Retro-looking smartphone to quash doom-scrolling with one unique twist

The Minimal Phone has a retro design, an e-ink display, and a tactile keyboard. But do you really need one to kick that doom-scrolling habit?

In the day and age when phones are getting brighter and bigger displays to keep you hooked on them, some brands are looking to go in the complete opposite direction.

We recently saw an iPhone case with a full-blown physical keyboard to help you type easily. Now, there is a phone that takes you back into times when doom-scrolling wasn’t a thing.

This upcoming phone, aptly named Minimal, has been designed with the aim of improving your mental health by reducing screen time. The presence of an e-ink display helps reduce strain on your eyes and ensures that you do not spend time on the phone doing essential things other than sending or responding to emails or messages.

It also has a full-fledged QWERTY keyboard that helps you type long emails or messages. It also brings back the tactile feedback of a keypress, which has been long forgotten in the era of touchscreen devices.

The Minimal phone ships with a 4,000 mAh battery that recharges from 0 to 80 percent in 30 minutes. It runs on custom MnmlOS, and the battery lasts for days on a single charge because of the low-resolution e-ink display.

Ideal for social media detox

Minimal

The Minimal phone takes on the paradigm of modern apps like TikTok, which thrives on user data and is created to keep you engrossed forever. This claims to have had adverse effects on children and grown-ups alike, and brands including Apple, Google, and others have been trying different ways to make people aware of the time they spend on their devices.

With a limited number of applications, the Minimal phone could help you detox from social media and spend more time with your loved ones.

The phone itself is not available to purchase right now, and you need to join the waitlist to get hold of one. With very little known about the phone or the brand, we’re still unsure how much it will cost, and when it will start retailing.