I really loved the previous design with the physical numpad and it seems they've opened up the platform to support more applications beyond a few blessed ones (like Signal in the past).
Really put off by this though:
> If you don’t pay for a product, you are the product. With MC03, you pay to retain your data rather than paying with it.
So you have to pay >$100/year to maintain access to your device? Why do I need to pay to retain data that is on my own device?
They should really just bake this into the price of the phone. Charge more up front and then offer “free” updates while also respecting users and their data.
Based on how they speak of competitors and potential partners alike (no matter how good or bad they are, so long as they're not perfect, and nobody has perfect security in this internet world, only grapheneos gets a free pass from grapheneos), I half expect that this 'major OEM' will sooner or later have one tiny slip-up in opsec that makes graphene's owner think they're conspiring against them and they abort mission and start looking for another partner to begin anew
> They have a fork of an old version of GrapheneOS merged with LineageOS. They heavily marketed it as being based on GrapheneOS, but it's a very outdated version. Their devices don't have remotely comparable privacy, security, usability or app compatibility to official GrapheneOS.
I'm really struggling to see who this phone is aimed for. Why would someone pay a subscription for their "own" phone that is cut off from the major app stores?
This is a very interesting thread to read... I can't help but remember the wishes expressed in other news threads such as 'I wish I could just pay for things to not have tracking built in' / 'This vital software component is so underfunded, no wonder this happens'
Now a company offers it and every 2nd comment has the vibe of 'Why would someone pay a subscription for their "own" phone'. I guess that means the former vibe is not something most people actually want?
> You can cancel at any time. Without an active subscription, certain core services and privacy features will be limited. To keep your MC03 fully functional, secure, and up to date, an active subscription is required.
Out of curiosity (I'm definitely NOT going to buy a Phone-as-a-Service), what exactly happens when you cancel your subscription? Does the smartphone brick itself? Does it let you flash a sane operating system that doesn't treat you as a cash cow?
The product page (https://www.punkt.ch/products/mc03-premium-secure-smartphone, click on "all tech specs") mentions a "SAR sensor". I have not seen that before, does anyone know what this does? Does the device try to estimate how much EM your body received while carrying it around or calling, or what is this for?
The problem in Europe is that Whatsapp has become the standard for mobile messaging, and it's only available on Android and iOS
This really nerfs the whole dumbphone movement for Europeans, which should be a key market.
I went on holiday with someone a few weeks ago who is toughing it out with a no-Whatsapp dumbphone. He missed the train home because he got locked out of the holiday cottage and couldn't get in touch with anyone.
I thought this was an eInk screen- all of the screenshots show a grainy black-and-white UI. I had to dig around to learn that it actually has a full-color OLED apparently.
€699 + €9.99/month for a smartphone that supposed to be a dumb phone, with a custom locked down OS. Punkt is losing the point what made their previous products successful.
I have my iphone 13 mini for 4 years, having a Punkt MC03 for the same amount of time would cost me €1058. Thanks, but no thanks.
For years I've been so close to ordering one of their previous generation phones, and now I feel like I've dodged a bullet by not buying from this company. This new phone is a huge step in the wrong direction.
Can someone please release a nice Sidekick like device with physical keyboard that supports Signal.
I cannot understand the nostalgia for physical phone keyboards. They are an objectively slower typing experience.
I would rather just buy a $20 Bluetooth keyboard if I wanted to do some serious typing on a phone. Or maybe get into Samsung Dex and similar technologies.
If trying to hawk a subscription-based closed-source fork of open source software as privacy preserving or being "Swiss-made" weren't sufficient red flags, search the web for MP02, their last phone. Basic functionality like calling and texting often don't work, and their Signal client never work, they are selling a dream. Punkt is basically a scam
Well they really destroyed everything that I knew was Punkt: Great design, minimalist, e-ink like displays with an android cheap design, no e-ink, and Phone as a Service? are you kidding us?
Ha. That caused quite some reputation damage. However I would say infiltration and spying is more of an intelligence agency tradition, than a swiss tradition.
49 comments
[ 96.4 ms ] story [ 591 ms ] threadReally put off by this though:
> If you don’t pay for a product, you are the product. With MC03, you pay to retain your data rather than paying with it.
So you have to pay >$100/year to maintain access to your device? Why do I need to pay to retain data that is on my own device?
> They have a fork of an old version of GrapheneOS merged with LineageOS. They heavily marketed it as being based on GrapheneOS, but it's a very outdated version. Their devices don't have remotely comparable privacy, security, usability or app compatibility to official GrapheneOS.
or how being locked in to a black box vpn instills a sense of having gained reliable true privacy?
pretty bad signal
stopped reading there
Now a company offers it and every 2nd comment has the vibe of 'Why would someone pay a subscription for their "own" phone'. I guess that means the former vibe is not something most people actually want?
> You can cancel at any time. Without an active subscription, certain core services and privacy features will be limited. To keep your MC03 fully functional, secure, and up to date, an active subscription is required.
Out of curiosity (I'm definitely NOT going to buy a Phone-as-a-Service), what exactly happens when you cancel your subscription? Does the smartphone brick itself? Does it let you flash a sane operating system that doesn't treat you as a cash cow?
I have the previous model, the MC02. I reviewed it here:
https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/05/mc02_swiss_private_ph...
The sub is for the email account. Cancel the sub, that email stops working. You can still use any other email account and client you wish.
This may no longer be the case -- but that's what I'd expect.
This really nerfs the whole dumbphone movement for Europeans, which should be a key market.
I went on holiday with someone a few weeks ago who is toughing it out with a no-Whatsapp dumbphone. He missed the train home because he got locked out of the holiday cottage and couldn't get in touch with anyone.
Couldn't he use the phone as a phone ? Or was he in Germany ?
I have my iphone 13 mini for 4 years, having a Punkt MC03 for the same amount of time would cost me €1058. Thanks, but no thanks.
Can someone please release a nice Sidekick like device with physical keyboard that supports Signal.
I would rather just buy a $20 Bluetooth keyboard if I wanted to do some serious typing on a phone. Or maybe get into Samsung Dex and similar technologies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_AG
based on how they welcome new customers to their site, I can only assume this is the general vibe of the company also. (aggressively pushing crap)
Why? What is so important that they need me to notify about?
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466171