Here are my initial thoughts, folks. I got the Kompakt delivered some days ago, and I’m liking it more and more (with some caveats I will point out). I think this one is a keeper!
Context: Like many others I have become more and more dependent on my smartphone. I hate it, but still feel dependent on it. Throughout the last years I’ve tried different things. At times I’ve been using a standard Nokia dumbphone. But that became too cumbersome. In Norway more and more things have moved to smartphone apps, even basic things like public transportation (which technically can still be done with paper tickets, but it’s cumbersome). Plus that I need a good calendar with event reminders on my phone. So I ended up having one dumbphone + one smartphone. At first I used the Unihertz Jelly (smallest smartphone on earth). I thought that would be so small that it would discourage me from too much scrolling. Worked to a certain degree - but I still felt addicted to the internet. It wasn’t cumbersome enough. And then my son dropped it in the sink, so had to get a new phone. Then I got a foldable smartphone from Samsung through my work, with the idea that the act of having to flip it open would be enough to discourage me from using it all the time. Didn’t work. Used it just as much as a regular smartphone.
I also frequetly travel for my job (academic conferences). For climate reasons I do most of my long-distance travelling by train, which requires much more logistics than just taking the plane directly from place A to place B. European interrail tickets, furthermore, have also migrated to the smartphone (technically still possible by paper, but cumbersome). So when travelling, I HAD to take my smartphone with me, which I resented. When travelling I would ideally love to focus on the new things I’m seeing and experiencing, not have my face glued to the smartphone. But I had no choice and had to bring a smartphone.
So I ordered a Mudita Kompakt, without knowing what to expect. So far, though, it has been pretty, pretty, pretty good!
Overall positives:
- it just feels calming. I like the feel of it, and the screen calms me, doesn’t draw me in
- call quality is fine for me
- meditation timer is super cool. I’ve meditated on an off for years, but I think this timer will make me meditate even more and more structured.
- sideloading apps works surprisingly well
And the latter point is key for me. For my use case, I need a phone which allows me to do some “smart” things, but doesn’t make me dependent on the phone and tempts me to scroll. Apps for public transportation, interrail and maps/navigation are essential for me. This way I can ditch my smartphone for good, both for staying at home and for travelling abroad. In Norway it is also very practical to be able to use “BankID” on the phone, an electronic way of identifying yourself which is used in communication with all public institutions (again, can be done without a phone, but much more practical on the phone). So a semi-dumb phone which didn’t allow me to sideload apps in a good way would be a no for me - or would require me to have an additional smartphone.
Furthermore - and here comes the negative - many of the native apps and utilities on the phone don’t really work very well at the moment. The keyboard is slow and impractical. Special Norwegian letters require a long press, which works most of the time but sometimes just doesn’t. Maps don’t have directions. Calendar has very limited functionality. Music player as well.
But… sideloading is much more easy than I thought, and works really well! The Fossify keyboard has Norwegian support, and works great. The Here wego map works much better than the stock one, and has directions. The Fossify calendar also works great. Messenger and whatsapp and spotify have been working well for me. I was also very happy when I saw that BankID works flawlessly on the phone. The only bummer was that “Vipps” - a payment app which all Norwegians use for private transactions - requires google services and doesn’t work.
During the first two days, I installed several of these apps. But then I felt like the phone called on me to disconnect more… 
(I know that the Kompakt doesn’t have a soul doing these things, it just felt that way). Having Messenger installed, for example, made me spend too much time on conversations I wasn’t really interested in. Connecting to my office calendar through the app “One Calendar” was cool at first, but also stressed my out a bit. Having spotify made me listen to too many uninteresting podcasts. So for now I have just kept whatsapp, which for me is mainly used to connect to my closest family and friends, Fossify calendar which is only used locally on the phone, and the utility and travel apps. No Messenger, no Spotify, no mail or browser or connected office calendar. And unlike on a smartphone, I don’t feel any need to reinstall them and reconnect. Difficult to explain, but it’s like that. The Kompakt calms and disconnects me, in a good way.
I’m excited to see what Mudita will do to the OS in the coming months. But for now I have to say that WITH sideloaded apps it works absolutely great for me as it is.