Summary
- E Ink smartphones are gaining popularity, with the Minimal Phone having the potential to be a hot new contender.
- The Minimal Phone aims to provide a minimalist experience with its candy bar design and tactile keyboard.
- While still in the early stages of development, the Minimal Phone shows potential to deliver on its claims of efficiency and simplicity.
Now that Boox has proved the combination of Android and E Ink can result in some niche but incredibly handy tablets, handsets have started popping up. That’s right, E Ink smartphones. Hisense already offers a few, with more manufacturers popping up. Of which, there’s a hot new mystery phone making waves (per Liliputing). The Minimal Phone already has a website available, offering a few mockups of the device along with a way to join the waitlist. The only trouble is that a Reddit AMA revealed the device has only recently passed its design stage, meaning there’s nothing to show yet beyond renders. Still, if the device does manage to come to fruition, it could be the answer for those who want something in between a dumbphone and a smartphone, which certainly sounds appealing.
If you watch the Minimal Phone introduction video (linked above), you’ll likely notice that the video doesn’t actually show the phone. Basically, it’s just putting the idea out there that it would be cool to have a phone that we use for the basics, hence the name of the device. If you head on over to the website, that’s where you can see mocked-up renders of what the Minimal Phone may look like. Basically, it’s a candy bar phone with a keyboard below the square screen up top. Similar to a Blackberry, the keyboard looks flat, which is probably why the description on the site calls it “tactile” instead of mentioning physical buttons.
The primary draw of the device is that it uses E Ink along with a custom version of Android known as MinimalOS (where the phone gets its name) designed for low power use on low refresh rate screens. It’s a phone made for “those seeking efficiency and simplicity,” with a 4,000 mAh battery that is already claimed to last up to 4 days.
Source: Minimal Company
If the renders end up close to the real thing, the Minimal Phone may very well deliver on its claims. It’s an attractive device, calling back to the days of Blackberry with its keyboard, but taking things further into minimalist land by using E Ink to deliver a slower and more barebones Android experience. Nobody’s going to doomscroll on a black-and-white screen. You’ll use this thing for the basics, a dumbphone by any measure, but it can still use Spotify and order an Uber. A way to cut the tech cruft from your life while remaining in touch if necessary. That’s the appeal of any E Ink smartphone, and the Minimal Phone appears to be taking this idea to the extreme as a purpose-built device.
Source: Minimal Company
Still, if you read through the Reddit AMA, it’s clear we won’t be seeing anything about this phone for a while. It’s still in the early stages of development, though the company founder, Andre Youkhana, has claimed he’s already working with a major manufacturer and has even talked with Google and wireless carriers in an effort to ensure the Play Store ships on the device. The AMA also reveals that 5G support isn’t guaranteed, where it is currently being “explored.” So even though the Minimal Phone sounds interesting, there’s still a long road ahead before we see a physical version working in the wild. Heck, it may never come to be at all, ending up as vaporware. But with a bit of luck, we may just see more from Youkhana, and hopefully, we will since we could use more unique and interesting devices to shake up the stagnant Android phone market.
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