Escaping the display isn’t straightforward. After I examined the Gentle Telephone III in March—a telephone designed to strip away apps and deal with the fundamentals—I rapidly discovered what number of little issues I wanted my smartphone for, from accessing my house’s safety cameras to authentication apps so I may register to internet companies on my laptop computer. Generally it is simply not straightforward to go chilly turkey. However that is the place the Minimal Telephone steps in.
That is an Android telephone with a bodily keyboard and an e-paper touchscreen. It seems to be like a Kindle had a child with a BlackBerry. In contrast to most anti-smartphone merchandise that supply a curated suite of fundamental telephone capabilities, the Minimal Telephone helps you to entry any app by the Google Play Retailer like a traditional Android telephone. However the expertise is hampered by the tiny, 4.3-inch e-paper display that wants fixed refreshing. The keyboard may even sluggish you down. This irritating smartphone expertise is type of the purpose.
I received into mattress one evening, prepared for my standard bedtime doomscrolling ritual. As my spouse was zooming by TikTok, I checked out my telephone and wailed to my spouse, “I can not doomscroll!” I heaved a sigh, put my telephone down, and went to mattress. This isn’t to say that I magically awakened the following day with the most effective sleep of my life—utilizing your telephone earlier than mattress can have an effect on sleep—however it did show one factor: The Minimal Telephone did its job of slicing my time spent on social media.
Ghost Metropolis
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
The distinction in construct high quality between the Minimal Telephone and the Gentle Telephone III is stark. The latter mixes glass and steel, whereas the Minimal is sort of totally plastic. It feels light-weight, and I’ve to say, somewhat low-cost. It would not assist that instantly after unboxing it, the telephone’s again was already grubby with smudges, virtually like I had simply eaten a bag of Cheetos (I want). Perhaps that is why the corporate sells Dbrand skins to cowl it up.
On the best edge is an influence button with a fingerprint scanner baked in, and it is pretty dependable. The underside homes the USB-C charging port and a headphone jack. On the left edge is the SIM tray, which helps microSD playing cards for storage enlargement if 128 GB is not sufficient. The amount buttons are divided by an “e-paper refresh” button, in all probability the button you will press probably the most.
That brings us to the 4.3-inch touchscreen, which is … not nice. That is largely as a result of once you scroll or transfer by internet pages and menus, there’s a whole lot of ghosting—a faint picture of the earlier textual content you had been watching. Even one or two scrolls and you will need to hit that e-paper refresh button liberally to take away these artifacts—that rapidly turns into an annoying step.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
It additionally would not assist that the monochrome display would not play effectively with lighter colours on choose web sites, although pages with largely black and white textual content, like WIRED.com, look positive. Fortunately, I had no issues studying the matte display in any lighting state of affairs. You’ll be able to alter the display’s shade temperature and brightness to fit your eyes, and there is no glare.
Shifting all through the Android 14 working system can really feel somewhat sluggish, however that is largely simply the pace of the e-paper display. From a efficiency standpoint, it appears to chug alongside positive with the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset inside. Granted, I don’t suggest making an attempt cell video games.
The house display exhibits an inventory of shortcuts to core apps, like Telephone, Messages, Digicam, Calendar, and Calculator. There is a Notes app, and it defaults to opening Google Maintain. (You’ll be able to take away and add new ones by long-pressing the app identify within the drawer.) I’ve used the telephone like another I check, even utilizing Google Maps to navigate and Google Pockets for tap-to-pay at bodily retailers, although you will have a subpar expertise with some apps greater than others.
Lite Telephone
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
You will not need to do sure issues on the Minimal Telephone. Watching movies, enjoying video games, and scrolling by social media don’t mesh effectively with an e-paper display and the sluggish refresh charge. YouTube movies and Instagram Reels alike really feel such as you’re watching a strobe mild, with the display flashing with each body. Press and maintain the e-paper refresh button, and you will find an “extremely” refresh setting that makes this somewhat higher, however the high quality considerably diminishes, and all the pieces seems to be like a blob. (I normally saved it at “hybrid,” which switches to extremely when scrolling or when a video is enjoying.)