A small Android phone suddenly finds a market in Japan

Despite Balmuda’s history, the company is probably best known for its products such as the electric kettle toaster and the relatively expensive electric kettle. So what happens when a modern design company wants to dive into the smartphone market? He makes his smartphone, of course. The Balmuda Phone was launched in Japan towards the end of 2021, and due to its poor reception, it was allegedly discontinued just a few months after its launch.

Despite this, the smartphone is still sold in stores and can be easily purchased on contract or off. So how does a poorly received phone get a second chance? They are redirected by those who sell them. Instead of being marketed as a high-end Balmuda, it’s being sold as a compact and affordable smartphone that’s great for the first time. Best of all, the phone costs almost nothing when you buy it on contract. You can see how attractive it can become at this point. For most, this is enough to make a sale. But is a small smartphone called Balmuda any good? Let’s find out.

Palmoda Phone: Specifications

Palmoda phone: design

The Balmuda Phone is a unique piece of technology, not because it has interesting features, but because it is a smartphone made by a non-smartphone company. It shows what comes to market when a company isn’t used to the landscape it’s entering and really believes in its vision. While this approach has been successful in the past for a limited number of people, the chances of it succeeding are really rare.

Balmuda Phone quickly distinguishes itself from the others by having a design that, at first glance, is unlike what is currently on the market. But if we go back, perhaps a decade ago, when there were more experimental devices, we can see where the Balmuda phone took its inspiration. The phone has glimpses of the Palm Pre, Microsoft Kin One, and others. While Palm found design inspiration from an ostrich egg, Balmuda was more concerned with avoiding hard lines, doing her best to incorporate slanted curves into every corner of her phone.

Up front, we get a small but usable 4.9-inch Full HD display with a punch-hole cutout in the upper right corner for the front camera. The screen is clear (449 ppi) and works well in most conditions, but the panel is an LCD, so you shouldn’t expect deep blacks or pops of color. Another thing to note is that there are two different color options for the Balmuda phone, black and white. If you have the black model, the edges around the screen aren’t noticeable, but with the white model, you’ll likely see some extra space towards the top and bottom of the screen.

The back of the device has a distinct look, as it houses the circular power button/fingerprint sensor on the left side and the camera lens on the right. There is a speaker grill and flash between the power button and the camera, with a small LED indicator light located right next to the camera. Imagine my surprise the first time I got a message and saw it flashing: It was fun because it’s not something you see often these days. Unfortunately, looking at the settings menu, there’s no way to customize the color or style, so you’ll still be stuck with soft white lighting for all alerts.

With its smaller size, sloping curves, and 138g weight, the Moda phone should feel comfortable in the hand. The device hugs the palm of your hand and, to be honest, feels like the opposite of what I’m used to when handling a smartphone. The phone is made of plastic, which looks rather cheap in 2022, and the textured surface on the back provides enough grip to feel comfortable. Oddly enough, the thoughtfully designed design by Balmuda is something I can’t appreciate, perhaps due to years of using square plates constantly digging themselves into the palm of my hand.

In terms of environmental protection, Balmuda Phone officially presents an IPX4 rating. The device is approved for use near water and may splash occasionally, but it cannot be submerged and is not considered water-resistant. The rating also means it can potentially protect against perspiration.

Palmoda phone: software

The Balmuda Phone comes pre-loaded with Android 11, and as of July 2022 it has received the June 2022 security update. As this is a branded device, a few carrier-specific apps are included that are not part of Android, but are not. Intrusive. The Android 11 experience is clean with a few touches added by Balmuda here and there. These “touches” are one of the most surprising aspects of the phone’s software because they are thoughtful additions.

The ‘Stripe’ functions are an interesting part of the home screen, giving users quick access to shortcuts by swiping streaks that are set in the background. You can set the bar functionality to perform a predefined action or set it to launch your favorite app. Best of all, it’s customizable. You can adjust the lines to correspond to either the right or left hand grip, or you can disable them completely. You can also set the colors to suit your mood.

