The Minimal Phone Is An Android Unit With An E-Ink Display

Modern flagship smartphones are now shipping with all the top-notch bells and whistles that we could have only dreamt of back in the day. Strangely enough, some of us still yearn for the old-school handsets before Apple completely changed the landscape with the iPhone. The Minimal Company is currently crowdfunding an odd yet cool mobile phone dubbed the Minimal Phone.

It seems every startup is obsessed with minimalism in all aspects given the naming convention used recently. There was the Nothing Phone, which turned into a smash hit with its mix of modern and retro elements. Now, this Indiegogo project comes into view and some of us here are obsessed with what it brings to the table.

With every smartphone now shipping with vibrant displays, the Minimal Phone takes a different path with its E-Ink panel and physical keyboard which hits us with a wave of nostalgia. It strangely resembles the Blackberry KeyOne albeit with a 3.5″ grayscale touchscreen.

Listed at 300 ppi, the resolution is impressive along with the 90 Hz refresh rate. The latter may not be on par with the 120 Hz or even higher of other models, but it’s more than enough to prevent the flickering effect common among E-Ink panels. 

The team behind this awesome device is not about to mess around with a proprietary operating system. Instead, like some e-readers, the Minimal Phone runs on Android 13 out of the box. It means the interface should be familiar to those in Google’s software ecosystem.

Flanking the earpiece is an 8-megapixel front-facing camera and a proximity sensor. Below the E-Ink display is a 43-key QWERTY keyboard with 0.15 mm of travel each. Each physical button is spaced appropriately for comfort and style. Meanwhile, the rear features a single 12-megapixel camera and a flash module.

Other noteworthy details about the Minimal phone include the MediaTek MTK 6769 chipset, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB internal storage, Bluetooth 5.0. a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and NFC. Powered by a 4,000 mAh battery, it can supposedly last up to a week.

Images courtesy of Minimal Company