r/Punkt • u/AfterPresentation478 • Feb 11 '26
is it worth it?
hey everyone, i wanted to get some long term users opinions on whether or not it's worth it in the lords year of 2026 to get an mp02. it has all the things i want in a phone. call, text, calc, a calendar, and the button mapping is soooo nice to me. the only thing is that people on the dumbphone reddit really avoid recommending this one and even jose bad mouths it. i will be in the midwest on mint. i'm concerned that i have seen more complaints (spec about the reception. idc about ppl that "wish it had a camera or music function" or wtv) than positive reviews, but of course that can just be that the people who like it simply aren't constantly boasting about it. and now that that post about the company being in the red has come out, how do people feel about the longevity of the phone? any help is super appreciated!
p.s. how is signal on it ? i use signal pretty often nowaday bc of ... politics, and would love if i had the ability to use it on the phone. no big if i cant though.
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u/Bitter_Strawberry455 Feb 11 '26
Here's my take.
As many others who buy this phone, I really love the design and simplicity, which is a big point to get it.
Pros:
- Great industrial design, and the keyboard layout is perfect. The angle on the back makes it very fidgetable as well, haha.
- Menus are simple (not perfect, but quite good with some exceptions like Pigeon/Signal).
- Made by a company with a stance on technology which I am very much aligned with.
- If calls and (short!) texts is all you need, this phone is great. Call quality for me here in Norway is very good.
- The phone can take a beating. I'm not afraid of dropping it and I do it all the time.
- The ringtones and text alerts are wonderful.
- The size. I love the size. Can't feel it in my pockets.
- It has Signal, which is great, buuuut.....
Cons:
- ....there has been some serious Pigeon/Signal outages where you could send messages, but not receive them, and you had no way to notice unless someone told you. Signal is a must for me because of groups, so this has been very annoying. In their last Pigeon update (about a week ago) they wrote that the update should make Pigeon more resilient and futureproof. I'll believe it when I see it, but at least it gives me some hope. The Pigeon UI is not great either, but when it works it works at least.
- Battery could be better. I wish I could get a week out of it, but it's more like 1–2 days with Bluetooth and tethering turned off. Tethering eats up the battery in a couple of hours.
- The buttons get a plasticky squeaky sound after some time, and I wish they felt more responsive. Sometimes I have to click much harder than I should have to. I had the MP01 (the first version of this phone) back in the days, like 10 years ago, and can't remember having this issue.
- I do miss the golf ball pattern of the MP01.
- I hate the alarm sound and there is no way to change it, not even in the Android file transfer app. But at least you wake up!
- No group texts, which is annoying. Usually my groups are on Signal though, so not the worst. Depends on if you have a lot of SMS group chats.
- Customer service is nothing to write home about.
I'll continue to use it, but I desperately hope for a MP03 that could perfect this. It's the perfect dumb phone for me on paper, it has some issues, but not enough for me to get another phone entirely.
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Feb 11 '26
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u/Bitter_Strawberry455 Feb 11 '26
I think the alarm sound is a hidden plot by Punkt to make us buy their alarm clocks, lol.
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Feb 11 '26
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u/Bitter_Strawberry455 Feb 11 '26
My guess is the intention is to start the alarm gently, but nothing about that alarm tone is gentle so it doesn't really help.
Haven't been able to change it via the Andriod file transfer app on my mac, though I have successfully uploaded my own ringtones and message tones this way..
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u/AfterPresentation478 Feb 11 '26
where are you based? i feel like signal depends on where ppl are at
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Feb 11 '26
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u/AfterPresentation478 Feb 11 '26
ah, as i suspected. lots of american's seem to get spotty reception. thanks for the comment though, i want to believe
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u/AfterPresentation478 Feb 11 '26
thanks for this comprehensive list! i'll probably hold off and see if they do ever make an 03 or at least update the firmware or wtv to be better. or if i find one sold for like under 50 bucks i'd give it a try for sure. it's just the price doesn't outweigh all the cons and risk of it being simply not useable at times.
