Great review - thanks for writing it.

I love e-ink screens and physical keyboards, so this looks ace. Almost like a cyberdeck but with all the advantages of access to android apps.

I wonder how easy it would be to 'de-google'.

Since it runs Android, you should be able to use any app in the store, right? So, let's say you need to buy train tickets, take care of banking, track package deliveries, check your PUK code, troubleshoot a wifi router, control smart lights, book a time for the dentist etc. There are a variety of random things where the modern world expects you to have either Android or iOS with you, so can this phone handle those situations too?

About 10 years ago, you didn't really bump into situations like that very often, so you could get stuff done by making a phone call, using a browser etc, but the 2020s are getting increasingly app dependent. It's just wild how many things you can't do these days unless you have a reasonably modern smart phone with you.

Tip for regular android users: Install an alternative open source ROM such as LineageOS, GrapheneOS, Calix OS, eOS... They come without Youtube, Google News or any other addictive bloatware that cannot be uninstalled.

thank you for an elaborate and in-depth review, enjoyed imagining owning it. although it has a lot of nice-to-haves (e-ink, keyboard, etc) at 10x (that's TEN times) the price of my usual phones Imma forget about it as soon as I click "post".

I bought one of these for my wife and we she has unfortunately had to switch back to her other phone due to some bugs. It seems to fail to be able to make phone calls or maintain bluetooth connections frequently. She has never had an issue receiving calls though. I'm still working on trying to find a solution for her because her old phone is a Pixel 6a which Google just nerfed the battery into oblivion like they did my 4a. I swear they have it out for us.

I love a good e-ink device, but this seems performative. FFS, just get a dumb phone.

android + e-ink is cool and probably will get much cheaper in the next decade too, nice review

Great review, thanks!

Are there any other phones with e-ink? Recent ones, I guess I should say. I think Pine had one?

Is it possible to replace the battery or screen? How repairable is the device? Thanks for the review!

It looks great. But it's still the same price as a Pixel with GrapheneOS.

Sorry if I missed it, but can you use "Google maps" or equivalent? I want to reduce my phone usage and having a simpler phone should help.

Just saw this got crossposted.

It does come with the full set of Google services pre-installed, so I'm not sure how good, out-of-the-box, this is for privacy. I've only partially de-googled it, but have to leave Play services enabled for RCS since group chats over MMS kinda suck lol.

According to the FAQ on Minimal's website they do seem at least open to "mak[ing] the device more open to system customization in the future". Most manufacturers don't even acknowledge that, so here's hoping they follow through.