Punkt announces MP02, an LTE version of its super-minimalist phone - The Verge

We were introduced to Swiss company Punkt’s MP01 phone during the recent minimalist phone trend, which brought us the new wave of “dumbphones” that do nothing but call and text. Now the company has responded to customer critiques like, “It’s not very good for calling and texting,” by releasing a second version of its phone called the MP02.

The new model looks pretty much identical to its predecessor, but now it’s upgraded from 2G to 4G LTE, and adds Blackberry encryption and threaded text messaging. Should you decide that, actually, you do want to use the internet, you can also use the phone as a hotspot to connect to a tablet or laptop. The old MP01 is still being sold on Punkt’s site after taking a price cut, but it’s likely that the MP02 came about since 2G networks are shutting down across the world and will render the MP01 unusable.

The phone, designed by British industrial designer Jasper Morrison, is definitely sleeker and more stylish than a lot of the other minimalist phones on the market today, like the Unihertz Jelly or the Nokia 3310. Our former features editor, Michael Zelenko, spent some time with the Punkt MP01 this year, and he noted that the phone feels solid and nicely designed. The MP02 should solve his biggest issue, which was that messages were divided into Inbox and Outbox folders.

Punkt

The phone runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor and has a two-inch display covered with Gorilla Glass. It has a standby battery life of about 12 days, and it charges with a USB-C connector. Besides calling and texting, you can also enjoy a clock, notes app, calendar, and calculator, which is what the phone looks like anyway.

The MP02 is available for $349, and preorders are available now.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/9/18/17874428/punkt-lte-mp02-minimalist-phone-android