Mild, maker of the stripped-down Mild Telephones (beforehand really helpful), right this moment introduced the Mild Flip, a clamshell mannequin that swaps e-ink for matte OLED and will get a hinge, a keypad and (drum roll!) a digicam. As a lot as I liked my Mild Cellphone II, the sluggish and irritating e-ink display floor me down; with OLED, the principle tradeoff for responsiveness and readability will likely be shorter battery life.
The Flip runs LightOS, the corporate’s customized working system, on a 2.8-inch 480×640 show. The rear digicam has a 50-megapixel sensor and 12-megapixel output. Folded, it measures 110mm x 58mm x 19mm and weighs 160 grams. Inside is a MediaTek MT8873 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, an 1,800 mAh battery, stereo audio system and twin noise-canceling mics. It helps 5G and 4G LTE by way of nano SIM or eSIM, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Software program consists of T9 predictive textual content, voice-to-text, audio messaging, instructions and a music participant, with a developer program now open for community-built instruments.
It is available in black, navy, purple, pink, yellow and light-weight grey, and can value $299 outright or “from $39 a month” on Mild’s service plan. It ships in April 2027.
The timing is notable. As Apple, Google, and others race to construct AI deeper into all the things, regardless of rising backlash from customers, Mild is making the case for a radically completely different future.
Dumbphone gross sales have been climbing for years, pushed by Gen Z consumers who hate all of the invasive, attention-snarling apps that include smartphones (we have been there earlier than it was cool.) Try the Luddite Membership, whose co-founder Logan Lane provides a testimonial in Mild’s announcement, which has grown from a Brooklyn park meetup to greater than 20 chapters at U.S. excessive colleges and faculties.
Mild Flip [Product Page at thelightphone.com]
Beforehand: Punkt, Commodore, Mild Cellphone, Mild Cellphone III
