Mudita Kompact E Ink Phone is Now On Kickstarter
The Mudita Kompact might be tiny, but it has a significant promise of liberating you from the tangle of distractions that modern-day smartphones have increasingly identified with. The good news here is that the E Ink phone is already on Kickstarter. It has found 704 backers already on the crowdfunding platform who have pledged $252,732 at the time of this writing. With 32 days remaining, the company might end up amassing twice the $162,747 it had set out to collect.
It ships with only a bare minimum of apps to live up to its promise of being a minimalist phone. That includes those apps that let you make calls, send and receive text messages, read e-books, listen to music and audiobooks, and take notes. It comes pre-installed with an Android-based Mudita OS K but does not provide access to the Google PlayStore.
There are no Google apps or services that the phone comes with. Mudita said the custom OS has been optimized for operating on an E Ink display and runs apps such as an e-book reader, Notes, Maps, Calculator, Music Player, and a Voice Recorder. There is also the Calendar, Weather, and Camera app. Most importantly, the Meditation Time app that Mudita says will help you bring inner peace to you. Lastly, the App Manager will let you select the apps you wish to keep hidden or displayed.
Specs-wise, the 4.3-inch E Ink display has an upfront resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. Under the hood, it has a 2 GHz quad-core MediaTek Helio A22 processor, Imagination GE8300 graphics, 3 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of storage. A microSD card slot allows you to add more storage when needed.
Mudita Kompact also features a speaker and a 3.5mm audio jack. The 3,300 mAh battery onboard lasts 6 days on a single charge. It can be charged via a USB-C port and supports wireless charging. The phone’s wireless technologies include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and 4G LTE. It also supports VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling. The microSD card slot is a hybrid that can also house a SIM card.
The phone also has an 8 MP camera at the rear, complemented by a dual LED flash. It boasts an IP54 rating, protecting it against water and dust ingress. Two phone versions are available —one better suited for networks in the US and Canada and another a global version. Both versions have the exact specifications, though. The North American model shipment is expected to begin in May 2025, while the international version will start shipping in April 2025.