This looks cool but… I’m nervous about pre-ordering from a company I’ve never heard of. Anyone know anything about these guys?
If they actually end up making a product you’ll just be able to buy it. Wouldn’t preorder. Concept is cute though, I LOVE eink displays.
Yep, all this. Also worth pointing out that none of the news outlets they’re quoting have actually seen or used the device, they’re all fawning over the idea of the thing.
Yeah, and even “fawning” is generous. One just says, “There are some aspects of the Minimal Phone that sound appealing.” Not exactly a rave review
I recently saw a review of a similar phone, it’s pretty crazy cool really!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4wf3ebnqzn0
Sucks that dude ends up breaking everything he ever reviews after testing it, but that’s like part of his thing.
The display really is a live realtime display. Although it only displays in monochrome, the camera actually records in full color, once you upload the photos and video to another platform anyways.
Being that it’s a live active e-ink display, it’ll gradually start showing ‘ghosting’ of sorts, but it has a dedicated full screen refresh button to clear any ghosting artifacts.
The phone you linked is the Hisense A9. Not the same phone
Huh, wasn’t aware there were other phones with similar technology already out there, my bad. I’ve edited my comment to mention it’s a similar phone, not the same though.
Personally I think they’re a bit of a gimmick anyway. The only real appeal of an e-ink display is that it makes everything you might do on a phone a worse experience, dissuading you from doing those things. Just get a slide phone like they had in the naughties to handle your calls and text, carry a notepad for everything else. Accomplishes the same thing for cheaper
It’s still got the benefit of a way better battery life, since there’s no backlight or OLEDs to keep powered, and the screen only uses energy while being refreshed.
While true, if you’re not actively using the phone (on any phone) then the battery shouldn’t drain very quickly. Think it’s a bit of a moot point given that
You’ve heard of reading, right?
You’ve heard of ereaders, right? Better yet, you’ve heard of books, right? Why anyone would want to read a book in the form factor of a phone I have no idea. And even still, some slide phone plus an ereader plus a pen and pad would still be cheaper than either the Hisense A9 or the Minimalist phone. You’re paying a premium to combine functionality while making some of those functions worse
Gosh, do I feel silly! You’re right, nobody reads on the pocket-sized device they carry around all the time.
If you read books on your phone then by all means feel free to continue. It’s a suboptimal way of reading though and I’m judging the fuck out of you for it.
