What are everybody’s favourite things about the Mudita Kompakt? Here’s my list:
The screen looks really clear, it’s easy to read when inside or outside in bright sun. It has a very natural feel almost like paper
Design of the inbuilt apps are great. They’re basic, functional, and really well optimised for e-ink
Being useful with near zero screen time. The phone isn’t ‘fun’ to use - it rightfully feels like a tool to achieve what I want, and then I put it away and forget about it. I feel nostalgia for this, like the old phones (pre smartphones) it’s retro-utilitarian, but in a much more modernised way.
Weather app is amazing. It’s like the perfect design of being useful, simple, and ultra clear on e-ink
Zero battery anxiety. I go multiple days between charges, just when I think about it, and have never been remotely close to having a flat battery
Clear phone calls. In fact I call people more on this phone instead of messaging, which feels like it connects me more to others.
An alarm I actually use (with a nice tone). With previous phones I didn’t use the alarm (I left my phone in another room), because I hate waking up to lots of notifications or starting the day scrolling. However with the kompakt I acutally do use the alarm because I don’t get notifications on it!
Now I always have a book with me. The e-book reader does just the basics of having a library of books, and reading on the go.
The Offline+ switch is freeing, and way more useful than I thought it would be. I thought this was a gimmick to be “more offline”, but instead it’s one of my favourite unique things about the Kompakt. I use it every day - I always switch the phone off in the evening, and then back on again the next morning an hour or so after I wake up. I also sometimes go offline for short periods during the day. It feels very freeing, and helps me disconnect and sleep better.
The ability to have a “feature phone with WhatsApp”. This has been a game changer for me. In the past my choice of phone has always been Android/iOS (with all of the downsides of having a smartphone), or a Nokia/HMD/Doro feature phone (which leaves me out of the loop for group chats). With the Kompakt I’m able to sideload WhatsApp (plus Obtainium to keep WhatsApp up-to-date), and then have the ideal device for me that’s less than a smartphone but more than a feature phone.
Overall the phone has a really calming vibe, and I feel having this phone in my pocket means that I do more in the real world
Interested to hear everybody else’s favourite things!
PS: Let’s try to keep this thread just the things you’re most happy with about the Kompakt. There are lots of other conversations about things that people wish were different, and I’m sure that must get very draining for the team at Mudita sometimes!
Once they fix the hot potatoes, this phone will be an absolute banger for my idealization of a primary phone.
I’m on the same page as you are, those are good points. Right now it’s good enough as a tool, with added value of things you’ve mentioned (e-ink, battery, Offline+, sideloading).
I’d add tethering options which I was missing on most of the dumbphones/featurephones and it’s been a very important feature for me at times.
Oh, and the maps - fair enough for me, I prefer my brain function when I don’t rely on turn-by-turn, I’m keeping paper maps in my car but having an option to have a map when not in a drive - that can help as a last resort tool (or before the really last resort for all the men in the world - asking other people for directions).
Mk 2 with warm frontlight and maybe a bit slimmer design would be a plus, but that could be something for my kids when they grow up a bit.
Thank you for the positive post! Yep, it is quite stressful for us to gather all the feedback about what needs to be improved—don’t get me wrong, it is super useful for us, and we listen to those comments carefully. But some positive words add a lot of energy!
I am especially happy to hear how you use Offline+. You use it exactly as it was intended and how we envision it. Our intuition was that for real peace of mind, you need to be cut off from online in a truly non-negotiable way, meaning hardware-wise.
Personally, I go Offline+ around 9pm and bring it back when I leave home in the morning. Considering to use it sometimes to aid getting into a deep focus stage at work but I need to get back to deep focus capability at first, and in my case I don’t get many calls or texts to have to go Offline+ to keep the phone calm.
I would like to use Offline+ the same way (during the night time) but I am always afraid that something bad happen to my relatives and I will miss a call That’s why I am a little afraid when I’m using Meditation app too because it makes Mudita Kompakt ignore incoming calls.
Blockquote Mk 2 with warm frontlight and maybe a bit slimmer design would be a plus, but that could be something for my kids when they grow up a bit.
Implementing warm frontlight proved challenging. While I don’t know all the details, our ODM cited important reasons for not proceeding with it. However, we should have insisted more forcefully. Next time, we certainly will (or we’ll explore other ODM options;-)
Regarding a slimmer form factor for upcoming products, that might not be our path forward. We actually lean towards a bulkier design. This offers numerous engineering advantages, such as a robust internal structure and ample battery capacity (and battery life is a huge priority for us).
Don’t expect new phones anytime soon. Our focus is currently on extensive software development for Kompakt.
