Punkt’s German-made MC03 smartphone is coming to the US this spring

Punkt, the Swiss-based privacy-focused phone maker, is Experience everything “smartphone” again. The MC03 improves on some of the disappointing features of its previous effort, the MC02, while maintaining its security focus. Likewise, its software still comes with a subscription fee: the first year is free, but it’s $12 per month after that. Furthermore, the MC03 is the first Punkt phone to be assembled in Europe instead of Asia, which does well. He promised her from earlier this year.

MC02, which was released last year, Not exactly Cash darling. Punkt appears to be addressing some of these criticisms with a more modern 6.67-inch, 120Hz OLED display compared to last year’s 60Hz LCD. The 5200 mAh battery is user replaceable. The MC03 comes with AphyOS, from privacy-oriented company Apostrophy, and is based on AOSP 15 — which is newer than the AOSP 13-based version that shipped with the MC02, though still a version behind this year’s flagships. The MC03 carries an IP68 rating, comes with a MediaTek 7300 chipset, and is scheduled to get three operating system upgrades and five years of security updates.

As always, privacy is a key focus of Punkt. AphyOS claims to remove background tracking features for Google services, offering proprietary apps for things like email and calendar while allowing you to run any app from the Play Store in a safe “sandbox.”

This is where fees come in; Since you are not the product, you will need to pay. The MC03 will cost $699 in the US, and $10 per month after that (although three- and five-year bundle options when you purchase the phone can save you some money here). If you plan to use the phone for a few years, this brings the cost in line with that Fairphone 6 for $899 – A highly repairable device that runs privacy-minded software from Murena. Here’s an unfortunate truth: a private, secure personal device doesn’t seem to be cheap.