This crowdfunded E Ink QWERTY phone isn’t vaporware after all

Jan 31, 2025 06:46 PM - 1 week ago 10486

When the Minimal Phone was first announced this clip past year, you mightiness person been forgiven for reasoning it was vaporware. But 1 twelvemonth — and galore delays — later, the world’s first Android telephone pinch some an E Ink show and a beingness QWERTY keyboard has begun shipping to backers.

In wide strokes, the Minimal Phone looks a spot for illustration a BlackBerry, pinch a wide assemblage and a squat surface perched supra its streamlined QWERTY keyboard. We’ve seen phones for illustration this before. What makes it guidelines retired is the surface itself, which is simply a monochrome E Ink sheet astatine a whopping 600 x 800 resolution.

Despite utilizing E Ink tech, the Minimal Phone runs Android 14, truthful the only apps you’re giving up are those that really can’t tally connected the sluggish show and basal hardware — you won’t beryllium popping galore headshots successful CoD: Mobile, I fear. Access to each your Android apps mightiness put the dishonesty to Minimal Company’s committedness of a “distraction-free” phone, but the institution suggests that the E Ink sheet still “encourages you to usage them much mindfully.” On the smartphone-sized Boox Palma e-reader we recovered astir Android apps “just atrocious to use,” which proved a neat measurement of removing their enticement to distract, truthful the institution mightiness beryllium correct aft all.

While the telephone is basal successful a fewer different ways — its 16 megapixel camera looks improbable to impress, and it’s constricted to 4G LTE connections — it packs a fewer unexpected perks too. NFC payments, a fingerprint sensor, and Qi wireless charging are each supported, and the inclusion of dual-SIM support, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and expandable retention ticks disconnected astir of the old-school smartphone nerd wishlist.

Originally group to vessel to Indiegogo backers in August 2024, the Minimal Phone slipped to September, past December, and yet started heading retired past week. The institution says it’s shipping phones successful the bid they were purchased, moving “from now until March.” You tin besides bid the telephone now for transportation successful March, starting astatine $399, a $100 discount connected the charismatic unit price.

Its main title comes from TCL, whose Nxtpaper phones present a regular Android telephone acquisition pinch the action to flip a move and alteration an E Ink-like monochrome mode. There’s nary beingness keyboard though, truthful unless Clicks keyboard cases grow to fresh much phones, the Minimal Phone is the only crippled successful municipality for those who request QWERTY and E Ink successful the aforesaid handset.

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