In our many years of covering gadgets, we have had the opportunity to test many fancy smartphones. Most of them have way too many fancy bells and whistles for folks who are just looking for a device to take calls, get directions, and do other basic tasks. A lot of them are also not designed to protect your privacy. That’s where the Mudita Kompakt comes in. It is an E Ink smartphone with a clean OS, so it lasts a long time on battery and puts the focus on the things that matter, like phone calls and messages. The good folks behind it were kind enough to send us one to review. Let’s see what was included:
Our Mudita Kompakt came in a compact package. We were also sent two protective cases. In the package, you will find a manual, the phone, a USB-C charging cable, a SIM card key, and a pouch. The phone was a bit larger and thicker than our iPhone SE, but it just felt right in our hand. The SIM card tray has room for an additional nano SIM card and a microSD card for storage expansion.
Just like any other E Ink device, you will notice how well the display works under any lighting condition, even in direct sunlight. It is great for reading books but you also can bring your own music/podcasts. The main selling point of this phone is the fact it’s de-Googled and doesn’t have unnecessary apps. You still get a calculator, calendar, camera, e-reader, maps, and music app. There is even a chess game for you to try. Want to record your thoughts or check the weather? No problem.
You can find the volume buttons and fingerprint scanner on the right side. On the left side, you have a switch that activates the Offline+ mode, in which the microphones, WiFi, Bluetooth, and camera are disabled. If you just want to disable the antenna and WiFi but have Bluetooth on, you should turn the Airplane Mode on. Unlike many other new phone models, this one has a headphone jack.
The display looks like one you would see on an e-book reader. Unlike the older models, this one has a light, so you can use your phone in the dark. There are three main buttons on its display that let you go back, go home, and access Control Center with a tap. You can change light, sound, and connectivity settings through the Control Center. This phone has an 8MP camera with dual-color flash that you can use in low light conditions.
You get 8 languages to choose from. This model has 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage space but you can expand it with a microSD card. We used a 128GB memory card and had no issues accessing our music. Kompakt doesn’t have too many apps installed but if you want to read, play chess, meditate, calculate numbers and view maps, you are covered right out of the box.
The E Ink technology is very energy efficient, so devices like this last for days on battery. You can still leave fingerprints on it, but you’d have to try hard, whereas doing so on an iPhone takes just a couple of taps. We used this phone with our AT&T service and had no issues. It worked right away without us having to jump through hoops.
We found the display to be pretty responsive. As far as sideloading apps with WebADB, it is straightforward but defeats the whole purpose of getting a phone like this. Nevertheless, we were able to install the Brave browser, F-Droid, and Sudoku. We even got a third-party camera app installed but the video resolution was not great. When downloading third-party apps for this phone, you want to make sure they are compatible with E Ink displays.
Overall, we found the Mudita Kompakt to be a very interesting phone. Its e-paper display lets you read, play chess, or send messages under direct sunlight with no glare. The phone feels very well-made, but you will want to use a case with it for protection. The Offline+ feature is wonderful for those who want to disconnect from all distractions. If you are looking for an Android phone without all the standard apps and distractions, you should give this one a good look.
