The smartphone market is dominated by big screen phones with Apple and Google bringing some respite for compact phone proponents. Or you can go for the very low-end barebone phones which don’t have the luxury of a cool interface and tons of memory for multitasking or storing data.
There’s a definite hole in this segment of the market that can be plugged with a niche smartphone that is very small yet has respectable power and memory allocation to brag about. Japanese design firm Balmuda Technologies known for its $300 toaster has just announced its first-ever smartphone for prospect buyers at a Tokyo press event.
Balmuda Phone is indeed compact
The phone has a 4.9-inch screen (16:9 aspect ratio at 1080p resolution) with a bit thick bezel (not as big as the iPhone SE) and an off-beat design which will leave you searching for corners. Something that could be compared with the Pixel 4a 5G, iPhone SE or the good old Palm Pre and HTC One X. On the rear, the phone’s body has a profound curve for one sole reason – to feel good with a secure grip of the hand.
Balmuda Phone has the Snapdragon 765 chipset powering its guts along with the 6GB RAM and 128 GB storage which should be more than enough for normal users. The small 2500mAh battery can be juiced up via the USB Type-C port or wireless charging tech.
Impressive camera and Android 11
The phone gets a single 48MP sensor for the rear shooting and an 8MP selfie shooter concealed in the hole-punch cut-out on the top right-hand corner. Android 11 powers the software of the Balmuda phone which is minimal on the inside as well. It has a custom launcher with calendar app, calculator, and clock visible in the pictures.
The IP44 rated device should be able to take on the daily driver needs of casual users without any worries. This will be aided by swiping and tapping functions – swipe across the home screen for placing a call or launch the map for real-time location.
Balmuda Phone will be up for purchase reservations in Japan from November 17, and retail availability will be on the very next day. It will cost ¥104,800 (approximately $920) and there is no word yet on a wider availability in other regions of the world.
