Punkt. MP02 New Generation 4G LTE Dumb Phone, Minimalist Mobile Phone, Unlocked, Nano-SIM, WiFi Hotspot,2GB RAM+16GB Storage, 1280 mAh Battery - Black

From the moment I opened the box, the Punkt MP02 felt like a premium product. The build quality, the weight, the texture – it all gives off a “designed with purpose” vibe. This isn’t just a basic phone. It’s a statement. The real standout feature? The hotspot functionality. It’s brilliant. I use it to check WhatsApp or maps on my iPhone without unlocking the digital chaos of a smartphone. That combo alone makes this the perfect dumb phone for the modern era. Yes, the menu system could use some refinement – it takes a bit of getting used to. But once you’re over the learning curve, it just works. And more importantly, it doesn’t hijack your attention with dopamine-drip nonsense like other devices do. I’ve tried and returned several “dumb phones” on Amazon – none came close to the Punkt. This one? I’m keeping. It’s worth every penny. I even feel proud using it in public now, knowing I’ve taken control of my focus again. Ignore the negative reviews. This is a legit good phone for people who are serious about reclaiming their time and attention.

This promised so much that I wanted as a private, minimalist phone. It looks good and is lovely and small and has an excellent display. However there are few things that mean I would not buy it again. First is the battery life. I rarely get a full day's use out of it despite being a very light user: two or three phone calls a day, a couple of dozen text message and none, or very little use of the WiFi tethering. I find the buttons can be unpredictable in some situations, particularly when unlocking it; I get missed clicks and double clicks far more often than on previous phones with real buttons. The Pigeon app for Signal is a disaster. I have twice had to do complete wipes, resets and reinstalls because it lost access to my account for no apparent reason. I would have liked to like this phone and initially thought a few interface tweaks would make it great (better display of notifications when locked for example). However the longer I have used it (six months now) the more frustrated I have become and would not recommend it in its current state. I am only hanging on to mine in a desperate attempt to get some value for the high cost of purchase.

Desperate to break the smartphone addiction I blame for the almost total destruction of my attention span over the last decade and a half, I fooled around for a while with a couple of HMD's cheap "Nokia" branded dumbphones. Couldn't make the switch with those wretched things. So I spent days (weeks?) researching the Punkt MP02 and its closest competitors and decided to take a gamble—knowing that it WAS a gamble. The MP02 I've been using for the past week bears little similarity to the ones I see being reviewed here and elsewhere. It's well made from high quality materials and a much more satisfying object to handle than a TV-sized slab of glass. It offers a simple (if occasionally eccentric) user interface. Calls come through loud and clear and texting via T9 is actually rather less onerous than I expected. Bluetooth pairing is a straightforward business and wifi tethering works fine. Even the much maligned battery life isn't that bad. I can get two-and-a-half days on standby with 4G/VoLTE on and everything else off. Although I will admit tethering absolutely hammers this, and quickly. The only problem I've encountered is a very occasional total freeze in standby which requires a reboot—frustrating when it happens, but thankfully infrequent. They say you shouldn't buy any tech product based on promises of what it may offer in the future; only for what it does now. And that's important, as the MP02 has received little to no ongoing development from Punkt. As far as I'm concerned, however, it does everything you need from a phone in this category, albeit expensively. In my case, the gamble has paid off. It's not perfect—what is?—but I love the thing.

The hardware on the PM02 is pretty good quality, it feels good in the hand and the buttons have a nice click. Felt like it had promise, however the reality is somewhat different. In short I can’t recommend this product as it feels like something that is still in early Beta, which isn’t really good enough for nearly 300 quid. Note I updated the software version when I bought the phone. Good • call quality and volume on calls • Solid feeling build • Small and easy to carry around Not so Good • Just too expensive for the very very limited feature set. • Software felt very sluggish navigating between features and user interface is cumbersome. • Texting felt slow compared to my old Nokia Feature Phone • The Pigeon client is not easy to setup if you want to use Signal, in the end I just couldn’t get it to work (I gave up after about 60 times) • No battery life or signal strength visible at a glance. • Battery not anywhere near as good as it should be given how simple it is, and 2.5 days standby would appear optimistic. • Missing Audio Notes which should be easy given its based-on Android. • No replaceable battery. A reasonable start but returned the product.

I'm so over the moon with this phone from Punkt! I'd read a lot about it online after a friend mentioned it to me, but I was keen to see if it really stacked up in real life. It arrived today and I'm so impressed with the quality and design of it. Firstly, it looks beautiful, the minimalist, paired-down design is exactly why I wanted one in the first place and it doesn't disappoint - it has that mid-Century classic feel to it. The materials are first-class, great texture but also feels very durable but has that lightweight feel. It powered up right out of the box which is nice - I managed to set it up very quickly. Aside from the way it looks, I wanted a phone that would allow me to take a break from the many other distractions of my 'smart' phone. This product strips away all the unnecessary stuff to the few simple functions you need, perfect for achieving an enjoyable level of 'digital balance'. I will likely use it as a companion to my smartphone but I can also see how it would be just as able to be a standalone device.

simply doesn't work - I was really rooting for this product but the main functionality I was after - Signal - just doesn't work. First, I thought it would "pair" with an existing Signal but instead it had to be the main one (without ability to pair with other devices), but even then, it still didn't work. Other than Signal/Pigeon, the experience was also clunky (try to write a capital letter!) and it wasn't clear to me that things like syncing calendar require a separate subscription. I really don't like giving bad reviews for small-tech companies - It's a great idea, good design, ambitious features but it really should do the minimum that it promises.

Don’t buy. Terrible operating system, poor battery life, dim screen, spongy buttons, unintuitive and expensive to boot. I wasted my money on this and should have bought a nokia.

I’m genuinely grateful that a product like this exists in today’s world — a simple, elegant phone designed for intentional use. It handles calls, texts, and the occasional hotspot — and that’s all you need. You won’t find yourself doomscrolling for hours, because you simply can’t. Built with durability in mind, it feels like a solid monoblock — compact, reliable, and made to last. It fits comfortably in the centre of your palm, leaving plenty of space to type naturally. The button layout is excellent too: each button is perfectly sized so you can press it cleanly without accidentally hitting others. Functionally, it’s everything you need for a quieter, more focused way of life. Do it for yourself — break free from the algorithms.