I switched to an e-paper Android phone with a physical keyboard – here’s my buying advice

With a handful of so-called “dumbphones” entering the consumer market over the past year, such as the Light Phone 3 and the Mudita Kompakt, the Minimal Phone takes a different approach as an Android device with an e-paper display and physical QWERTY keyboard but full access to the Google Play store. 

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That’s right. You can download almost anything you want on this $400 phone, but you probably won’t want to. I recently used the Minimal Phone for two weeks, first as a primary device and then as a secondary, and experienced a fair amount of friction that ultimately led to an appreciation for the form factor. Let’s take a look. 

The Minimal Phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 eight-core CPU, up to 8GB of memory, and up to 256GB of storage. This is a pretty standard set of hardware, but all that power is bottlenecked by the e-paper display, which turns any visuals beyond basic text and UI navigation into a low-res image that’s about as enjoyable as you’d expect. Then you realize, that’s sort of the point, here. 

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The Minimal Phone doesn’t stop you from doomscrolling or procrastinating on YouTube outright, it just makes the user experience more trouble than it’s worth, narrowing the use case from a sprawling device that can do anything (like your smartphone) to one that’s, well, minimal.

It’s kind of a funny trick, actually. You can watch videos and load Instagram on this phone, but it’s such a bad experience that you don’t really want to. If you turn the e-paper display’s refresh rate all the way up, it’s functional for limited cases, but all it takes is a few seconds of video content, and you’ll likely be closing the app. 

Instead, you’ll gravitate toward using it as an e-reader or to listen to audiobooks, which are far more optimized for this phone. The 4.3-inch e-paper display features an 800 x 600 pixel screen size, and around 230 PPI (pixels per inch) — less than other e-paper displays like the Boox Note Max or the Kindle Scribe (both with 300 PPI). All the usual e-paper points apply, with refresh rate adjustment (directly correlating to battery drain), and a fair amount of visual ghosting. 

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But if you’re not looking at the display and want to listen to music or podcasts, it works great. With 5.2 Bluetooth connectivity, a headphone jack, and a USB-C port, you have all the regular options for connecting earbuds or headphones. 

The phone’s physical form is rather nondescript but calls to mind other devices, both past and present. Its sharp edges lend it a certain sleekness that makes it look less like a smartphone and more like a miniature Kindle. Conversely, glancing at the 35-key physical QWERTY keyboard, you could see a reimagined Blackberry. 

The back of the phone features the 16MP camera (yes, there’s a camera on this device — two, in fact) along with perhaps the most fingerprint-attracting black plastic material I’ve ever touched, and a panel with the device’s barcodes and serial numbers smack dab in the middle. Good thing there’s a MagSafe-compatible case you can buy for $30. 

Overall, the build quality is good, but it’s a first-generation product, so some things are better than others. The touch screen display is actually quite responsive, despite the typical lag you get with e-paper, and the three touch buttons below the display are very functional. But the keyboard is where things start to get complicated. 

As a Blackerry owner in the mid-2000s, I appreciate a physical QWERTY keyboard. However, the design needs to be intentional. As such, I would say the Minimal Phone’s keyboard needs some refinement. 

The keys are very small, and they have a squirmy feel that resists fast typing. Additionally, the space bar has a strange double-sided click that always feels like you’ve somehow missed the key. Lastly, typing special characters requires a moment to find their locations. There is some logic to the mapping, but there is a learning curve. 

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The phone also has a compass, NFC chip, and supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 5, making it, in essence, a typical Android device. It runs stock Android 14 OS, and out of the box utilizes its Minimal launcher — one thing on this device that certainly IS minimal. It looks a lot like the display on the Light Phone 3 with a text-only design. 

If you want to try out other launchers like Nova or Niagara, I absolutely recommend it, as they look better optimized for the e-paper with high contrast icons and a more visual interface. 

Speaking of visuals, let’s talk about the camera. First, the 5MP selfie camera is located in the bottom left corner of the device, which definitely takes some getting used to, as it’s often obscured by your hand. 

Second, the 16MP main camera leaves a lot to be desired. This is not a camera you’ll be out shooting with, but it is practical for the very basics: QR codes, Google Translate, or basic documenting. Keep in mind that the images are shot in color, despite the fact that you’ll obviously have to transfer them to another device to see them. 

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Last but not least, I have to mention the battery. So here’s the deal: e-paper phones should have fantastic batteries. We’re not dealing with a Super Retina XDR OLED display here, yet the Minimal Phone’s battery is a little unpredictable. 

I will say that it has a very good standby battery. When idle and not in use, it drains at a trickle. Even basic tasks like calling and texting results in an acceptable amount of battery drain. But the depletion becomes noticeable once you start using apps on this thing. 

Using the phone as an e-reader was an acceptable compromise. Still, I would like to see better battery optimization, and I expect that future software updates and optimizations will be the primary source of that improvement. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

In theory, the Minimal Phone has everything that makes it a unique device. But in practice, it feels more like an Android with an e-paper display than a breakthrough product. It’s certainly not a “dumbphone”, but the limits of its hardware narrow its usability in practice. 

Even though the physical design could use some refinement, its approach is refreshing. Ultimately, the Minimal Phone is not made for the user who wants to completely disconnect but reduce the scope of their phone’s capabilities. In that sense, I recommend it as a secondary device or as a daily carry you keep on your person, with a smartphone anchored at home or in the office.