$369 for the Mudita Pure?

Finding right point between quality, sustainability and another parameters is a win.

Responsibility level of this product looks better than in any other manufacturer and (or) assembler.

It’s pity, when after good product lies other hidden shady suppliers and (or) monopolies, which have only image, but without soul in it.

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the so called flagships are selling for around 1000$. this price is usually justified by design. well, this is a special product, not for everyone and with great design. i like it, i want it.

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If the pure gets T9 or predictive text input then I feel that the price is justified. If they continue to go with the archaic and tedious tap tap tap method of text input then I would argue that it is not worth the price.

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I think on the may production updates comment section, predictive input was confirmed as a feature!

Flagship smartphones, bought outright without a contract, can run upwards of $1400 with bigger storage options included.

So $369 for a bespoke, original, from the ground up device with all that entails, is very reasonable indeed.

The problem in modern society now, certainly in the western world, is that a majority of folk live an on-demand life. Everything is right there, to be demanded at will. And human beings take on that mantra throughout their lives.

So people want it NOW; they want it personally curated for THEM; they want it within THEIR budget; and if they can’t have what THEY want, when THEY demand it, you get what several people on this very thread are vocalising.

If the production and design people were to fold to every demand they would end up with thousands of different variations on a theme in physical dynamic.

Personally, I look at a product I actually require. I see if it falls within the budget I set to have what I genuinely need (and not because everyone else is getting one) and if it meets all my requirements, I will purchase said product.

If it doesn’t provide me with what I need I would never dream of signing up for a forum to come on and complain because I want it my own way. I would merely scroll past and move along.

On-demand society living has made people angry, selfish and promotes a feeling of anxiety when folk can’t have what they believe they are entitled to because THEY demand it.

The cost of the Pure is more than fair considering the ethos on which the product is built.

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People who are complaining about the price obviously want this device, if they thought that kiaos devices were the same, then why don’t they buy one of those, rather than browbeat the creators of this product about the high price.
The other two dumb smart phones (the light phone and the punkt M.2) are both $299 and above
Both of those phones use an android layer, the punkt doesn’t have a music player and the light phone 2 require you to upload your music to their website).
The mudita has custom software, not android and it is open source.
This phone is a bargain at the price.

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The price is what it is. When a product is well made and is meant to last a long time, then the price is worth it.

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@alayah We get a lot of these type of comments regarding the price. That it’s basically a “$30 dumb phone” and that the price of Mudita Pure is excessive. However, the durability & how long that phone lasts is never addressed. What if something goes wrong? What about support?
One thing I would like to point out, which has also been mentioned by @Jose_Briones is that the problem with those very inexpensive devices is that you don’t see a lot of updates & software support. Once you get to the $50-100 price range, you will usually get some updates from some companies (not all, but some). However, once you get into the premium feature phone market, which is over the $100+ mark, then you will start seeing a lot of updates and support. Those phones usually get a lot of updates and the companies which produce them they listen to the feedback of the user. So, in the end, you get what you pay for.

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@urszula, you make great points! I’ll share again my opinion about this topic:

The desktop application for managing the Mudita Pure (contacts, calendar, etc.) is what will elevate the Pure well above other available non-Android, non-iOS cellphones.

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definitely price is way too much. I am an student and I want to focus on studies and thus need a minimal phone, this phone can be an ideal but its way too much priced.
what creators can do is remove some more features( like Internet connectivity feature via USB ) and launch another version of Pure with much lesser price, so that people like me in third world can also buy this amazing products.

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@s_rathor Thank you for reaching out to us. We understand that Mudita Pure may not be for everyone and may be priced above some people’s budget. However, if you don’t require premium features, such a great music player, us USP tethering, there are other devices which can be part of a more technologically mindful lifestyle. Mudita Pure might not be your first feature phone, but when you finish your studies & would like to upgrade, perhaps Mudita Pure will be the phone you might choose.

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@s_rathor: Meanwhile, you may want to check out this curation by @Jose_Briones of minimalist phones in a wide range of prices:

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My Nokia 6300 costs around 60, 65€. Basic features as the alarm don’t work. The upper tab clock hardly synchronizes with the one in the lock screen. USB connection is a shame. The music player doesn’t work in the background and turns off if it goes to the lock screen, within other things.

Mudita has a specific app for the desktop, which I believe that in the future will allow us to do much more, like creating playlists, for instance.

It seems that the modem will allow connection with tablets as IPads, which put mudita on a high top level of the feature phones.

For a phone made by a brand new company facing many (and expected) production challenges, and that will work properly, I don’t think it is too expensive.

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You can mass produce a simple phone for a few dollars with KaiOS (i.e. Energizer Energy E241S LTE).
I’m willing to pay the price because I know that developing good software for specific hardware is not a cheap affair. Nowadays, such an adventure is more expensive and time consuming than the actual hardware development.
Someone has to pay for the software ecosystem :wink: . Specialized software is a must for a quality product like this, because native software usually helps immensely with battery life and overall speed. Other “innovations” with low SAR and e-Ink display are also unique to the phone and it is reflected in the price.
If we compare Pure with similar products (price/target market), i.e. Punkt, they have taken basic Android and created a custom GUI, but according to reviews there are still battery issues (draining) and other software related issues as they seem to struggle with programming their bulk hardware. They are fixing their software since they went on market.
I have used 2 phones since 2000. Nokia 6230 and when it broke I went to the 6230i. I liked old Nokia phones because of fast, reliable software, lower SAR and solid build. The batteries for the 6230 are still available (more than decade), if this will also apply to Pure, I’m willing to pay the price.
I assume after the initial development is paid off and the user base will be wider, the Pure might be also cheaper.

