2 months ago
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Seven-year-old me would be screaming right now. HMD, the Finnish phone manufacturer behind Nokia-branded phones, launched a Barbie phone today in collaboration with Mattel. It’s an insanely cute flip dumb phone, which means it doesn’t offer full smartphone capabilities, and it’s also the pinkest device you will ever see. My coworkers weren’t too excited about it, but there’s a high chance I might shell out $130 to snag it when it’s available for the US on October 1.
I have been paying close attention to my critically high screen time lately and aim to bring it under five hours daily. HMD says the Barbie phone is perfect since it will only support the essentials—calls, texts, alarms—making sure I don’t end up doom-scrolling on social media for 37 minutes after responding to one important text message. Designed as a vacay phone, it offers a library of calming sounds, regular self-care reminders, and digital wellbeing tips. Even though Brat Summer is almost over, this would make a great summer phone ideal for getaways.
Call me crazy, but I might get the Barbie phone for its frills and easter eggs. The keypad hides glow-in-the-dark Barbie designs like hearts, palm trees, and flamingos. When you turn the phone on, it greets you with a “Hi Barbie” voice message, and you see a missed call notification from Ken. How cute. You can also add Ken to your contacts, by the way.
In true Y2K fashion, the Barbie phone has swappable covers so that you can rock two different looks. The package also includes a sticker sheet, a gem sheet, a beaded phone strap, a pink Type-C charging cable, a pink battery, and a pink cleaning cloth. The phone’s front side doubles as a mirror, which is one of women’s most fundamental rights.
The same theme extends to the UI, too. All the app icons on the 2.8-inch display are Barbie-themed by default, and you get a bunch of Barbie wallpapers from which to choose. As far as specs go, the OS is KaiOS 3.1, the CPU Qualcomm 215, and there’s a 4 GB ROM with MicroSD support for up to 32GB, along with 512 MB RAM. It supports Bluetooth 4.2 and sports Type-C and 3.5mm ports. A 1450 mAh battery powers the device for up to seven hours of talk time on 2G (reduced to around six hours on 3G and around four hours on 4G), and there’s a barebones 5 MP camera with flash for utter-2000s photography. You also get an MP3 player on it, but I was most excited to see support for FM radio.
The Barbie phone will work with major US carriers, including T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. It will be available for pre-orders starting September 23 for $130 and will go on sale on October 1.
