Review: Punkt's MP01 is the ultimate minimalist dumbphone

boing
85

At least we’re not talking about how Emacs is the only choice.

86

People actually talk on cell phones? Wot?

5 Likes
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I admire the spirit, but the pragmatic reality of trying to live the “dumbphone in 2017” lifestyle seems more complicated, not less. And that price is seriously whack for what’s on offer.

88

I want a dumbpone so that I can do calls and messages without being distracted by the internet and especially not by the addictive lure of social networking.

I second that, but also want MP3, including voice recording, a calendar, a clock/timer/alarm, and photo/video camera. Basically, I want a smart phone, sans Internet.

1 Like
89

The best phone I ever owned was a 2000-era Motorola™ StarTac®.

It was light. Held a charge for days. You could talk for hours. And the reception… the reception was so clear. I’ve never experienced a better phone, in terms of the sound fidelity. (Effect of analog?)

:sniff: I miss it so.

90

Analog had great sound for sure but could be easily snooped and of course static was a thing.

They only thing that comes close now is VoLTE on newer phones. The voice fidelity with that is phenomenal.

91

I have a dumb phone from Aldi. It cost 16 AUD. It uses 3G and I question why this phone can’t as well. 3G chipsets must be cheaper than 2G these days.

2 Likes
92

You buy a phone that is functionally identical but runs Android, reflash it with a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod (now Lineage), install the Pico version of Gapps, root it, install what you need from the Play Store, then delete the Play Store framework and finally the browser. You could even install a launcher that made it look like iOS, if you were some sort of masochist.

Or you could glue a bit of wood to the screen, that works too.

3 Likes
93

worldwide phone with texting then okay (but this is apparently not that)

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That’s more about codec choice by the carrier than VoLTE per se; T-Mobile was touting “HD Voice” (behind the scenes: the WB-AMR codec) on their 3G-marketed-as-4G network before they had LTE up and running. In any case, an HD Voice call sounds noticeably better than even a landline, provided the other end also supports the codec.

2 Likes
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