung 5y agoThe point of this phone is not to have “a little more” features but to have the fewest amount of necessary features: phone, calendar, gps (coming soon?), etc. The purpose is literally described in the first words you read on the site: “Designed to be used as little as possible “.
- p4bl0 5y agoYou are not forced to use these other features when feature phones have them. And they have all the advantages of this one. Some even have bigger batteries and cost less than a third of this one.
- auslegung 5y agoI’m so glad you informed me that I don’t have to use features which are designed to addict me! Won’t you please tell all the other millions of people who find themselves addicted to their phones?
- p4bl0 5y agoIf you absolutely don't want these features there are $15 feature phones which do not have them either… My point is that the price tag on this is way, way too high.
- auslegung 5y agoSorry for the angry sarcasm, I could have expressed that better. I’m having a bit of a bad… year honestly. My point is that these features, even on feature phones, are often designed to be used as much as possible, ie addictive. The Light Phone is trying to do the opposite, which is a welcome change imo.
- stuaxo 5y agoDoes it have a map? That's the main smart feature I need.
- auslegung 5y agoIt’s coming soon https://support.thelightphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360031128671-Tool-Availability-Status https://support.thelightphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/36003112...
- vzaliva 5y agoSo the only way to do messaging on this phone is insecure, severely limited carrier messaging (SMS)? This will probably turn away many people, even ones looking for simplicity.
- s5300 5y agoFriendly reminder: the average person (and likely more than the average person) literally does not care nor even consider something like that. I know most of us on HN do - but overwhelmingly, most people do not. The target demographic for this phone is likely to be the completely non-tech savvy/your old grandparents.
- fossuser 5y agoThat’s not the real target market. The real demographic is the Silicon Valley iPhone user that fancies themself a minimalist and has an extra $300 to spend on a second phone for fun because it seems cool. Main issue for me is missing iMessage makes this an immediate no go for that. It’s not really their fault, but it’s the truth.
- s5300 5y agoMaybe I'm missing something, but I thought that was the pinephone (or at least their end goal) or a heavily modded Android
- fossuser 5y agoI think a lot of these niche products target that market - lots of disposable income and an interest in random gadgets.
- lazide 5y agoNot true really IMO - it’s recovering smart phone addicts.
- lazide 5y agoIt isn’t actually, near as I can tell as a user. It’s actually pretty painful to use to get anything done. The demographic is, ‘someone who needs basic phone functionality, but is trying to go cold turkey on distracting smart phone functionality’. If you need Signal, you’re probably also not in the demographic. The idea is - you should want to NOT be able to check Signal, because that is crack to you.
- iamben 5y agoOddly they cover the three things I most want in the FAQ- directions? Spotify? WhatsApp? The answer is no to all. I'd take a phone without a web browser or anything else if I could have these three.
- abemiller 5y agoMore specifically, the answer is "in active development" for directions and Spotify, and no for Whatsapp. Personally I have no use for Whatsapp, so once Spotify and directions are up and running I'll be pretty interested in grabbing one of these to replace my phone. My main concern is the call quality. When calling is essentially all you're reduced to in terms of connectivity, I would want to be sure those calls go smoothly. I remember hearing bad things about the call quality in the past with like mic issues or something, not sure if that's been resolved by now.
- mrzimmerman 5y agoI am precisely in your court app wise but I would also need my calendar. I don’t consider it stressful to have and myself and my family are pretty good about adding all of our plans to it so we know what’s going on.
- krrrh 5y agoThe simple solution is to pick up an iPhone SE, block the browser and any other problem apps with parental controls, then have a friend set the passcode so you can’t reenable them without asking for permission. I’ve offered this service of in loco parentis to everyone who tells me they want a simpler phone without the distractions, and no one ever takes me up on it.
- tomjen3 5y agoThat doesn't seem to work any longer, or at least is much more annoying, as you have to enter an apple id that can be used to reset the key.
