Punkt. MP02 4G LTE Minimalist Mobile Phone – Unlocked Cell Phone with Nano-SIM, Wi-Fi Hotspot, 2GB RAM+16GB Storage, Bluetooth, Digital Security, Multiband – Black

Fantastic device and great customer service from the seller.
I’ve been working up to this phone for years and finally decided to jump when pigeon (signal) support was introduced and boy am I glad I did. Fantastic device with a thoughtful interface. Everything I NEED, and nothing I don’t. My initial experience was hindered though with a manufacturing flaw in my initial handset. I contacted the seller and they offered to replace the device. After sending it back to them and waiting patiently I received an excellent example and am entirely satisfied. Couldn’t recommend the device or the seller more.

An elegant concept but poorly implemented software
Update: decided not to return the phone. The limitations described before are still there, but I have agreed to live with them.Had this phone for about a week and a half now. The punkt MP02 is really unmatched in its style and design. For those of us looking for a truly minimalist phone that in all possible ways discourages endless scrolling/ “app jumping”, yet at the same time provides essential functions like high quality voice calling, minimal texting, and wifi tethering when needed, nothing on the market beats punkt’s concept. It is an elegant concept with an equally elegant hardware. No news, no social media, no games, no icons – the only reason you will pull this phone out of your pocket is to either call someone, or answer a call. The speaker quality is also excellent.With that said, the phone’s software is woefully lacking. Fundamental technologies that are standard to the modern world like MMS/group chat and WiFi calling are not supported. Although the Signal platform implemented via the pigeon app works, it is impossible to link an additional device to the punkt as it lacks a camera to scan the QR code. (I’m okay with no camera, but I wish there was a work-around to link another device). The battery life is very poor – especially for a such a feature-less phone. The battery seems to last about 2 and 1/2 days for me on standby (with me not doing anything at all with the phone). The WiFi tethering eats up the battery at rate of about 40 % in 30 minutes. Even more annoying is the poor reception on T-Mobile’s network. One would think such a pricey phone that is marketed as a high quality voice phone “built with the 21st century in mind” would have a powerful antenna and support every single frequency out there, but the phone barely has network signal in a urban-suburban setting. Network is non-existent when indoors. I can’t imagine it being hard to implement/ improve these seemingly basic features, but the punkt team really bluffed with the software. I tried so hard to try and justify the price for this phone, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t make the cut. When you are unable to make and receive phone calls at most times, that really defeats the purpose of any phone – especially that of the punkts. I considered keeping the phone, and hoped they do a major revamp of the software, but I am wary of that ever happening. This phone has been around in some from since 2015. That is plenty of time during which nothing was improved. I will sadly have to return this device before its return deadline expires. Hopefully, Punkt rethinks their strategy and give this beautiful phone the software it deserves.

It’s impossible to get any notion what using this phone is like without experiencing it first-hand. A picture won’t do. An online review won’t do. In fact, this brings to mind the best thing about this phone: it helps you realize that living life through a screen isn’t living your life, but experiencing someone else’s; you can’t “get” the Punkt experience without, well, actually experiencing it.I “got” the value of this phone when I first pulled it out of my pocket rather mindlessly – compulsively, actually. The interface is designed so. intentionally. It’s the exact opposite (the experience, that is) of the software & hardware on smartphones – I mean, I took my iPhone out to look something up and 3 hours later, here I am writing this review after mindlessly going from one app to the next. I HATE this about technology.I really tried working with the smartphone system – setting screen time limits, deleting social media accounts and apps with “bottomless feeds,” the whole 9 yards; I used to work for Apple and know more than a trick or two in terms of the hardware & software. The limits didn’t work for me because I would get in my own way – I’d just bypass the limitations when I “wanted” to. It didn’t work for me. “At some point you realize it’s riskier to stand where you area rather than moving somewhere else.” Because I realized my way wasn’t working (I was finding myself becoming more and more averse to using my smartphone as an actual phone due to my mixed feelings toward it – I decided this love/hate experience was telling me something. For me, smartphones are too much input, too powerful a tool to have in my pocket 16 hours a day; it was time to go back to the pre-2008 days, time to get a dumbphone and change my relationship with technology.I’m glad today’s rabbit hole led me here to write this review, it was my intention to share my experience with others and offer a different take than the tide of negative reviews on this product. Now I will kindly get the hell off my iPhone; I have things to do, a life to live, dreams to realize and thoughts to string together IRL, not on a screen.This phone isn’t perfect, in fact I wish the battery lasted longer, but Punkt is working on this with software updates. The generation before this (MP01) actually had crazy battery life but 2G got shutdown in many places. Fun fact: call quality back in the day was actually better than it is now – we’ve made trade offs to allow for faster data speeds. Well, Punkt adapted and created a 4G version – and it gets me through a day of use and the software is being updated with fixes that impact hardware & software interfacing such as battery life/performance – what more can I ask? It’s apparent and obvious that the company is as dedicated to serving its customer niche of dedicated disconnectors as smartphone companies are to, well, making hardware & software that demand its users’ attention with ever increasing fervor.Do I think it’s best for everyone? No, but it was the full-stop I needed. This phone is for those that want a master of one trade, not a Jack of all trades but master of none (Litephone, I’m looking at you). If you either already have or don’t need things like: a music player (old smartphone or iPad or iPod) an e-book reader and a camera – than this is the best PHONE I’ve ever used. If you need navigation and music and books and podcasts in one device than maybe the Litephone would be better for you.Well done, Punk – I love what this dumb phone is delivering and having held it in my hands and used it for a week, I can see how brilliantly the idea of a phone like this was executed. Thank you for designing a tool that’s so perfectly, beautifully, and simply: a phone.

I really wanted to like this phone. The design and the concept are wonderful. It looks and feels great in the hand, and the tactile feedback with each keypress feels nice. The construction looks robust. The only issue is it doesn’t work well for calling or texting. The first one I ordered started missing about 10% of key presses after a few months – this created a nightmare when texting. I paid for return shipping under warranty, and the second phone I got had a different problem – intermittently not recognizing the SIM card, sometimes several times per day, sometimes once per week. Getting a new SIM card and switching cards into another phone confirmed it was not an issue with the card or the network, but the phone itself. Two different units, two different problems. Perhaps the third one will finally work… but whether or not it does, I can’t recommend this model to anyone. Sadly, my old $70 flip phone was more reliable.

Phone wouldn’t connect to my home WiFi network or another WiFi network that i tried. It connected to a hotspot tether fine, so idk what the deal was, but internet connectivity is half of what sells this dumbphone so it’s kind of a big deal. Pigeon was also infuriating to set up and ultimately did not end up working for me.