Modita Pure impression

Mudita Products
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Hello all together,
I would like to share my experiences after just under a week of use.
First the positive things.
The packaging is really very nice and minimalist design and totally fits the Pure and the concept behind it.
The Pure itself is super processed. The keys feel nice and have a great pressure point.
The plastic feels great and not cheap. The whole device is the perfect size and feels great in the hand.
And it’s just so nice to hold such a simple device in my hands again and not a small supercomputer.

Now a few flaws or things that I noticed:

  • The reception is very, very poor. Compared to two other smartphones and an old and a current Nokia phone, the Pure clearly loses. I rarely have two bars in the apartment. Mostly one or, unfortunately, very often no reception at all.
    Outdoors on the balcony, it goes up to two or three bars. In places where I had just enough reception with the other phones and phone calls were possible, nothing works with the Pure.
    If that is important, I use a sim card from Wetell, which use the Vodaphone network here in Germany. The card I got two months ago new.

  • Then I noticed something strange with the SMS or the contacts.
    I exported the contacts from the smartphone to a .vcf file and then imported it to Pure via Mudita Center. I noticed that the phone numbers have a strange “format”. Instead of “0152- 000000” it was “015-200-0000” in Pure. The number is of course only an example.
    I have then corrected by hand. Now I have written an SMS to my wife and with the outgoing message also her name was indicated to me as stored. When she then answered me, a new “chat” was opened in which no longer her name but the number was displayed again in the strange format “015-200-0000”. Do I have to save all the numbers in this strange format or what is going on?
    I can then also not respond to this message. The SMS is then not sent. I have to go back to the chat where the name of the contact is (not the number in the strange format) and have to reply. There the message is sent.
    And it would be great if you could add T9 as a function and you could save your own words into the dictionary.

  • Then the music player. The problems have already been mentioned here, but for the sake of completeness I would like to list them here.
    You can not copy albums as folders to the Pure but only the songs, which has the consequence that with several albums all songs are simply sorted alphabetically.
    The menu items for artists, albums and playlists, do not work. But you meant yes that is revised.
    Oh and it would be great if you can continue songs or titles like an audio book or podcast when you have finished the music player. I always listen to podcasts when I ride my bike to work, and then listen to them on the way home. It would be nice if you could just keep playing them and not have to start all over again.
    I hope that these are just teething problems and trust that you can fix this via software update. I am fully behind Mudita and the concept behind it.
    And if I can do the three simple things like making and receiving phone calls, texting and playing music/podcasts/audiobooks, then I’m totally happy and that’s all I need.

  • One more thing, the calendar… there it would be of course super if you can also appointments or birthdays and so what enter. But I think you will work on it.

And something else that I’m missing a little bit. But maybe I just haven’t found it.
It would be great if you could put contacts on speed dial. So that one must press for example only the 1 and then the key for dialing to call a contact. So I know that from old phones.

And it would also be great if you could manually switch the network mode from 4G/LTE to 2G, for example. This would probably also help with the reception problems.

I hope very much that the problems with the reception can still be fixed. If it were a hardware problem, that would be a real shame, because the Pure would then hardly be usable.
But I just hope for the next update.

Otherwise, thanks for this great device.

I still have one question. I bought the Pure on Ebay. A backer didn’t want it anymore. Unfortunately, there was no invoice and the seller said that in case of problems it would be enough if I would tell you the serial number, for warranty purposes. Is that right or do I have so no right to warranty?

Greetings
Marko

EDIT:
I noticed something else today. I got a call from someone I have saved as a contact in Pure. But it didn’t show me the name but only the phone number. But with the country code +49 in front of it. I added the number to the contacts and it was again in this strange format “015-200-0000” instead of “+4915200…”.
This is very strange.

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Mine arrives today I really hope I don’t have any of the reception issues. Phone calls and texts is all I care about. I will not be using it for music. I just want to be able to take calls and texts…crossing my fingers. If there are issues I will try a new sim. If that does not work sadly I would have to return it and go back to either the LP2 or Punkt. But I REALLY HOPE I don’t have to

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@marko Thank you for taking the time to write such an extensive review. Regarding some of the issues you are having, I just want to make sure your MuditaOS is up to date. The current MuditaOS version is 1.2.1
1.3.0 will be released shortly.

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When is it going to be released? And is there a link to what things are going to be fixed in the update?

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@cardio79 We are hoping for this week or early next week.
Here’s the list of all the updates/fixes:

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First of all, thank you for your answer.
Yes I have installed version 1.2.1. So it is up to date.
Let’s see how it looks after the next update.

