‘Balmuda Phone’ is the first Android smartphone from a Japanese design company, announced at a recent press conference in Tokyo. The device has been trending over the internet since its launch due to its form factor and overall size. Certainly! Balmuda Phone is one of the small, compact Android smartphones available in Japan for $900. Unfortunately, it is not a high-end flagship device. Nevertheless, the 4.9-inch device is attractive enough to attract anyone’s attention.
Balmuda company is already well known in Japan for its other premium home appliances such as air purifiers, rice cookers, toasters, and so on. As we can expect, Balmuda Phone is very different from all other smartphones today. Among the factors contributing to its high cost are its overall design, form factor, compactness, elegance, etc. The device features a 4.9-inch Full-HD (1080p) display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. There are almost no differences between it and a 4.7-inch iPhone SE, except for the slightly bigger screen and the 2mm wider body. There are also noticeable bezels on all sides.
Balmuda Phone is almost 13mm thick and slightly curved from the backside. However, the display on the front is completely flat. The camera has a single 48-megapixel sensor in the top right corner. In addition, there is a similar-looking cutout in the top left with a fingerprint sensor. That’s odd. At the top right of the screen, there is a hole-punch cutout for an 8-megapixel selfie camera.
This is usually a midrange performer with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 SoC, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. Battery capacity is 2,500mAh, which means it won’t be sufficient to power the device for a whole day on a single charge. The phone has a wireless charging feature which will make charging easier. On top of that, it has 5G connectivity. This means it can be used for a long time.
It runs on Android 11 out-of-the-box and comes with a skin that allows you to customize the home screen with wallpapers, shortcuts, gesture shortcuts, etc. It includes Google apps in the form of gesture shortcuts, which can be used in daily life. Currently, it is expected that the Balmuda Phone will be available in Japan on a contract basis with SoftBank later this month. In the market, the company also offers an unlocked model for around 104,800 yen (about $920).
The extra charges mostly pertain to the form factor, innovation, and design elements. Obviously, this isn’t the kind of flagship device that you usually look for. It is a good choice for those who want a compact mid-range Android smartphone that has the Balmuda design signature.
