Review: the minimum phone wants you hate phones and works

Minimal has decided to solve a problem. The fatigue of social media, the sliding of fate and the infinite screen time are side effects of efficient phones and the entire purpose of the minimum phone is slowing down. It does so, but it also makes you hate actively using your phone.

The result is the minimum phone: an e-paper phone that works on Android. It brings a family design with a return nod to the original BlackBerry or other devices around 2005. A complete QWERTY keyboard embellishes the lower part of the phone, while a small screen of Reader E-Beder occupies most of the properties towards the top.

The phone has all the essential skills that a modern phone has, including the possibility of connecting to LTE 4G networks.

The minimum proudly position their new e-paper phone as an anti-district. The data of the company’s sites on its website claim that users spend over 6 hours on their phones and minimal every day wants to offer a solution that brakes that number, or deletes it definitively.

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The minimum phone does an excellent job that I found myself in my hand as little as possible only to avoid the obstacles to use it. Does this achieve the company’s goal? Of course, but it also makes an abrasive experience.

Hardware

THE Minimum phone Take more than a retro-minimalist design with an adorable keyboard located at the bottom of 25% of the device. The phone itself is enclosed in plastic, which looks a little cheaper. I understand what the company is for with a minimum design made of something light, but the material does not feel high -end in the hand.

In addition, the square nature of the phone makes it a little sharp around the edges. It is not necessarily uncomfortable to use because it is so light, but applying any force to the palm would not be very well. It is definitely pleasant to look at, however, and emits that pre-iPhone atmosphere that many people find nostalgic.

As simple as the device, one of the most beautiful touches made was the inclusion of a fingerprint sensor. It is surprisingly accurate and offers a much easier way to bypass the lock screen, even more than a generic smartphone. A power button also acts and the display offers an AOD mode by nature which is an e-reader screen.

On the other side of the power button there is a set of volume buttons and a refresher key. The key, if exploited, allows you to update the display for the best resolution, or it can be kept down to view the display settings. More information on that later.

Minimal did not take the path of most companies when the features sit on the block. It is clear simply because this phone hosts a 3.5 mm headphone jack for wired earphones. This is an important feature that is often neglected, and it is nice to see it in mind.

Performance

In general, our review recipe requires that the display is mentioned in the hardware section, but the minimum phone display is so intrinsically connected to the overall experience of the device that must be mentioned together with the performance of the phone.

The display, on paper, is a 4.3 -inch screen with a resolution of 600 x 800 and 230 PPI. This is not impressive for any other OLED display, but this screen is powered by an e-paper panel, which shows only shades of black and white. With this, it also brings a natively low refresher frequency somewhere in the interval from 1 to 2 fps.

The idea is that the minimum phone display allows necessary actions in any app that you can get from the Google Play Store. Together with this, you do not effort efforts and the battery will last much longer, making the device a reliable partner and not a weight. An e-paper display is perfect for this.

In addition, the minimum company has been able to develop an Android Reskin that offers only necessary shortcuts on the main screen. Swiping in both directions will present you an app of your choice, which is a nice touch that keeps the experience clean.

The capacitive buttons under the screen act as shortcuts for apps at home, back and recent.

In theory, the experience seems incredible. I can check my and -mail, reproduce music and take notes with the full physical keyboard while not sucked in social sides or spend too much time on my device. It is the minimalist phone.

The problem I have is this – because the screen works at such a slow refresher frequency, the phone often struggles to recording the touches correctly. If I ever went too quickly, the screen would ignore the input. It actively reduces the user, which can be positive for those who want it from a device or a negative if you are trying to send an email sensitive to time.

This is a common side effect of e-paper and minimal screens is using it to its advantage. However, it is an uncomfortable experience. No touch is really important and do not slowly occur up or down to barely move the page. Each dress that users have developed in the last ten years of use of modern devices are thrown out of the window.

It is not minimal, it is free.

In addition, the keyboard was not immune to the input delay. This may also be due to the learning curve necessary to get used to the unique dimensions. After some time, it became easier, but in the end, he still felt that the keys were a little too rigid to use for prolonged periods.

Even with correctly tuned settings, the display still seemed to be a disappointment. The fastest refresher rates were not yet fast enough and there was a significant quantity of ghost in each app. This is not unique for this phone, however. It comes with the territory of some e-reader displays.

In another note, the minimum phone has Aod and, with an e-reader display, it occupies very little battery power. Ironically, AOD is not updated unless a notification arrives. If notifications do not arrive, the clock never updates and the purpose of an always onuscole display is controversial. This is a small point of annoyance, but summarizes many of the problems I have with the execution of this phone.

I think Minimal could have resolved many of these complaints with a passage to a physical directional bearing, such as the one who had phones in the mid-2000s. The screen could still record the touch for a complex app design, but a D-Pad for messages and calls could actually create a more intentional experience.

Drums

Here’s where the minimum phone shines a little of that silver coating. Despite being a simple device, the phone still contains a 3,000 mAh battery, which is enough to power a modern smartphone for at least half of the day. Add it to an e-paper device and you have a rather large leap in the duration of the general battery.

With a complete charge, while you use the down and on keyboard, I could squeeze about two or three days. The average experience may differ, considering that this phone must be used sparingly. However, it is likely to get several days of life if used as expected.

This has quickly become one of the redempricities of the phone. For something that must be with you at any time, the minimum phone becomes the essential piece with the lasting usability. Power is not always draining and it is there when you need it.

Final thoughts

Overall, this is difficult. The minimum phone is so clearly designed to prevent long hours of use and be sucked into scrolling to develop arthritis in the thumb. But in the same way, those guardrails prevent the user from having a great experience with the device. So, it is really about making sacrifices.

The sacrifices you will do are the ability to interact with your device at a modern or comfortable rhythm and see incredible details in the images in your apps. You will not sacrifice the possibility of calling or sending messages on your favorite network and accessing any app on which you can get your hands, even if the general experience may falter.

The minimum phone simply feels little engineered, even for what it should be. The cost seems to be a stretch a $ 400 during the pre-order phase ($ 500 msrp). If it had a slightly premium design with more intuitive functions that facilitate a simple but effective experience, the price could be justified.

The result was a phone that I certainly wanted to use less, so I guess it works.