Amber Backlight in Future Versions

Mudita Products
1

For the Mudita Kompakt v2, I wonder if you would consider having an amber backlight compared to the current bluish light. Thank you.

12 Likes
2

And perhaps support for 5G cellular, if released when cellular carriers in Mudita’s markets are phasing out 4G/LTE

7 Likes
3

I could not agree more about the amber backlight!

3 Likes
4

The option for different tones of flashlight always confused me when there is only the cool blue tone for the backlight. So I agree, there are not a lot of hardware changes that would make me upgrade but a warm backlight and 5g are definitely one of them.

1 Like
5

I’ve passed this info on to the team,

3 Likes
6

Is a V2 planned?

1 Like
7

@miauzgenau Not that I have any info yet :slight_smile: BUT as soon I know, I will share it on the FORUM :slight_smile:

3 Likes
8

Suspicious! :smiley: :male_detective:

1 Like
9

A Mudita Kompakt V2? With narrow edges, thinner body, removed navigation buttons, better camera, more CPU speed and more RAM? Shut up and take my money. :smiley:

4 Likes
10

why removed navigation buttons?

2 Likes
11

Yes I agree. Would love to see a bi-color screen similar to the way Kindle Paperwhite does it.

But a more amber color in general would be much preferred for eye strain.

Maybe for the time being, an amber toned matte screen protector could be made?

2 Likes
12

Just a glimpse behind the scenes :wink: …for now there are no works on “Kompakt 2” per se. But things are more complicated, meaning there is a pretty long roadmap of improvements for the current device. Mostly software-wise, and some of them are quite significant. Originally it was planned as a long-lifecycle device, and we stick to this idea — for many reasons. But… we have started work on another device, although we cannot say more yet :wink:

And the yellow light will surely be there. That’s one thing we somehow missed in the original Kompakt.

8 Likes
13

We all here agree with that. So any next phone we release (not soon), it will have it both.

2 Likes
14

Ok, let’s discuss point by point :slight_smile:

  1. Narrow edges - E-ink has much bigger limitations in this regard than LCD/OLED, so it will probably be possible to make them a tiny bit narrower, but there is no chance to match other display types.

  2. Thinner body - actually it was not our priority, and I am not sure if it should be. Any other opinions on that? We prefer to focus on bigger batteries and sturdiness.

  3. Navigation buttons are useful, don’t you think? Other opinions welcome :slight_smile:
    BTW: they are placed in the space under the display which has to be there because of the display connectors. So even if we skip them (which I doubt), there will still be a blank area.

  4. Camera - is taking photos on a black-and-white E-ink device really so essential?

  5. Faster CPU and more RAM - if we add more apps, then sure, it is welcome :wink:

5 Likes
15

I actually would prefer a bluer backlight that mimics an EL backlight, ala Indiglo.

Besides, I honestly can’t really think of a circumstance where my dim backlight has introduced eye strain.

1 Like
16

My opinions:

  1. Wider edges. I want bevels! Basically the more it looks like the apple newton, the better.
  2. I don’t care about the thinness. The current thickness is fine for me, as it doesn’t feel flimsy and is also still nice and small.
  3. I actually love navigation buttons. please don’t get rid of them. However, a physical button would always be more welcome.
  4. A better camera is not really a priority. The current specs are fine for me.
  5. I could always appreciate something faster, but the current specs are still fine. I would only care if I could get the eink screen on par with a drawing/handwriting eink tablet. But again, not really a priority.
3 Likes
17
  1. Edges at the moment are just fine ! If they can get a little finer why not but not a bother to me.
  2. Same here !
  3. I appreciate them, improvement would maybe be to have light on them so you easily see them in the dark.
  4. I would truly appreciate a better camera sensor. I don’t intend it to become my primary camera by no means, but whenever I need to take a quick shot for a reminder, for a document I want to share or even just a picture of something nice but don’t have my camera on it, that would really benefits me.
  5. On that matter, I guess it would probably just “futur proof” a little bit the phone to have it maybe with a bit higher specs. I don’t use many apps, actually only Signal, I know that after a while if conversations end having a big history, navigation can get tricky if you are looking for specific message in the history. It may lag. Also with time updates may get the phone slower sometimes (that’s what I noticed with other devices I had in the past) and having better specs could make it last a little more. I had before the Kompakt a One Plus 5T for 7 years ! When I took it it was a flagship with high specs CPU and RAM. Till the end, it was very fluid to use, I stopped using it cause I had not Android updates for the past 3 years before I got rid of it ! If it was not for the updates, I probably still would be using it just because I prefer to not waste devices like that for environmental reasons.
2 Likes
18

This is so awesome to have a direct line to the founder here. Thank you for taking the time.

I am a full-time Mudita user and a full-time YouTube Thumbnail artist and YouTuber. I love tech and am a big apple fanboy, but making the switch back in August has changed my life and I’m never going back. I have lots of thoughts on the Mudita and ways to improve it based on my experience with it as a daily driver and tech/camera nerd.

  1. Narrow edges: Agree with you fully. No worries. Don’t care. Make it as good as possible but not expecting borderless phones.

  2. Thinner body: Don’t care about that either. Your intuition is right. I wouldn’t want the next device to be thicker than Kompakt, but I actually love the priority of battery and sturdiness.

  3. Nav buttons are useful because the nature of E-ink. It’s tough to have immediate feedback on screen only, so having a “physical” button is nice. I like that concept.

  4. Camera- Yes… camera is very very important to me and I’d argue to many people here. Yes the interface is weird with E-ink, but the problem I have as a father of 3 is I wish my phone camera could record good video and take good photos. It really sucks that my photos of my life are sub-par with the Kompakt. I really really hope you will consider putting a modern/good camera that can record stable video and take good images on the device. Easier said than done, but it’s forced me to carry a dedicated camera everywhere I go, which has been nice, but also very inconvenient.

  5. Faster CPU and RAM would be appreciated. I can feel the slowness a bit with some of my sideloaded apps and more headroom would be appreciated. I don’t think slow speed inside apps should be part of the “dumbphone” experience. It can still be responsive and minimal. In fact the less friction the more minimal it is IMO.

Please consider adding Qi2.2 with magnetic charging/mounting. The MagSafe style of wireless charging and mounting is so so incredible and I’d love to have that feature built into future devices. For GPS in the car, to simply charging the phone at night. That little magnetic CLICK is so satisfying and is the best way to charge IMO.

4 Likes
19

  1. Definitely agree. I think thinner is incompatible with serviceable / repairable / bigger battery devices. I think the current form factor is quite cute ! <3

  2. Am a fan of navigation buttons too. If they take otherwise wasted place, that’s win-win.

  3. Camera : I love the fact it is “utilitarian” the way it is so that I don’t have to constantly think “I should take a picture of this or that”. But… Well… I guess it could be slightly better and would remove the need for a separate device for some people.

  4. I love the fact the current device is very snappy with built-in apps. As long as it stays this way… Probably not that much with sideloaded ones which is important to a part of the userbase (which % ?).

IMPORTANT for a v2 : serviceable / repairable device ! Open hardware so that we can use postmarket OS etc. in the future when it’s not supported anymore :wink:

Suggestion : possibility to upgrade the current phone to 5G. Not for speed obviously, but for compatibility. 3G is gonna be phased out in France this year : we’ll have to pay almost 1000€ to upgrade our… elevator !! I don’t know how long 4G will last.

2 Likes