- foobar33333 5y ago
- motohagiography 5y agoThis is really what I have wanted for years. Signal is the key app for me to make the decision, and barring that, maybe a Matrix client. If this were to be my private, personal device that only close associates get the contact info for, I'd need those things. This was the gap that I think Punkt ( https://www.punkt.ch/en/ https://www.punkt.ch/en/ ) phones had, where they are for voice and minimal texting, with all the right design ideas, except voice as a thing is diminished becase younger people intuitively get that synchronous communication imposes opportunity costs on their time. I'd hypothesize that most people who prefer voice communications do not desire a quieter minimal experience, as they naturally seek the stimulation of a voice interaction and therefore also find the busyness of smartphones stimulating, but more people who prefer asynchronous text will pay a premium for a quiet minimal experience. Even if the messenger clients piece were done with optional physically removable storage, because I'm suspecting the initial market for this phone is an odd intersection of creative, upper income, either exec or self employed, who are above being subject to tech - so basically tech people. I could see it becoming a status thing, where nothing quite says FU money like being able to afford patience and manage your own time.
- octopaulus 5y agoCool story
- hammyhavoc 5y agoMatrix would be excellent.
- xorcist 5y ago"has not been endorsed by The Signal Technology Foundation" Signal doesn't allow for third party clients. There is a clear risk of being locked out of the network.
- MarkusWandel 5y agoAgreed that this is barely a featurephone. But take my elderly mom for example. She won't be caught dead with a smartphone. Too many things to screw up. So she soldiers on with a dedicated wifi hotspot thing, wasting the 4GB/month plan's unlimited free calling and multimedia messaging and using a separate cell/phone jack gateway with its own SIM and its own plan. I've said before, just put the data SIM in a surplus older smartphone, use that as a hotspot instead, and we can at least text when the computer is messed up again. Won't have it. Note, she lives far enough in the countryside that other internet access is not available and she doesn't need more than 4GB per month, not even close, and the 128kbps fallback after you've used up the 4GB would still keep her email working. A simple phone like this that can still do wifi hotspot might be acceptable. Maybe. She may not be the only person like this.
- p4bl0 5y agoThere are feature phones cheaper than this one that can do 4G hotspot, like the 8110 4G or the 6300 4G from Nokia.
- stubish 5y agoI too thought of elderly parents, who currently use dumb phones, using the number pad to send SMS (rarely) and text-to-speach to receive them. The interface is awful, but they would have a worse experience with an Android device or iPhone. Their first (and maybe only) complaint about the Light Phone is the screen seems rather small for aging eyes. They won't be getting one, because it won't work with the network in our region, but maybe something like this in the future.
- alexeys 5y agoLooks very niche, opinionated, and too closed up. Unlikely to appeal to wide range of people or become anything over time.
- ergocoder 5y agoThe problem here is that phone call is very rare these days, so a phone like this is a no go
- tibbetts 5y agoIronic that they have such an over-produced, hard to use website.
- rambambram 5y agoAll the time browsing that website something felt off. Thanks for pointing it out.
- rzz3 5y agoIf I can’t even out signal on it why would I ever use it?
- malkia 5y agoCan I read book/news articles on it?
- westcort 5y agoBack in the day I had a Nokia phone with StraightTalk. It has a flashlight, text, calls, and a few games. Battery lasted a week. I programmed my computer to send headlines and email subjects as texts. It was great.
- alooPotato 5y agoI feel like a custom OS (in addition to the hardware) is the wrong approach here. The primary use case for this type of device seems to be folks that want to disconnect but still have access to non-distracting tools (uber, maps, music, text/call). The problem is, there's a long tail of apps users consider tools, and I don't think Lightphone will support them all nor will app developers write them for this tiny market. For example, a user might think it's critical that their pandora music is available, or spotify, or.... One thing I've been considering is moving away from having a phone altogether and just relying on an apple watch. Big enough market that all the essential "tool" apps you'd want exist but the form factor itself prevents distraction (good luck doom scrolling instagram on a watch). The fact that the only data entry mechanism is voice, is actually a feature for me, it forces you to only use it for the essential. The downside is that I'd need to carry around another device for emergency work stuff. Maybe an iPad because that form factor is limiting as well, you're not gonna pull it out for 2 mins randomly and doom scroll.