That’s fine, I won’t get my oldest child a phone in at least 3 years from now. Maybe in 5 years when he moves to high school.
He loves MK look and feel and the Chess app as his favourite board game recently and quite accepts MK as a healthy middle ground between smartphones and bar dumbphones, but he’ll have to wait anyway.
I see the point in staying on a bulkier design ground, fine for me!
I know what you feel. In the meantime, my elderly father had some serious health problems, and it became quite the issue. But this was a super serious situation. Once this was kind of sorted out, I relaxed a bit. For me, only such serious things are the real issues. What was helpful is that my wife uses ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode on her iPhone, so we used this is a critical line - but I considered landline, or second sim, solely for this purpose.
On the other hand, my parents tend to contact me too often, so going offline I found quite useful in those cases;)
Just to add a bit on the positive side, I like the e-ink display very much because of not just lack of eyestrain, but also clear visibility outdoors in bright daylight. Never had experience with ebook readers so I’m pretty excited about it!
Oh I actually love that there’s no incoming calls for the meditation app. That makes sense to me. Maybe you can work with short meditation spurts like 5-30 minutes so you can call back right away? I would choose this as an opportunity to work with the anxiety that you are feeling!
I really like how the phone feels in my hand. Its weight and form feel somewhat calming
The E-Ink! I can stay in basic communication with family and friends and can even look up stuff if I really have to. But the E-Ink doesn’t tempt me to doom-scroll
I love the vibes of the photos taken with the camera. I like to shoot on simple cameras with film and the MK’s camera kind of recreates that aesthetic (and if I want something with a higher resolution, I take a camera or recharge my old smartphone for taking pictures)
I turn on the Offline+ mode at night and let it stay that way until morning so I have zero distractions
Great post @damian1
I love it. Does it have issues, yes, of course, but it’s a fantastic little device. In particular:
the form factor is exceptional and a bold move by Mudita. Feels great in the hand.
The screen is superb. I’m used to eink screens and so happy to get one in a phone. I don’t think the team have received enough credit for the way they have dealt with the refresh. There is such little ghosting on this device despite the fast refresh rate. They have definitely worked some wizadry with their screen drivers. I would second the call for warmer (and slightly higher Res) screen in a MK2 whenever that comes.
the graphic design throughout is stunning. I think the weather app really demonstrates this.
the hotspot is incredibly well implemented.
the very sensible approach to sideloading. I was initially a little disappointed by some of the glaring feature misses in some of the native apps. There is however a vast array of very good, lightweight, eink friendly FOSS software out there. I have now customised my phone into a lovely little minimal device that does what I need, not what someone else needs, and does it beautifully well.
So glad I jumped on board and once the fingerprint and Bluetooth issues are resolved I will be a very content customer.
I love the e-reader and offline+ the most. They change how I interact with the concept of a smartphone. The offline+ reminds me a lot of the silent switch on the iPhone 2g, which I loved.
So far I really like my Kompakt as a second/urgent only phone. I take it on bike rides, protests, etc when I don’t want the distractions of other group texts pinging me, etc. What I’ve found I like (which I didn’t expect) is the e-reader so I can relax and read a book from front to end (will not work for a big reference book or Bible). I also like the chess game which I didn’t expect. I’m not very good so I picked beginner and hope to get better with time. I am not going to side load anything on and will see how the Mudita improves the native apps such as group texting, etc. I am fortunate in that I have an iphone to use if I need maps/navigation, banking, etc. It’s basically stashed away and I only bring it if I see a need. I will also experiment with using the MK as a hotspot for my iPad mini should I bring that with me anywhere. Thank you, Mudita, for a cool phone - love the e-ink screen, small yet sturdy form factor, and intent for minimalism and mindfulness. Keep up the good work!
For me it’s been the eink display (it’s so pleasant to read), the size (I could go a little smaller but it’s readable without being a giant phablet), and the privacy (I can’t stress how much I love having all the Google tracking crap stripped out of it).
I got my phone last Friday. I plugged it into the charger, charged it to 100%, sideloaded Signal and Heliboard (I have sausage fingers so on a screen this size, swipe texting help lol) and has been in the pocket has happily lived in my pocket ever since.
By day 4, it was only at 60% with minimal texting and occasional messing around with it. Not having a smartphone that has everything at the press of the thumb, I’ve definitely become much more present in the world. And it’s only been just a few days
Yep, it is quite stressful for us to gather all the feedback about what needs to be improved—don’t get me wrong, it is super useful for us, and we listen to those comments carefully. But some positive words add a lot of energy! 
That’s why I am a little afraid when I’m using Meditation app too because it makes Mudita Kompakt ignore incoming calls.