Keyphone: Minimal Phone With Keyboard
I have been going through the process lately, in more detail than previous attempts, of a digital minimalism inspired review of my tech, with a focus on the phone. I will have more to write about that soon enough as I'm completing my review in my journal.
This process has been a slow and intentional review of the different functions I use my iPhone for to consider alternatives anywhere from running a pared down Minimal iPhone, as well as dumbphone options, like my Nokia 6300 4G. Granted, I'm still very drawn to the Nokia, but the lack of support or updates from KaiOS, and the integrated ads certainly impact some desire to switch to it.
When I previously spent a few months with the Nokia 6300 4G as my daily driver device, it covered most of what I needed in calls, texts, and ability to play music or podcasts (PodLP!). It's primary drawbacks (beyond the ads!) was trying to text with T9, and the slow and poor 0.3 MP Camera. I wasn't aiming for an iPhone class camera, as I want to use my Canon DSLR a lot more, but wanted better than 0.3 MP.
Based on this, I early backed (before the Indiegogo campaign launch) the Keyphone, which seems to tick all the boxes that are missing on my Nokia. It's North America focused, so has all the cellular bands I need in Canada, has either 13 MP or optional 20 MP camera options, and has the option (which I selected) of QWERTY keyboard instead of T9. The devices goals are to be a minimal feature phone, and they're doing a great job so far at being very clear in the discussion threads at what the phone will and won't be. It turns some folks off (that want this or that app, or sideloading, or unlocking bootloader), but is sticking with the values they have stated from the start, with any new features judged against those values.
I'll write more soon about my digital minimalism journaling notes in regards to my iPhone and other devices, which will be part of attempting to transition to the Keyphone when it comes to shipping time.