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After further use, here are a few additions.
In one SMS that was sent to me, the content was messed up. The sentences were fragmented and in the wrong order. But the SMS went out correctly to the sender. This has never happened to me in recent years with other phones.
The worst problem is that I write to a contact and then I get the answer in another chat, but then there is not the name, but the phone number in this fragmented format as mentioned above. So I have two chats for everyone I write to. One in which I send the message to the contact, where the name is also written, and one where the number is written in which I get the answers.

Yesterday someone tried to reach me, but I didn’t realize it until I got an SMS saying that number XXX tried to reach me. The caller got the message that I was not available.

Today the Pure hung up completely when I tried to send an SMS.
As for SMS, it would be great if you could create your own templates or modify the existing ones.

I am really looking forward to the next update. I just want to be able to make calls and write messages properly. But I trust the people at Mudita. It is not easy to develop such a device (even if it is simple) from scratch.

EDIT:
I just got another text message where the sentences were mixed up. I really hope the new update fixes this, because it’s very tiring to use Pure like this, as much as I like it.

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Unfortunately, one more addendum…
Not even the alarm clock works properly.
The screen freezes a minute before it rings.
Is there any news about the release date of the new update?
I really hope that the Pure will be usable then.

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The alarm not working is strange. I don’t have that issue with my device. The calling issue does happen when you turn the phone on it can take upwards to 10 mins for it to connect and be usable.

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@marko We’re working on releasing the new update soon. Our team is working out some last bugs. The new release is supposed improve the user experience:

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A few words about the new update, what is better, what still needs to be done…
Of course, I will continue to test it in the near future and write here what I notice.

First of all. The connection is now much faster after starting than before the update.
It seems to run more stable so far and has not hung up again. I will continue to monitor this.
Unfortunately, the signal quality is still very poor. When I make a phone call, for example, I have 2 bars and it shows me LTE when I start the call. Shortly afterwards, it immediately switches to 2G and usually loses one or all bars of the signal. I have only tested it here in my area. I have slightly better reception at work, where it’s usually three bars. I will test it there again.
But I have the feeling that a phone call via LTE is not possible at all, but only via 2G. Is that supposed to be the case?

Where nothing has happened yet:
The SMS templates are completely in English, which doesn’t help me much as a German. You can’t edit them or add new ones either.
You can’t enter any appointments in the calendar yet.
And as far as playing music/podcasts etc. is concerned, if you pause and want to read a message or make a phone call, for example, or just want to continue listening later, you always have to start at the beginning of the track again. It doesn’t remember where you left off.

I will see in the next few days whether the problem with the mixed SMS still exists.

So there is still a lot to do, but of course it was first important to give the OS the necessary stability.
If I could still make phone calls with good signal quality, then I would be happy.
The other points will certainly be worked through bit by bit. Somewhere here it said that the music player is to be completely revised.

And what I wanted to say. Even if not everything works, the Pure has already changed me and my life a little. I really notice the withdrawal from the smartphone and everything feels more alive again.
At the beginning I was very nervous because I still had the urge to check all the messengers and emails and quickly check something in the search engine. You could tell that you were a bit addicted and just wasted your (far too valuable) time.
Now I’m mega relaxed.
I make more calls with the landline phone and have long conversations. I read more books again (how I missed that), without constantly checking something on my smartphone and being torn out of the book again and again.
I met a friend with whom I usually wrote a lot via Messenger spontaneously after work at the lake and we had a bite to eat and a drink together and talked for a long time. That was much nicer.
I have better conversations with the people around me because I am more attentive.
Colleagues at work have already told me that I have changed and am in a better mood.
And every few days I check my e-mails on my laptop and look at Telegram and Signal.
And do you know what you notice? You’re not as important as you always thought before :slight_smile:
So I can really only recommend everyone to take the step away from smartphones.

In any case, thank you very much for your work. And I’m curious to see where the journey will take us.

EDIT:
And please, please introduce T9. Writing text messages is a real pain when you need to do it quickly.

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Thank you, @marko, for your thoughtful and thought-provoking post!

I cancelled my long-ago order for the Pure after realizing that I wanted group texting, and I have had experiences similar to yours both with a super-simplified Android-7 phone and now with a Sunbeam Wireless F1 Orchid here in the USA.

  • I make more calls with my desk phone.
  • I have Microsoft Teams meetings now call my desk phone.
  • I stay longer outdoors with friends after marathon training runs.
  • I check my email only on a computer.
  • I appreciate better my responsibility to be more active, not passive, with my friendships.

