Remember the Minimal Phone, the Android smartphone that combined an E Ink display with a physical QWERTY keyboard? It has a successor. However, the upcoming Minimal Phone 2 has abandoned the very display technology that made its predecessor so unusual.
In place of E Ink is a 3.92-inch OLED touchscreen with a 1,080 × 1,240 resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate. That should eliminate the sluggish animations and ghosting associated with E Ink, although introducing vibrant colors to a phone designed to discourage screen addiction feels a little like installing a minibar at a wellness retreat.
Thankfully, the physical QWERTY keyboard survives. It now has backlit keys, metal-dome switches, and remappable shortcuts, while the phone receives a smaller aluminum body measuring 122.6 × 72 × 9.48 mm (4.83 × 2.83 × 0.37 inches).
Inside is a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 processor paired with 8 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and either 256 or 512 GB of storage. A Founder’s Edition bumps memory to 12 GB while retaining 512 GB of storage. Cameras include a 50 MP f/1.8 main shooter and a 20 MP front-facing unit.
Other conveniences include 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, dual-SIM support, a side-mounted fingerprint reader, DisplayPort output, wireless charging, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The 3,000 mAh battery supports 27 W wired and 15 W wireless charging.
The Minimal Phone 2 is currently offered through Kickstarter, starting at US$599, with deliveries estimated for December 2026. Minimalism has become faster, more colorful, and considerably more tempting to stare at.
Images: The Minimal Company.