The Balmuda Phone is a compact Android cellphone from a high-end toaster firm

Japanese design firm Balmuda immediately introduced its first smartphone at a press occasion in Tokyo. The straightforwardly titled Balmuda Phone is the debut product from Balmuda Technologies, a brand new division of the corporate beforehand identified for fashionable, premium residence home equipment like air purifiers and rice cookers. Balmuda’s toaster specifically has a cult following in Japan.

As you’d count on, the Balmuda Phone is sort of a bit completely different to different telephones available on the market. CEO Gen Terao mentioned on stage that he felt that smartphones have gotten too large and unwieldy in recent times, so the Balmuda Phone was designed with compactness and class as the first objectives. It has a really sharp 4.9-inch 16:9 1080p show and is roughly corresponding to a 4.7-inch iPhone SE; the show is barely greater and the cellphone is 2mm wider, however the smaller bezels imply it’s 15mm shorter.

The Balmuda Phone is a full 13mm thick at its thickest level, however the again panel tapers down closely towards the perimeters. There’s a single giant digicam with a 48-megapixel sensor within the high proper nook, and it’s mirrored by a fingerprint sensor within the high left. The 8-megapixel selfie digicam is housed in a hole-punch cutout on the high proper of the display screen.

The cellphone’s specs are usually mid-range. The processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 and there’s 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The battery is simply 2,500mAh, which is able to hopefully be offset considerably by the lower-power processor, although we’ll have to check for ourselves to see. The cellphone does fortunately have wi-fi charging.

Where Balmuda is absolutely differentiating itself is with design. It’s a well-worn tech writing cliche to say that one thing “feels good in the hand,” however that was clearly Balmuda’s intent right here with the compact measurement and curved again that nestles into your palm like a pebble. I’ve large fingers, granted, however I feel nearly anybody would discover this extra comfy to make use of than the hefty 6-inch slabs most of us carry round as of late. While the case is plastic, construct high quality feels stable and there’s a pleasant distinction between the textured again panel and the shiny edges. All in all it’s a cute, enticing object.

The software program, primarily based on Android 11, can also be very completely different to what you’d discover on most Android telephones immediately. There’s an interactive residence display screen with numerous parts of the wallpaper customizable for various shortcuts; for instance, you could possibly swipe on one of many traces to launch Google Maps. Horizontal swipes transfer you between among the built-in software program, like a calendar, a notes app, and a calculator. All of those had neat design touches, just like the notes app’s visible timeline of photographs and memos, or the calculator app’s built-in foreign money conversion and talent to deal with giant Japanese numbers which can be counted within the 10,000s reasonably than the hundreds.

The Balmuda Phone might be obtainable in Japan on contract with SoftBank later this month, and Balmuda is promoting an unlocked mannequin itself for 104,800 yen (about $920). That may sound like lots for a compact Android 11 cellphone with these specs, however then $250 most likely seems like lots for a toaster, too. In each instances, you’re paying for the design and the person expertise reasonably than the invoice of supplies, and this clearly isn’t aimed toward anybody who desires a traditional Android flagship. As somebody who does personal Balmuda’s toaster, I’m wanting ahead to discovering out how effectively the cellphone holds up below common use — as a result of a lot as I just like the toaster, a smartphone is much more necessary to my life.