Punkt announced the second edition of its mobile phone, the MP02 4G two weeks ago and the company are now taking pre-orders for the “dumb” phone. Designed by Jasper Morrison, the new MP02 benefits from 4G LTE, making it available for use all over the world, has the ability to tether to another device (a laptop or tablet) and it features BlackBerry Secure Software – the first ever non-BlackBerry handset to be certified with this.
When you want connectivity, the MP02 is designed to be used together with a tablet, giving the user an adequately-sized screen for writing texts, viewing websites, and using maps. It creates two separate devices that each do their job well, rather than a single ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ that’s only really good at one thing: distraction. The tablet stays in your bag until you decide to use it. Or it stays at home.
As such, it remains a phone geared around speaking, through great ergonomics with excellent audio quality. Unlike smartphones it won’t pester you with notifications during a conversation.
The housing of the MP02 is reinforced with glass-fibre and finished with a tough, abrasion-resistant coating. Splashproof to IP52 standard. The display is monochrome+ (black, white, occasional red). Unusually, the interface is 100% text-based – no icons whatsoever. Click through in seconds: up, down, select, go.
The MP02 has nice physical buttons you can press multiple times to select a letter in old T9 fashion, and also lets you take notes, consult a calendar, and do calculations. The battery has 12 days of standby, and with its tiny monochrome display and limited data options, it’ll probably last that easily with normal usage.
This may not be a phone for everybody but it is available to pre-order now for £295, with pre-ordered phones delivered with a free Lamy pen designed by Jasper Morrison.
