Warsaw, Poland-based R&D company Mudita has launched a Kickstarter for a new minimalist phone called the Mudita Pure intended to improve the user’s wellbeing.
Notably, Mudita was founded by Michał Kiciński, the co-founder of award-winning Polish game studio CD Projekt Red. The developer is best-known for the acclaimed fantasy-RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, as well as the highly anticipated, Keanu Reeves-starring Cyberpunk 2077.
First and foremost, the Pure has a sleek design with an E Ink display and physical buttons, rather than a large LED or OLED display with minimal bezels. According to Mudita, this design is intended to minimize the overload of information found in a traditional smartphone, which it says can be distracting from the real world. Overall, Mudita says it looked to Japanese and Scandinavian traditions for inspiration on a more ‘zen’ type of design.
“Every day we are overloaded with information — it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find inner peace,” said Kiciński in a press statement. “We believe that Mudita Pure can also be used as a second phone to help us unplug during evenings, weekends or holidays in order to spend quality time with our loved ones or enjoying solitude.”
The Pure has a multi-band global GSM module which Mudita says will work in more than 180 countries around the world. In terms of its operating system, the phone uses the custom MuditaOS, which the company says “provides the highest standards of privacy, safety, efficiency and reliability.”
Connectivity-wise, the Mudita Pure can serve as a data modem so that the user can connect to the internet via USB-C cable to a laptop or desktop computer.
Other specifications and features include:
- 2.84” E Ink display with a resolution of 600×480 and a PPI of 270, supporting 16 grayscale
- 1900 mAh battery (can last up to two weeks on standby, says Mudita)
- 1W Harman loudspeaker
- Music player
- Meditation timer
- No blue light emissions (to help with sleeping)
At the time of writing, Mudita has passed $170,000 CAD of its $132,618 goal, with 29 days left in the crowdfunding campaign. The retail price of the phone will be $369 CAD, although pledging various amounts will offer up to a 30 percent discount. More information can be found here.
Shipments are expected to begin in April 2020. It’s important to note, however, that even though this Kickstarter project has already hit its funding goal, there are sometimes production or delivery issues that can arise. Therefore, use discretion if interested.
