Some of you have followed my previous discussions on EMF and my skepticism toward Kompakt in this forum. The numbers however are now updated with a commendable measure. You’ve also seen my struggles with leaving the Apple ecosystem—a challenge I’ll tackle step by step.
Initially, I considered switching to a phone with LineageOS, but it didn’t meet my needs in several ways. It would still be a smartphone.
Recently, I bought the PocketBook Lite to manage my extensive digital library. Of course, I won’t be able to read books purchased from the Apple Store—a frustrating limitation, but one that pushes me to explore alternatives. My eyes were getting strained from reading on the iPad, so I’ve decided to transition to e-ink displays as much as possible. I also picked up a tiny MP3 player for the car to avoid constantly connecting my phone (and dealing with adapters).
Now, Kompakt has emerged as a potential option. I’ll take some time to figure out which essential apps I might need—likely just two or three—so I only use them when truly necessary. I ordered the white version with the blue cover.
I’m trying it because I still believe in Mudita’s commitment to promoting a balanced, mindful lifestyle. Therefore, giving it a try is the natural step.
I wasn’t going to comment anymore about Kompakt at this time, but as someone who supported Mudita from the Pure, I feel like I should close this topic permanently with a few personal words. I will refrain from further replies or comments from now on.
I don’t need to repeat the Pure discussion over and over. I returned mine after a couple of days, and it is more than closed.
Mudita Bell and Harmony
The Bell, I had to return it because it didn’t work. I received a replacement that didn’t work properly either, and I gave up on it. The Harmony was initially advertised with a temperature sensor, and that was the main reason I bought it. The feature never came, and it was removed without any information.
I had several initial problems. It froze, and I was late a couple of times as a result. The time was also advancing too much (around a minute a day). One of the related posts:
Other occasional problems were fixed, although the basic function of giving time and a working alarm was not reliable when we received it.
For the Harmony 2, a member found that the blue light emitted was still significant, even though it’s advertised as low blue-light:
Kompakt
I already gave a brief description here:
It’s becoming a bit too much always to use the excuse of a small team and Apple limitations.
About Apple limitations: I’m sorry, but that doesn’t really hold. We know Apple has its restrictions, but not being able to transfer photos from Kompakt to a Mac is not Apple. That’s a limitation in the Mudita Center. The Bluetooth problem mentioned in the post below was also blamed on Apple, but it seems other devices are having Bluetooth problems too, and Michal later appeared to acknowledge that:
Regarding the small team: A member of this forum has created a fully functional MP3 player, adapted for e-ink, with basic features that the standard app doesn’t even include. And that was done in a few days.
Even something as basic as a keyboard without lag needs to be sideloaded. The alarm also appears not to be working correctly, which could have been a valuable lesson learned from Harmony.
I’m not going to debate minimalism. People understand it in different ways. For some, it’s acceptable to use a phone without features that even regular “dumb phones” have. Others are okay spending part of their day working around limitations or waiting for updates. And that last group, I believe, is doing it because they trust Mudita, and that’s precisely my point here.
When it comes to updates and reported issues, there is a lack of clear communication. Some people here still haven’t received their phones, while others were removed from the forum in the past during the Kompakt Kickstarter due to a meltdown. Now, some of these same members act like moderators, criticizing anyone who reports problems. And those comments sometimes get likes from the Mudita team. That, in my view, contradicts the idea of being neutral, mainly when the feedback is directed at the company itself. I’ve also noticed that some of the responses seem heavily reliant on AI or follow automatic formatting, which detracts from the human aspect that people here are seeking.
It’s understandable that people are reporting issues or are not happy that features they expected aren’t working, especially with a 14-day return window. No one should be harassed for pointing out what’s not working, or made to feel like they’re causing trouble just for not leaving a positive comment. Just because it’s almost becoming a norm in tech to launch unfinished products, that doesn’t mean people should accept it.
And this raises the question: what should we expect from the Kompakt? As evidenced by the examples I provided above, some lessons from the past appear not to have been learned. For example:
GPS: We were first told the team was working on the option to turn it on:
Then Michal said the opposite and added a big “maybe”:
Now it remains an uncertainty:
North American users will soon start receiving the Kompakt, and we’ll see what comes next.
To finish
I’m sharing this as someone who has supported Mudita’s philosophy from the beginning. However, I also believe it’s important to acknowledge what has been happening and what it’s evolving into.
For now, I’m putting Mudita on standby. Even the interest I had in the future lamp is no longer there, because of everything I’ve documented. There’s more, but it’s challenging to keep up with everything happening in the forum.
I genuinely wish the best for everyone here, and I hope some of these words are taken not as criticism, but as part of a commitment to do better, for the sake of everyone who believed in this idea from the start.
Feel free to close this thread, as I won’t engage further.
P.S.: According to the post service, the two Kompakts to be refunded arrived at Mudita last Wednesday. I still don’t have any feedback. Please, try to solve this last pending situation I have with you. Thank you.
I’m really sorry you’re not happy with what we’ve done. I don’t know if it helps, but I’m not satisfied in a lot of areas either. That’s actually why the whole management team in charge of Pure (and a big part of Bell and Harmony) was let go.
We’re constantly working to make our products and services better. It’s not a fast change, but I really hope you’re starting to see the improvements.
Still, I totally get why you’re disappointed. I hope we can give you some solid reasons to feel better about our products soon.
I’ll let you know when I find out what happened.
While it’s not an excuse, the heat around Kompakt’s shipment to it’s backers might be an explanation – let’s see.
