First I want to thank this team for creating something magnificent! Reading these posts is a little disheartening but indicative to the general consumer, “Give me what I want and give it to me NOW!” reminds me of that little girl in that Willie Wonka movie. Look creating something that is not mainstream and isn’t a piece of junk takes time and money. Anything innovative cost more to create and more to purchase in the beginning. This is basic economics. I look at this phone as an investment in myself, my health and environment. If others don’t see it that way I’m not sure why they are interested in this phone? The powers that be don’t have the power to change the industry, WE do! We change an unhealthy industry by supporting good ones, we speak with our wallets. Let’s get behind a great product. I’m sure there are a few that spend $5-6 a day on coffee? Give up drive through coffee and a night out and by distribution time you will have your money. Christmas is coming up many could ask for cash to go towards your new phone. Can’t wait to get my Mudita! 
Before the Kickstarter campaign began, I imagined the price would be higher. Remember a few years ago when they did the Beats headphones teardown and people were having a bit of a fit over the true cost of a product? That is a nice example of cost vs price.
The cost of individual components of an individual will never reflect the true cost. Business may seem unethical to many of us on occasion but when you think about design costs (which is usually around 50% of the price) and all of the people involved in the supply chain, especially when a company makes an effort to be sustainable and ethical. Standard business practice is to multiply the cost of the product by 8 or 10 in order to account for every part of the supply chain, R&D, marketing, hosting.
So, Beats headphones cost $18 to make but sell for $200. I was expecting a $400 price for the Pure since so much of it is designed and made in-house. I do wish it were a little less expensive since it is still out of my price range.
I Can pay 100euro not more ,Price is not all…but it’s so much
There’s more than a phone research dev etc etc we all know but it’s too much for most of us
@anon32618512 For what my $0.02 is worth, I think the price is fine. It’s more than a typical ‘feature phone’, but I really like the focus on getting out of the Google/Apple ecosystem, out of the attention economy, and a focus on health and wellness. For me, that’s worth the cost - and I’m happy to pay it to support businesses like yours!
Thanks @tomchristie, we really appreciate your feedback!
Stay safe, I hope you and your loved ones are well during this difficult time.
@ludo, while I appreciate your feedback, the price of Mudita Pure is unlikely to change. Creating a phone from scratch isn’t cheap and particularly when you consider the amount of work that has gone into making sure it is developed in a more ethical manner. I hope you understand, stay well, stay safe.
I think the price is perfect. Hundreds & hundreds of dollars cheaper than a feature phone, and I don’t have to worry about upgrading it every year?
This phone will save me thousands in the long run.
Well done, Mudita!
@anon32618512 and @lukasz.anwajler
-
Who are Your competitors? For example,
Do you compare prices of Nokia 2XX Dual SIm and Your Mudita Pure? What about rest specifications? other similar classic phones, who sell cheaper… -
Regarding: /sustainable-harvested-materials/ and link to E-Ink documentation.
What do You see 1st? A banana? Then I would say: Chcę do drzewo…
Intro to e-ink technology in Your site. But what about the sustainability of those components?
From 2015 paper of H. K. Jeswani and A. Azapagic „Is e-reading environmentally more sustainable than conventional reading?“. Does „manufacturing of e-readers“ have environmental impact? and what about E-Ink tech and components? Please, bananas won’t help to solve the problem.
- We have MuditaOS and NokiaOS. But where is the coop of the EU countries to withstand the big powers, which are outside of the EU?
I would gladly need an accessory to put my classic phone into the wrist, especially, while „running“. Then, maybe to have some other pluses as an environmental friendly case and so on.
- The Mudita Pure data modem functionality is pretty good though.
Hi @pol Thank you for your questions!
We don’t see so-called “smart feature phones” like Nokia as our direct competitors. Nokia (which is only a brand name, the company behind these phones is HMD Global) is not running NokiaOS but KaiOS - a Linux-based operating system.