Balmuda has companion widgets and tools like schedule, clock, notes, and calculator. This is nothing new, as most phones have these apps installed, but Balmuda’s use of them is very good. For example, in the “Scheduler” application, the design is beautiful and intuitive. You can pinch to zoom in and out of your schedule, and show your day, week, or even your monthly schedule. There’s also integrated weather, which shows what the weather will be like up to a week in advance in the calendar view.

photo via Balmuda

The clock app is nice too, offering time, weather integration, a stopwatch, alarms, and a countdown timer. It’s hard to describe, but the look and feel make the experience feel elegant. The same is true for the notes and calculator apps, where small touches provide a bit more power than your standard apps on other devices. The sound design is also charming, with elegant and fun tones for ringtones, notifications, and even charging. Everyone will have their preference with these kinds of things, but for the first try, Balmuda installed them, which gave a captivating and unforgettable experience.

Palmoda Phone: Camera and Entertainment

The camera is an essential part of any smartphone’s arsenal. Without a proper camera, a phone could pretty much be a DOA for many discerning consumers. If you are someone who wants excellent photos from your smartphone, then Balmuda Phone is not for you. It has a single 48MP camera, which means that you will be limited to the types of photos and videos you take.

Perhaps what is surprising about the phone is that it does not perform well in bright environments. Enabling HDR helps with the quality but seeing that kind of quality from a new smartphone is kinda awful. As you can imagine, it doesn’t perform well once the lighting gets dim. For those who like the ability to connect to camera settings, these types of options don’t exist. At best, you will be able to select a mode consisting of movie, photo, dish, photo and night scene. I have my opinions, but I left out some sample photos so you can be the judge.

When watching movies on Balmuda, the smaller screen doesn’t look that bad. But the area that needs improvement is the sound. The single speaker at the back isn’t enough and will exercise your muscle memory from years past, cupping at the back of the phone to direct the sound forward. If this is not enough, the sound will not be clear and will often be distorted when played at higher volumes. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but those who want to use this as a media consumption tool may want to look elsewhere. Also, this device does not have an audio jack, as Bluetooth and USB-C audio lane are the only options.

Palmoda Phone: Battery and Performance

The Balmuda Phone doesn’t pack the fastest SoC or even the biggest battery; In daily use, this shows. While the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 processor is decent for the most part, you can sometimes feel or even see slight vibrations or stutters now and then when scrolling through web pages, watching YouTube, or playing games.

As far as the 2500mAh battery goes, it can last a day. Let’s say you are a regular user like me. In this case, you will probably use the phone for a few hours streaming music, browsing the web, using some light social media with apps like Instagram and Twitter, and sometimes sending messages with apps like WhatsApp, Voice, Slack, etc. The way you use your phone, you’ll get through a day without a problem, but you might feel a little nervous when you get home with only about 30 percent battery left.

If you are a power user, you will handle navigating, taking photos and videos, watching videos like YouTube, receiving calls and more above the normal experience. With this kind of use, you can expect the battery to exceed its limits, leaving roughly less than 10 percent at the end of the day. Fortunately, you will have the option to charge your phone wired via USB-C or wirelessly.

last thoughts

Balmuda in Japan is known for offering designer goods such as toasters, vacuum cleaners, electric kettles, and more. Although it is not always the most practical price, there is a following. Unfortunately, the company went off track with the Balmuda Phone and tried to treat the smartphone business like its other ventures, but it didn’t make the landing.

With that said, there is a market in Japan for smaller smartphones. Balmuda Phone is perhaps the best example of this, with a few other devices like Rakuten Mini and Sharp シ (simple smartphone). While these phones are not generally marketed as compact smartphones, they are marketed with ease of use and first-time buyers in mind. Despite reports of a very high price for the Balmuda phone, since that time, the price of the phone has fallen a bit and it can be bought for less than $200. Moreover, the phone is just a penny if you sign a contract with a wireless carrier.

But I think that even at a modified rate, this is a convenient device that not many will pick up. Plus, if you’re entering the mid-range market, which is where the Balmuda should sit, there are plenty of better options out there. I don’t think there has been a company outside the phone industry that has demonstrated a truly successful product. The space is very competitive, and things are bound to go wrong without a solid foothold. Hopefully this will be a lesson not only for Balmuda but for others, and maybe one day we’ll get an impressive smartphone from an outside company looking into it.

If you want a good little phone, consider choosing the Asus Zenfone 9 instead.