Thank you, @roberto, for summarizing many of my own thoughts. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for me was Mudita advertising MMS but not delivering it at launch … and now being unable to give us even a hint as to when the Kompakt will have it.
I trust that Mudita will honor my post-14-days refund request, and I, like you, wish everyone well.
Sad to see you two go so soon- especially since you’re both huge contributors to the forum. But I understand why. Personally, I am not happy with how my order was handled (or not handled), the lack of communication, as well as some of the responses from other members of this forum to my own personal complaints. However, I will be giving the phone a shot and will be offline more often. Best wishes to you both
Hi @roberto, thank you for being with us all this time and for investing your energy in these discussions. This level of engagement from our customers is very valuable, and we need clear communication about expectations to grow as a company.
I’d like to share some additional behind-the-scenes information about the situations you’re describing.
The Harmony was initially advertised with a temperature sensor, and that was the main reason I bought it. The feature never came, and it was removed without any information.
The reason for Harmony’s temperature-sensor removal back in 2022 was a hardware-design flaw. It was placed in a way that the thermometer was heated by other hardware components on the PCB, and the readings were invalid. The team tried to fix it by a software algorithm correcting the value, but after several iterations, it turned out to be impossible without re-doing the hardware. So, we’ve removed the function from the product and marketing assets and returned the money to everyone who wanted to return the product for that reason, with no additional requirements or time limits. Since then, our hardware-testing process has been different.
For the Harmony 2, a member found that the blue light emitted was still significant, even though it’s advertised as low blue-light.
If I understand the cited post correctly, the measurement was taken in daylight, so the light sensor received not only the light emitted by the device, but also reflected sunlight. The spectrum of Harmony’s 2700 K back-light differs, but it’s true that it still contains a blue-light component.
The lesson for us here is that we should publish test results for the light spectrum in devices that advertise low blue-light, to avoid any kind of ambiguity. “Low blue-light” isn’t the same as “no blue-light,” which some clients might have expected, and the Kelvin temperature listed in the product specs isn’t as informative as a spectrum plot in communicating what to expect. This is exactly what we’re preparing for new product releases.
With regard to the lack of clear communication about Mudita Kompakt development plans and roadmap, the first clients in the US received the NAM version just very recently, and we’ve spent the last couple of weeks gathering feedback from the forums, reviews, and surveys, prioritising work, and then assessing the workload. I do understand how this lag could be frustrating, but we didn’t (and we don’t) want to rush and make poorly thought-through commitments about the development plan and, especially after lessons from Pure and Harmony, we don’t want to make statements or promises about the development of the product that we won’t be able to fulfil. In the next several days we’ll be ready to announce the roadmap, and we’ll continue to update it.
I hope that you’ll keep an eye on what we’re doing, how the product is progressing and if you decide to give us another chance, you know where to find us :).
@kirkmahoneyphd, I’m glad you’ve found an alternative solution for the group messaging for now. It is something that we’re working on, and we’ll publish the expected delivery date in the upcoming roadmap update.
My problem with this response is that by the time the roadmap is revealed, most people’s 14 day return window will have closed. While I have started my return, I have not shipped my Kompakt back yet. So, do I keep the phone and take a gamble on Mudita delivering a roadmap and having target dates for making the core apps usable? I see only a good outcome where the roadmap is published this week and customers still within the 14 day return window can make a educated decision on keeping or returning the phone.
If Mudita really wanted to do something big for the IndieGoGo, Kickstarter and Pre_Order customers, it would drop the 14 day return window until the road map is published. Better yet, drop the return window until the first meaningful update from the roadmap is release.
@8765 Thank you for pointing this out. We’ve communicated in a few threads that we are flexible. Our goal is NOT to make users keep a product that’s not working for them. Our FOCUS is to show our community that, we DO seriously plan on making improvements and implementing what was promised in a timely manner. Our goal is to make using Mudita Kompakt an enjoyable experience.
The problem with these two responses is I have to search this forum to find this information. Mudita has a blog, Mindful Technology & Wellbeing Articles | Mudita Blog. Use it to keep everyone on the same page.
Again, the Mudita team is not being consistent. yesterday Michal Stasiuk stated a road map is being developed to be released in the next several days.
Now I see Alek Sander posted 6 days ago an announcement with the upcoming features. This is so confusing. Why can’t Mudita get consistent on communication?
If I didn’t care and didn’t believe the Kompakt was worth making a fuss over, I would have already shipped my device back and left the forum like the OP of this thread.
@anon36556420
Thank you for your feedback, and most importantly for caring enough to speak up. We really do appreciate it.
Just to clarify: @aleksander’s post was meant to share what we plan to include in the first major update, based on current priorities and community feedback. @michalstasiuk 's message, on the other hand, was intended to give a broader picture of what’s coming down the line, not just in the first or second update (immediate updates)
Hopefully that clear things up.
You’re absolutely right that we need to improve how and where we communicate these updates. Sharing them clearly on our blog is a great idea, and we’re working on better ways to keep everyone informed and aligned moving forward.
Thanks again for being here and sticking with us. Your input genuinely makes a difference.
Hey guys, I am wandering if its just me or does unlocking with fingerprint sensor still take you to have to put a code in? I would love if you could use fingerprint to unlcok without entering code after
We’ve communicated in a few threads that we are flexible. Our goal is NOT to make users keep a product that’s not working for them. Our FOCUS is to show our community that, we DO seriously plan on making improvements and implementing what was promised in a timely manner. Our goal is to make using Mudita Kompakt an enjoyable experience.