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Just as razor-blade manufacturers have given away razors so that recipients will buy their blades, cellular carriers heavily discount smartphones so that recipients will buy their cellular services.

Case in point:

If one were to go straight to the maker of that smartphone to buy it, then one likely would pay much more than $199.

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The price of the Mudita Pure buys you a lot of freedom.

  • Freedom from distractions – Only call, text-message, and (presumably) voicemail-waiting alerts can distract you, and you can disable those easily on the Pure.
  • Freedom from urgent obligations – When someone asks you to send a photo or email a message right away, you can reply that this will have to wait until you return to your computer.
  • Freedom from unnecessary complexity – When someone wants you to use an app to get service, you can ask for a simpler solution, such as a paper checklist. When I switched from the ExxonMobil (Esso) app to the company’s card to buy gasoline, the time at the pump to get pre-authorized for the purchase fell from nearly a minute to five seconds!
  • Freedom from expensive data plans – Yes, you can tether your computer to the Pure when you are away from an Internet connection via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable, but this exception-based use often does not require unlimited traffic.
  • Freedom from a tiny keyboard – Tethering the Pure to your computer lets you compose longer text messages with ease, manage contacts with ease, and update your calendar with ease.
  • Freedom from cold fingers while dialing outside in winter – You can dial the Pure with your gloves on.
  • Freedom from misplacing apps – You cannot accidentally drag apps around on the Pure, thereby lose track of where they are, and then waste time trying to find them.
  • Freedom from digging through settings to change your willingness to be disrupted – The slider on the side of the Pure lets you do this quickly.
  • Freedom from blur – If blur is the opposite of focus, then smartphones enable blur (making it too easy to lose track of why we unlock them) whereas the Pure enables focus.
  • Freedom from carrying a privacy threat with you – You cannot use the Pure to open a URL that some hacker text-messaged to you. You cannot install a banking app that would enable others to eavesdrop on your bank account – either over your shoulder in a crowd or upon finding your phone unlocked, opening the banking app, and using a code that the bank text-messaged back to the same phone to access your bank account.
  • Freedom to see in any light who is calling or texting – Pitch black? Check! Bright sunlight? Check!
  • Freedom from temptations – This may be the biggest freedom of all. Temptations include wasting time surfing the Web or flicking through social media. They also include connecting to hackers’ tempting Wi-Fi access points at airports and cafes.
  • Freedom from frequent charging – Per this thread, we can expect up to two weeks between charges. Compare that to charging a smartphone twice in the same day!

I like to think of the Mudita Pure as a freedom machine.

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Don’t forget the freedom of running the code you choose on an open source device that is not locked to a specific version of software beyond your control.

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Regardless of amazing hardware features, what really impresses me is the fact that firmware for Mudita Pure is based on RTOS (RealTimeOS) & it contains easily the most features out of every dumb phone ever. This ensures that the phone will be optimized for it’s hardware to it’s maximum potential. MuditaOS reminds me of SymbianOS which is also a RealTimeOS. KaiOS can’t even compare to SymbianOS in features & optimization, let alone MuditaOS. KaiOS is based on Linux kernel which is not well optimized for low end devices that they are targeting. On SymbianOS you could change themes, you could have powerful Opera Mini which loads blazingly fast on really-low end hardware. I have Nokia 808 Pureview and I was truly surprised on how it works nice and fast. I also have Nokia Asha 300 which is not true SymbianOS, but it’s Java derivative, and it also loaded blazingly fast. You can even browse with it today without problems. You have interesting games for it (at least for me, not too addictive with cash grab techniques, just right, to kill time when needed), multitasking - literally the best mulitasking ever on a phone. I can keep as much apps as I want and they will stay forever in their memory + battery life is not affected (only 512MB of RAM, 60 apps - no one can beat that). Yeah, battery life is also amazing for such device Etc. etc.

That’s why I think that SymbianOS could be used for feature phones instead of KaiOS. If I had an option to buy SymbianOS phone instead of KaiOS phone, I would buy it gladly in a heartbeat.

You can see that I drew a parallel between SymbianOS & MuditaOS. They are really similar. The only difference is that Symbian tried to put as many features as it could to feature phones while MuditaOS tries to put that too, just restricting some features that could cause the distraction to the user. And all that with amazing performance & battery life.

This is the reason why this phone will be better than any other feature phone in the market & why I agree that the price is justified.

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The price is perfectly acceptable. Good design costs. And being free from having their data sold also costs money.

How would they make money ?
I keep hearing this same argument over and over again. They cannot price it at the range you are looking for because they would not make a PROFIT. Why would any company do that?
They are a small company with a great mission, and no one is forcing you to buy the phone. If you want a cheap Nokia go buy one

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