- canuckintime 5y ago> I feel like a custom OS (in addition to the hardware) is the wrong approach here. The Docomo Card Keita [1] was the exact same hardware yet ran Android. Lightphone II really should have just been an unlocked version (sim and bootloader) with a custom skin… [1] https://goodereader.com/blog/e-paper/docomo-card-keitai-is-a-single-screen-e-ink-phone https://goodereader.com/blog/e-paper/docomo-card-keitai-is-a... > One thing I've been considering is moving away from having a phone altogether and just relying on an apple watch. A. The battery life will not last a day in my experience AND the Apple Watch isn’t really usable while charging. B. The UX of a smartwatch is a huge downgrade compared to any smartphone/feature phone. Wearing a watch on a wrist and operating it with the other hand is not an ergonomic operation beyond minimal interactions.
- alooPotato 5y agoA. All the more reason to just use the watch for the essentials :) B. I think thats a feature not a bug. I don't want to be doing anything beyond minimal interactions. Call an Uber. Get directions. Respond to an important text. Answer/make urgent phone calls. Let my family know where I am.
- sumthinprofound 5y agoThe DIY version of this (for me) is to use one of the spare android devices laying around, install lineage (or your rom of choice), strip it down to just what you consider bare essentials (for me it would be gps, music and voice-to-text (my primary input method). Might be an interesting project, deploy an alternate daily driver designed to be used as little as possible.
- zozbot234 5y agoThings will get interesting when postmarketOS can finally support some devices in a meaningful "daily driver" use case (it can't right now). The earliest uses for it will look a lot like this feature phone stuff.
- sumthinprofound 5y agoThis looks like an interesting platform to work off of, thanks for the info I'm going to start following their progress.
- Animats 5y agoWhy is this a "pre-order"? This outfit was posting "reviews" over 16 months ago, as if it were a real product, back in March 2020.[1] They had a product back in 2018.[2] They had some Indiegogo thing in 2017-2018. [1] https://thismatters.blog/2020/03/01/going-light-part-4-first-day-with-the-light-phone-2/ https://thismatters.blog/2020/03/01/going-light-part-4-first... [2] https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/how-this-dumb-phone-is-helping-people-everywhere-kick-smartphone-habit.html https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/how-this-dumb-phone-is-...
- jazzyjackson 5y agoThey shipped, there’s a couple on eBay being bid on… if I had to guess Kyocera poached their supplier of 600x480 2.8” e-ink displays with their KY‑01L, which you can buy by the dozen
- pineconebutt 5y agoYou're pre-ordering a phone from their latest production batch. It's real; I already own one myself.
- dang 5y agoPast related threads: The Light Phone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21943649 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21943649 - Jan 2020 (277 comments) Light Phone II - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20951777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20951777 - Sept 2019 (2 comments) The High Hopes of the Low-Tech Phone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20878498 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20878498 - Sept 2019 (1 comment) Light Phone 2: A simple 4G phone with e-ink - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17252143 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17252143 - June 2018 (144 comments) The Light Phone 2 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16495707 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16495707 - March 2018 (3 comments) Light Phone 2 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16493485 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16493485 - March 2018 (6 comments) The Light Phone: Leave your smartphone behind - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16356013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16356013 - Feb 2018 (3 comments) This minimalist cell phone is designed to be as basic as possible - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14284972 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14284972 - May 2017 (1 comment) The Light Phone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9599142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9599142 - May 2015 (8 comments) The Light Phone Is the Anti-Smartphone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9569625 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9569625 - May 2015 (1 comment)
- bigjimmyk3 5y agoI bought one of these from the second kickstarter wave. After waiting about a year to receive it... It didn't work with my carrier. I waited a few more months with no updates or ETA on support, and then I returned it.
- NetOpWibby 5y agoI’m still waiting for the behind-the-scenes book. When I mentioned this to them a few months ago they were all too happy to refund me which I thought was weird, but I declined.
- enos_feedler 5y agoCool phone, but when I message "Hey!" to someone, is it going to show up as an ugly green bubble?
- johnchristopher 5y agoI wish they put an epub reader in it.
