Minimal cellphone pioneer Punkt is again with a brand new privacy-focused mannequin at CES

The Swiss minimal cellphone pioneer Punkt is again with one other mannequin, the MC03. The brand new handset continues Punkt’s concentrate on privateness, safety and digital minimalism.

Should you’ve by no means seen Punkt’s MP01 and MP02, the corporate’s gorgeously minimal dumb phone line, they’re one thing to behold. (The MP01 is sort of actually a museum piece, in New York’s Museum of Trendy Artwork.) In the meantime, this new MC03 is the corporate’s second stab at a extra sensible touchscreen smartphone, following 2023’s MC02. What you lose in bodily magnificence and tactile buttons, you acquire in flexibility.

As earlier than, the smartphone runs the privacy- and security-focused AphyOS, primarily based on the Android Open Supply Mission (AOSP). The fork on the MC03 seems to borrow a web page from the Light Phone line. Its UI features a Gentle Cellphone-adjacent row of textual content for the most typical shortcuts, like mail, contacts and calendar.

The MC03 splits knowledge into two sections. There’s The Vault, a safe enclave for apps Punkt has vetted for privateness and safety. The second, Wild Net, provides you the liberty to put in any Android app. To guard you whereas utilizing that part, there’s Ledger, which Punkt describes as “strict, seen safeguards that enable straightforward privateness controls.” Very like Android’s Permission Supervisor, Ledger permits you to outline which knowledge, sensors and background assets every app can entry. In change for the tediousness of approving and denying permissions, you get extra gradual management over your knowledge.

All of the apps from one other Swiss firm, Proton, can be found in The Vault. (That features Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, Proton VPN, and Proton Go.) Proton founder and CEO Andy Yen mentioned he hopes the collaboration can “inject somewhat extra selection into {the marketplace}, giving customers extra methods to take management of their knowledge and regain their privateness.”

People shopping for the MC03 aren’t doing so to get cutting-edge {hardware}. The cellphone has an OLED show with a excessive (120Hz) body fee, nice for exhibiting off that clear, black UI. The MC03 has a detachable 5,200mAh battery and a 64MP digicam. The system is rated IP68 for water and dirt resistance.

Shipments for the Punkt MC03 start this month within the European market. The cellphone prices €699 / CHF699 / £610. As with its earlier fashions, the MC03 requires a subscription. (Punkt frames this as paying to retain your knowledge, somewhat than paying along with your knowledge.) One 12 months of the subscription is included along with your buy. After that, you may must pay €9.99 / CHF9.99 / £8.99 month-to-month. Nevertheless, paying forward for a long-term subscription permits you to save as much as 60 p.c. You’ll be able to be taught extra on the company’s website.