KaiOS mainly targets African countries and India - with the price as low as even $40 per device. Some people buy KaiOS based devices like the Banana Phone out of sentiment for the brand that used to be a global leader in mobile phones. For others, it’s the only way to connect to the Internet. It doesn’t mean that the difference between a $40 phone and Mudita Pure ($369) is a $330 margin that we make on the phone. 
Once our phone is released you will be able to compare the quality of the devices and see for yourself why it costs more. What you can already check today are the specs and components that we use - just one example is the E Ink display, which is far more expensive than a “traditional” LCD display used in cheaper devices, but it also provides a totally different experience.
We believe in using high-quality components. There are people who are willing to pay more for a device with such components, and there are people who aren’t. It depends on what is important to you. Some people buy expensive houses or cars, others spend more money on durable shoes, and I can assure you that there are people who don’t want a generic, low-quality device because they believe in what we do as Mudita.
Mudita is a small company with big dreams. We don’t produce components. We choose them from the market. If there would be a cucumber-based E Ink display - I’m sure we would be the first to check it out. The problem of choosing natural materials isn’t as obvious as it seems. Let me share some examples:
- Material for the phone/component has to be made with a certain precision (at least 0.1 mm). What can work for, let’s say, a chair or table, won’t necessarily work for a high precision device like a phone. The material needs to be injected in a repetitive manner and provide the same results for phone #1 and phone #10000.
- Durability. It seems like a great idea to use biodegradable materials. But how would this device look like one year from now? Sweaty hands, drops of water in the kitchen or pouring rain will surely impact the durability of the device. Would you pay a premium price for a device that looks ugly after 6 months and which is falling apart after 12 months? I wouldn’t.
- Last but not least: price and volume. Usually, it’s much more expensive to use custom materials, other than PC or ABS, especially with the low volumes that we produce. That would make Mudita Pure more expensive.
As for News of E-ink company (US):
2018-06-11
„E Ink Supports Taiwan Farmers Through Purchase of 8,000KG of Bananas“
Regarding KaiOS:
It’s only on Nokia 8110 4G
About NokiaOS I mean something like:
„flash and Nokia Series 30+ operating system“
About price:
If there exists patent, which could help for many people to be more healthly, then
why not try to get income for it? Does „flash and Not Android like“ phones would be good place to do so…
Now LCD and (or) E-Ink:
Which one are more sustainable in manufacturing it?
I own e-ink reader from „PockeBook International SA“ - Swiss company.
But, I don’t know, if their E-Ink tech suppliers are from across the Atlantic Sea.
And, I’m against the idea, that sustainability is only for buying the stuff to Supports Taiwan Farmers.
Does into sustainability matters:
How many lives of people needed to be sacrificed until rich people get’s toys with all those rare metals, which were used into the production?
Regarding Quality and price:
Maybe trying 3D printers from Germany. Some of them even possible to self-assemble, and if would be possible to make phone cases from „used plastic“ or so, then cheaper versions would be possible too… And it looks more „Greener“ project, than from around.
That’s funny how people are criticizing the choices of a company. I not their spokesman, but for having observed their evolution across this year, and even before, since the quickstarter campaign, I can assure you that every single decision is well thought, and that they thought about the positive AND negative impact on the benefits they will get from those decisions.
If you were looking for a company that focuses on a new yoga/wellbeing trend to make benefits, I’m afraid to warn you that this isn’t their case. Let me explain myself:
Using cheap materials, or biodegradable ones can be a solution. Using an already existing OS is also an option, etc. However, they made decisions based on what will correspond the most to their beliefs. And this, my fellow human, can’t be blamed. They will never satisfy a large amount of people, because they don’t follow trends, they stick to what they believe in, and this kind of stability is very valuable.
Finally, you can either agree, or not. Nevertheless, it is definitely not legit to blame well explained decisions, that stick to what they claim to believe in since the beginning. As soon as a decision is explained, as soon as the reason is coherent with their creed, there is no value in blaming them, as …you know, they aren’t forcing you to buy it, and they aren’t judging you for not buying it neither.
Just spread love and good vibes, even if you disagree, there are ways to express your disagreement.
Cheers
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@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.
@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.