- lrvick 5y agoAbout 6 months ago my wife and I moved our cell #s to a VoIP provider, canceled our cell plans, and flipped our phones to airplane mode. (WiFi/BT but cell modem is off) Offline maps can lead us to free WiFi hotspots when we need it, but otherwise when we are out and about we are forced to live in the moment . When we do need to look something up in a store or whatever we connect to WiFi and deal with it, because we still have functional phones. They are however limited as they run CalyxOS so there are are only webapps and open source tracking-free F-Droid apps. No intrusive profit-driven social media algorithms trying to manipulate more of my attention away from me. Also battery life in airplane mode is over double. When we want to waste time Iwestill do, but I am intentional about it. We have media center PCs, laptops, and desktop workstations but they don't follow us around. It has been a major mental health win, not to mention a privacy win as our location can't be logged and sold anymore. And saving like $100/mo on 4G plans. 10/10 would recommend to almost anyone.
- kwhitefoot 5y ago> saving like $100/mo on 4G plans. You could get most of that saving by switching to pay as you go; at least in Europe/Scandinavia. I spend perhaps 20 USD per year on my mobile because I hardly ever make any calls or use mobile data.
- yosito 5y ago> our location can't be logged and sold anymore Be cautious about leaving wifi/bluetooth on. Your device's mac address can be logged even if you don't connect, and location data brokers could easily report to advertisers or other parties where you've been seen.
- lrvick 5y agoModern Android actually randomizes macs on every WiFi connect, and we use Tor full time.
- dharma1 5y agoI just bought a 2019 Nokia 105 for my son (his school doesn’t allow smartphones on the grounds). $20, battery lasts two weeks, radio, MP3 player, flashlight but no camera/internet. Lovely
- progre 5y agoI was gonna make this comment. I currently use a 2019 Nokia 3310 (3G). Seems to be on par with the Light Minimal "smartphone", except for the hotspot. A hotspot on the 3310 would be nice, it's not like the opera mini browser can actually be used on any site more complicated than HN. And of course the screen on the 3310 is simply crap.
- blumomo 5y agoThe Nokia 8110 4G „banana phone“ is cheap feature phone which allows tethering and wifi hotspot. It’s running an older version of KaiOS, based on FirefoxOS. Can be easily rooted and bloatware is removable. Battery lasts up to a week if data is mostly turned off and flight mode turned on during night hours.
- progre 5y agoWhen I was looking for a phone (and ended up buying the 3310) I was eyeing the KaiOS Nokias as well. From what i could gather then the KaiOS software was kinda hit or miss. Some reviewer where complaining about crashes and such. There seemed to be several different hardware and software revisions going out under the same model names. Maybe carrier was a factor too. To be fair, in retrospect it has become clear that that was true for the 3310 as well. Noone I have talked to seems to have exactly the same sw/hw versions as I have. The price is a factor for me as well (yes, I'm a pennypincher). The 3310 is about half the price of any KaiOS phone.
- rapnie 5y agoNice. Approaching the NoPhone [0] in capabilities and positive impact on society. But seriously, I really like the idea behind the Lightphone. And also I think there are opportunities to really increase the attractiveness of the device. Why only focus on it being "designed to be used as little as possible"? In such a device you can also focus on Really Good Privacy, Sustainable Design / Manufacturing (a la Fairphone), Open Hardware, FOSS extensions, Open Community (around the product). All in all a comprehensive set of USP's to be added. (And talking about Privacy, the 11 trackers on the website can be removed first. This is low-hanging fruit) [0] https://www.thenophone.com/ https://www.thenophone.com/
- itronitron 5y ago>> Approaching the NoPhone [0] in capabilities Maybe they can offer that as an upgrade.
- bikamonki 5y ago$299 for a featureless phone? Get a Nokia for $20: same cure for the addiction, less dinero :)
- system2 5y agoNot hipster enough.
- teekert 5y agoThis. And I bet that a lot of people keep using their Light Phone for a couple of weeks, perhaps a month or 2 but go back to their smartphone. And then it’s e-waste. Think hard if you want this, try with an old phone or try living with your phone on flight mode and do everything by cable first. If you keep it up, consider something nice like this. They sell an image of a simpler life but taking this step back is harder than you think.
- msh 5y agoi tried that. The t9 keyboard was hell to text on. This at least seems to have a real size keyboard.