No matter what “anti-smartphone” any of us chooses, we all get similar benefits!

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I just ordered the light phone 2 for 300 canadian and they threw in a case for free. 115 dollars savings…give it and the punkt a shot for a week and decide on one

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@marko Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an extensive post. We really appreciate people’s dedication to a technologically mindful lifestyle and we are so thankful that many of you have included us as part of that journey.

About T9- our team is working on it. As we communicated previously, we plan on releasing it in the 3rd QTR of this year.

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Thanks for your answer :slight_smile:
I am really looking forward to T9.

I tested the Pure a bit more today on day 1 after the update.
SMS are going out and so far they are arriving cleanly. No idea if this will continue or if the problem of mixed SMS from different senders has been solved. Maybe it was also due to the problem of importing contacts? I created all the contacts manually the day before yesterday.

As for calls…
The good thing is that I haven’t had any disconnections. But the quality of the calls is, well…
I tested the whole thing here at home in the flat and on the balcony. 2 bars of signal strength. When I make a call, it still shows the 2 bars (or on the balcony, rarely 3 bars) and LTE. Then it immediately goes to 2G and 1 or sometimes no bars. Of course, the call quality is not that great with no bars or one bar and there are often dropouts. I was able to make calls for 15 minutes at a time without interruption, but it was not a pleasure.
Then on the company premises. Here I have full signal strength or 3 bars. Conmically, this is the only corner in the city where I have such good reception. Maybe because it’s an industrial area and there are many transmission masts there. I don’t know.
In any case, I made a call here too. Again, LTE then immediately switched to 2G and signal strength immediately drops to 1-2 bars. And of course the call quality also suffers.

What is the reason that I can’t make calls via LTE? Even if I have a good signal strength with LTE?
Do I have to enter anything else in the APN settings? But this is actually only for surfing the internet, isn’t it?

As I read it in Pure under the settings and the info on SAR, there are two antennas. And these receive better, depending on the high or low band. The software is also written in such a way that it reduces the power where it is not needed in order to reduce the SAR value. Have I understood this correctly?
Then it should be possible to adjust this in the software. Of course, the SAR value is one of the main reasons why I bought the Pure, but I want to be able to make reasonable calls. And if I have four bars of LTE, it can’t switch down to 1 bar of 2G during the call. That doesn’t make any sense.

Does it make sense to write down these problems here or should I report them via the Mudita Centre with a log file?
I don’t want to write my fingers to the bone here, and then it won’t be forwarded at all :slight_smile:

EDIT:
Rejoiced too soon. I just received another text message in which the sentences were mixed up. Too bad…

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The dot or the LP don’t make sense to me. Then I could have used one of my Nokias. They work fine with great reception and signal quality. But I’m mainly interested in the low SAR value in connection with the e-ink display, and of course I’m just taken with Mudita. The story behind it and all that. I can identify with that. And then there’s the open source idea.

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Since noon yesterday, there has been a change. Outside in the open 3-4 bars of signal strength. Phone calls are possible without problems. I am well understood and understand the person I am talking to very well. However, it still switches immediately from LTE to 2G.
Today I tested it again while walking around here in the neighbourhood and again 3-4 bars of signal strength and very good call quality. But again 2G instead of LTE.

At home in the flat and on the balcony I still only have 1-2 bars and calls are difficult. Something seems to be interfering with or shielding the signal. Maybe the thermal insulation of the house. But that’s fine with me. The less radiation comes into my flat. And here I can be reached via the landline phone anyway. The Pure is mainly for on the road.

I have no idea why it suddenly works so well, but it can stay that way. Add voice over LTE at some point and I’m happy (not because of the quality, but in case 2G is switched off here).

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I just thought again about the LTE/2G problem and discovered the following on the website:
“With the user’s health in mind, Pure always chooses the lowest spectrum available to limit radiation.
The module supports all currently used generations: 2G, 3G and LTE standards at the same time.”

That would mean that the Pure automatically selects 2G because that is the lowest frequency here in Germany and that is good for health. I think that’s really very good :slight_smile:
Since 3G has already been switched off here, that would mean that if 2G is also switched off here, the Pure would automatically use LTE because that would be the lowest frequency. Is that right and is it future-proof, so to speak?
LTE will not be switched off so quickly.

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@marko I’m going to bump up the text message issue to the devs. Have you submitted your logs to Mudita via Mudita Center? Please do so, if you have not done it already. Also, can you please give me the serial number for you phone?

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Hello Urszula,
the serial number is 25794950084841.
I have already forwarded the logs via the Mudita Centre.
Thanks for your effort :slight_smile:

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