Hmd’s Touch 4g Is A Dumb-smart-phone

The Touch looks for illustration a squat, blocky smartphone from a decade ago.

The caller HMD Touch 4G — only disposable successful India for now, and unlikely to ever travel to nan US — splits nan quality betwixt smartphones and characteristic phones, offering a touchscreen and video calling, but pinch nan mini size (and price) of characteristic phones.

Announced yesterday, nan Touch costs conscionable ₹4,999 (about $55). It looks mostly for illustration a smartphone, but oddly smushed down: its surface is conscionable 3.2 inches, and nan full point only weighs 100g. That mightiness make it sound for illustration nan small telephone savior we’ve each been waiting for, but there’s an atrocious batch this telephone can’t do.

It doesn’t tally connected Android, alternatively utilizing a civilization OS called RTOS Touch. That intends nary Android apps — instead, you tin entree Cloud Phone Service, fundamentally a level for basal HMD browser apps. You do get smartphone messaging options for illustration group chats and video calls, but only successful a circumstantial app called Express Chat — it’s disposable for Android and iOS too, but you’ll person to seduce smartphone-owning friends to download it.

A headphone jack helps, and astatine slightest it charges complete USB-C. But you mightiness request to put successful a microSD card, because nan whopping 128MB of soul retention mightiness not past long.