- megous 5y agoThis has no keyboard.
- msh 5y agoIt has a onscreen keyboard.
- mackrevinack 5y agoits a keyboard for ants though
- Madeindjs 5y agoSo maybe come back to old BlackBerry with physical QWERTY keyboard?
- system2 5y agoPhone plans are so expensive for what it is providing. The phone itself doesn't need internet from what I see. I get the idea, but having a super sharp camera under my fingertips any given moment makes me feel happy. I don't use social media, but I love checking my stock/crypto portfolio often. Why reinvent old Nokia and sell for $299?
- fxj 5y agoWhy not build your own? Get a M5Paper and build your own phone using micropython. The M5Paper has a touch screen and builtin Wifis. https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5paper-esp32-development-kit-v1-1-960x540-4-7-eink-display-235-ppi https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5paper-esp32-development-...
- schipplock 5y agoOut Of Stock! :) but thanks a lot, that looks very interesting.
- blumomo 5y agoIn that context, Mudita Pure [0] is a similar phone with its OS being developed in the open. [0] https://mudita.com/ https://mudita.com/
- account-5 5y agoI'd like a phone with the only apps being: - Signal - Web browser - Email - Podcast app - RSS reader - PDF/EPUB reader - WiFi Hotspot (for occasional use) - Mapping/directions/traffic (only Google app I use) That's all I use my phone for. It covers everything I need. My current phone is basically the above with all Google apps disabled, where I can, and the rest not updated because I don't use them. Think my next phone will be a Google phone with graphene os and no gapps
- timwaagh 5y agoInteresting idea but not really an interesting proposition without maps and whatsapp/email. It's nice these are planned but planning means little. I prefer just disabling apps via ADB on Android when I need a non distracting phone.
- nicce 5y agoTrue, planning means very little as it might be unusable while waiting those properties.
- yosito 5y agoI wanted a minimal smartphone but with maps and messaging. I ended up with a Unihertz Jelly 2, with LineageOS and a minimal launcher that I installed from F-droid. Supports all the Android apps, but it's keychain size make it impractical as a time waster. Highly recommended.
- kartoshechka 5y agoI wish someone tried to compete with iphone 12 mini instead of producing these utterly niche phones: - just make it comfortable using with one hand (5 inch or less) - don't put 100W 32 core processor and 16 gigs of RAM - place a decent camera without 5 eyes staring from the back panel (I get anxiety from looking at the back of that Samsung Galaxy that has these) - burn the fucking monobrows or cutouts for a cam on a front panel, place everything you need (cam, front speaker, sensors etc) above the goddamn screen - if you provide a fingerprint scanner, for fucks sake, don't make me lift up this 200g brick so I can grope the scanner on the back - 3.5mm audio jack? hello? I don't wanna bother about having my earcocks charged I'm looking for a decent substitute to my 4.5 yo Zuk Z2 and I shit you not, there is no single phone that satisfies everything I described. The closest is Xperia 5 II with 6.1 inch screen, but at least it has audio jack and normal looking front panel...
- mackrevinack 5y agoare you me!?
- kartoshechka 5y agoI'm glad we're not alone :)
- vladvasiliu 5y agoI usually skim these threads looking for tips for a phone like this. I'm actually thinking of buying the iPhone 12 mini because I haven't seen anything else like it. Something that's important to me is a good camera and long support (I don't care to change my phone every year) or else I'd just get one of the ~200 usd cheap phones. I pretty much have the same requirements you do, aside from the audio jack, because I actually enjoy not having to deal with the wires. I don't use the headphones for long periods at a time, so battery life isn't an issue. Bonus points for audio quality being good when I use them on my shitty HP laptop.
- user-the-name 5y agoDon't think there really is anyone other than Apple that actually offers any kind of longer-term support.
- tkiolp4 5y agoI like the idea, but there is now way I will pay $300 for it. They are just offering you less for more price, nice trick.
- karmafish 5y agoI have one of these. The screen keyboard has a very high error rate that makes it highly frustrating to use. Also, the battery life is surprisingly short. I get less than a day with almost zero use on mine. The idea of the phone is great, but the implementation is sorely lacking. Particularly at the $400 price point.