As someone who constantly battles with their overly distracting phone, I’m glad to see more minimalist handsets on the scene that are designed to be used as little as possible – like the upcoming Mudita Kompakt.
Freshly minted on Kickstarter, this little phone from a Polish gadget brand comes with a custom OS, monochrome display, a limited collection of apps, and… that’s mostly it. And that’s the point. The idea behind the Kompakt is to help you get a grip on your screen time, so you can spend more touching grass and being out in the real world.
The Kompakt is built around a 4.3-inch 800×480-pixel E Ink touchscreen. It’s powered by a quad-core MediaTek chip, with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. That makes for modest performance suitable for a phone running basic apps, in a package that’s easy to grip and use.
Mudita
It gets a 3.5-mm headphone jack, a fingerprint reader, a basic 8-MP camera with dual LED flash, NFC, a USB-C port, support for wireless charging, and a dual SIM tray that can also take a microSD card in place of one SIM.
Mudita
The body is IP54-rated, so it should handle dust and splashes without a problem. And while you can buy optional covers and screen protectors, it looks like the phone will do fine without a case.
The Kompakt gets a unique hardware switch that engages Offline+ mode, for when you want to truly tune out the world. This not only disables cell networks, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth like Airplane mode, but also the three mics and onboard camera. Plus, it physically cuts off power to the phone’s GSM module, so you are all the way offline.
Mudita
You’ll also get a 3,300-mAh battery, which the company says is good for 6 days of standby time. I imagine that’s thanks to the custom OS, the lack of distracting apps constantly sending data back and forth, and the E Ink display that draws power only when the screen refreshes. Can you imagine the luxury of charging your phone just once every few days?
Minimalist software for minimal screen time
Mudita runs an Android Open Source Project-based custom OS on the Kompakt, with no Google services on board so your data isn’t gathered or shared with advertisers. The company promises 3 years of over-the-air software updates.
The device comes with just a handful of apps baked in:
- Phone and SMS
- Offline maps
- Weather
- E-reader
- Notes
- Voice recorder
- Calculator
- Camera (for photos only, no video recording)
- Meditation timer
- Music player
- Chess
Mudita
You’ll notice there are no messaging services like WhatsApp, or streaming apps like Spotify. Mudita is leaving it up to customers to decide if they want to sideload those Android apps – though they might affect performance or not be fully supported. Naturally, this is going to be an adjustment for folks making the switch to what’s essentially a feature phone, for the first time.
In an early preview video where you can see the phone in action, the Kompakt appears moderately responsive as it handles simple tasks and system functions. I’d dearly miss out on swipe-to-type features afforded by today’s smartphones, because that’s part of what gets me through texting quickly when I’m trying to use my handset less.
Mudita
The phone doesn’t sync your data to many cloud services, so you’ll want to use the Mudita Center desktop app to back up your data, upload files like music and books, and manage your contacts. I can see that being a tad inconvenient, but this does grant you more privacy than today’s popular cloud-based alternatives.
Getting your hands on a Kompakt
Mudita is making global and North American versions of the phone, for compatibility with different frequency bands around the world. You can pick from three neutral colors – Charcoal Black, Pebble Gray, or Natural White – and snap up your own Kompakt for US$473 (€439). However, it’s currently listed on Kickstarter for as little as $324 (€299) for early birds who back the campaign. Shipping will cost you between $11-$16 extra, depending on where you live.
The usual crowdfunding cautions apply, but if all goes to plan, the global version is estimated to ship in April 2025, while the North America version will start going out in May 2025. Sadly, the company is only shipping to a handful of countries across Europe, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for the moment.
Mudita Kompakt: More offline. More life.
Although the campaign’s just gone live, it’s already crossed its $162,000 funding goal. That’s not surprising, given that Mudita has previously shipped a range of mindfulness-focused products, including a feature phone with an E Ink display and a numpad. Oh, and here’s a fun fact: the company was started by the co-founder of CD Projekt, the game studio behind award-winning blockbusters like The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077.
Assuming all goes well, this device will be another option in a small but compelling new selection of distraction-free phones that includes the metal-clad Light Phone III slated to arrive next February at $499, and the $399 Minimal Phone with a BlackBerry-style QWERTY keyboard that should ship by the end of 2024.
Source: Kickstarter
