ZDNET's key takeaways The Mudita Kompakt is available now for $439.
The E Ink display is easy on the eyes, the battery lasts for days, and it satisfies the minimalist intention with far fewer distractions.
The camera is unnecessary, there is no voice-to-text, and the display is too small to be an effective eBook reader. View now at Mudita
Since I started covering mobile phones 20 years ago, I've watched them transform from simple devices to having an all-encompassing impact on our lives. It's rare to find someone who doesn't spend at least a few hours a day engrossed in their smartphone, but awareness of this growing.
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There have been a handful of new devices intended on challenging the status quo, including the Light Phone 3, the Minimal Phone, and now, the Kompakt minimalist phone from European manufacturer Mudita. I've been using it for the last couple of weeks, and it's been refreshing to simplify my connectivity to phone calls and text messages.
The first thing that caught my eye about this phone was the E Ink display. E ink provides a clear, viewable display in all lighting conditions, and I love it on my eBook readers, so I was happy to see that clarity and comfortable display transfer to the phone.
Compared to modern smartphones, the Mudita Kompakt is a bit chunky at half an inch thick and five inches long. It's still rather light, though, weighing just 164 grams and covered in soft-touch material, so it feels good in the hand.
The bezels around the 4.3-inch display are rather large, with three touch-sensitive buttons for back, home, and quick settings, so navigating to key elements is intuitive, whether you're coming from Android or iOS.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
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