eSIM Studios
The Sidephone is an upcoming cellphone that looks like a blast from the past thanks to its candy bar-style design with a small screen positioned above a keypad. The $249 phone is kind of a throwback to a style of handset that was designed primarily for making phone calls, and not much else.
But it's also a modern device that runs a custom version of Android, so it does support some apps like Apple Music, Uber, and WhatsApp. Still, it's positioned a distraction-free device for folks that don't want a phone that's constantly tempting them with notifications, videos, and games. It also has at least one somewhat unique feature: support for swappable keypads.
/u/chrisristovski @ /r/dumphones The number pad on below the screen is held in place with "a mix of clips and magnets," but it can be removed and replaced with different styles of keypads for different purposes.
Examples on the Sidephone website show a traditional number pad as well as a pad with 9 larger buttons and another with a larger number of smaller buttons. I'm not sure how useful these would be, but I could imagine a system like this allowing you to swap out a number pad for a game controller, touchpad, or other input device.
The phone has an 1800 mAh battery, a USB-C port for charging and data, a 12MP camera for snapping photos, and support for global 4G LTE cellular networks. There's also WiFi and Bluetooth
While the Sidephone isn't available for purchase yet, pre-orders are expected to open "soon," and the phone is expected to be available sometime later in 2025. Final specifications haven't been revealed yet, but the latest "concept" version of the phone has:
The prototype measures 126 x 55 x 12.5mm (4.96″ x 2.17″ x 0.49″).
While the phone runs an Android-based operating system, it's not expected to ship with the Google Play Store. But you should be able to sideload at least some Android apps that may not be available out of the box.
via NotebookCheck, /r/dumbphone, and /r/sidephone
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