Minimal Phone 2 pitches a physical keyboard and an optional de-Googled OS

The Minimal Company is taking preorders for MP2, a compact Android-based handset built around a 4-inch AMOLED touchscreen (1080×1240, 90Hz) and a physical backlit keyboard with remappable keys and long-press shortcuts. It runs Minimal OS, a stripped-down interface centered on surfacing key information and quick typed commands while keeping everything else out of view. Hardware includes 12GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage (no microSD), a 3,600mAh silicon-anode battery with 27W wired and 15W wireless charging, a 50MP/20MP camera pair, a headphone jack, and USB-C with DisplayPort output. Preorders run $599–$699 with shipping estimated for December 2026.

The more interesting angle for a technical audience is the software strategy. Rather than selling a separate privacy device, Minimal ships every unit with the standard Google-certified build—Play Store, Play Services, and the banking and payment apps that depend on them—and offers an official de-Googled build of the same OS that buyers can flash themselves. The full ROM comes from Minimal rather than a third party, keeps all native apps intact, and can be reverted to the stock build at any time.

The pitch frames privacy as a user choice instead of a hardware fork, sidestepping the usual trade-off where de-Googled phones lose app compatibility out of the box. Whether it lands depends on execution: app compatibility on Minimal OS still varies per app, and the December 2026 ship date means these are early-stage promises, not shipping realities.