I have been using the phone for a month now and wanted to share my thoughts.
My previous phone was a Pixel 6 with Graphene OS which I really enjoyed but it was very large, heavy, and the screen was too bright. So when my battery started to wear and started also having display issues, I chose the Kompakt as a replacement becuase it is small and has an eink display. If Light had decided to make the Light Phone 3 with an Eink display instead of Oled I may have gone in that direction.
As for the Kompakt, here are my thoughts:
Size and Screen - Although it is a little on the thicker side, it is still fairly light, small, and I really enjoy the eink display. The phone is much easier on my hands and eyes.
Sideloading - I like that I am able to install some apps that I use fairly regularly like email and also Signal.
Offline+ - I mainly use this feature when I don’t want to be disturbed, like at the movie theater or in a meeting I can just quickly flip the switch and know I won’t get any calls or messages.
Distractions - I find myself going for my phone way less than I ever did before which is great. I also haven’t found myself trying to compensate by spending more time on my computer instead. So I think the phone is helping a lot to keep a healthy distance from technology.
Battery - I have been getting a consistent 3 days of battery, sometimes up to 4 if I use it less and remember to turn bluetooth off.
Now for the list of things I am not very fond of:
-Was not able to import contacts, had to type them in manually. Luckily I don’t have too large of a contacts list.
-I am having the same bluetooth device connection and no bluetooth device history issue many others are having. My car remembers my phone but my headphones don’t and now I can’t repair them.
-Unable to clear recent call history.
-Having issues with group messaging. Considering I have seen no plans by Mudita to find a way to implement RCS it is very disappointing to see group messaging lacking.
-Maps is not very useable for me as the refresh is very slow and it doesn’t seem to have up to date info on locations. I have switched to Organic Maps.
-Keyboard is also very slow and no swipe option. I replaced it with AnySoft.
-Music app is also not very usable. It is incredibly bare bones, though I know Mudita is planning some updates for this year. I replaced it with VLC.
-Stock Launcher is usable but just barely. No notifications and although it is clear to navigate and there are few apps, sideloaded app icons do not look good. I switched over to Ink OS develeoped by another user on here. It has a minimal design but just enough features. Wish they had time and resources to develop more apps and features for the phone as Mudita seems to be really dropping the ball and they seem to care more about its success than Mudita.
-Which brings me to my main complaint. Mudita is moving too slow. The phone is already on an outdated version of android and we are given no real information on security updates. They also are moving very slowly on important features that the phone should have had from launch like eink refresh options. Also there are just too many little bugs and features missing. I do not want this phone to be like a regular android phone but I do want it to be usable.
I want to have faith that the experiences will improve but honestly I am thinking of selling the phone as there are too many little issues and Mudita is moving at a snail’s pace to correct the issues of what should be basic features. I shouldn’t have had to replace most of the stock apps with sideloaded apps but I did because the phone just does not function well with what it came with.
Hope the rest of you are having a better experience than I have and if not, hopefully Mudita starts to put in the effort eventually to create a better experience.