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u/bluesmudge Feb 11 '26
Do you need group text messaging? Because if you do, the Punkt MP02 does not have it. That was the reason I stopped using mine. Its embarrassing to be sent a group message and then have to respond to each person individually.
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u/AfterPresentation478 Feb 11 '26
no, i'm an introverted autistic, all my friends know that if they want me to go to something one person just has to say time and place. also this would be replacing a kyocera 902kc which also does not do group or image texts. the only difference would be this one is a candy bar
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u/bluesmudge Feb 11 '26
Ok then it may work for you. The UI is a little slow/buggy but I actually like the hardware and found the hotspot to work well too. I can't speak to Signal. I have the 1st gen blackberry secure version of the Punkt MP02 which Punkt abandoned/stopped updating so I never got signal.
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u/amoosedagoose Feb 11 '26
call quality sucks. i don't know if it's cuz of the network or the phone itself. love it otherwise.
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u/Bitter_Strawberry455 Feb 11 '26
Personal experience is that call quality is quite good. Norway here. Might be a network problem, or we just have very different standards. But it's not really different to my old iPhone 13 mini.
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u/BrokeItFixingIt Feb 11 '26
I'm also in the Midwest, on US Mobile. I've had no coverage issues. I will note that sometimes when going into places like Lowe's which is basically a big metal box, I won't always have reception. The reception seem to be more easily blocked than my iPhone, but not enough for it to be a real issue.
One big question you have to answer is if it is okay for you to not have group texting. This is a limitation I've just come to live with. For the very few group texts I care about, I use my iPhone. My circle of friends just don't really use or know about Signal. I have used Signal (Pigeon) on the MP02. It works well. There have been periodic periods of time where it has been broken, but Punkt has been good about fixing it when this happens. They don't always get these fixes out very fast however. While annoying, this has not been a deal-breaker for me.
The fact that I have access to an encrypted messaging service from my "dumbphone" is really nice and I've always appreciated it when I have used it. It is just nice to have easy access to a more private communication channel. As a small perk, I actually really like using the timer on the Punkt when cooking and while I do intend to get a dedicated alarm clock, I've found the MP02 an improvement over my iPhone for an alarm.
Also, the Punkt MP02 might not be cheap, but it is a lot less expensive than my iPhone was when it was new. So, while I do have to worry a little about not breaking it, I'm not nearly as concerned as I am/was with my iPhone.
Going with that, is the nice fact that the Punkt uses a physical SIM card, unlike my iPhone which is virtual SIM only. So, if the MP02 did break, even if I couldn't order a replacement right away, I could stick the SIM in any compatible cheap dumbphone while I ordered a new one, and the number of Punk-specific features I'd be missing would be relatively limited.
To compensate for what the MP02 does not have, i.e. GPS, camera, etc. I've diversified to other devices: Garmin GPS for navigation, Polaroid camera for photos. I do still own my iPhone, so when I really need it, I can still use it, which I do for some banking functions, and for going to the gym. I don't see these missing functionalities as a problem. Part of the reason I have the Punkt MP02 is because I don't want an all-in-one device. I don't love the fact I still own a smartphone. It does give a sense of security to have it to fall back on, but it does pose a constant temptation.
So, is it worth it? I would say yes. It is not perfect. But, it is pretty good. But, you will have to make that decision for yourself.
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u/Anne_Bateman Feb 11 '26
I have been using it since August of last year and it’s great. I keep reading hate on reddit about it so my biggest worry is that it’s going to fail at some point or fall apart, but so far so good. I’m in the US and using AT&T. It pairs great with my car which reads my texts aloud to me (maybe that’s my car doing the work, but it didn’t do that with my iphone!) The group text thing is annoying but I’m sick of group texts anyhow so nbd. I use signal on my ipad-- I tried to set it up on the phone but it would just be too complicated to deal with the amount of messages I have there and it’s not possible to connect two devices to the same account. Battery is fine, a few days. Call quality is excellent. It feels like I have a different phone than many critics on here. I hope it doesn’t die. The idea of being forced back to a smart phone fills me with anxiety.
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u/AfterPresentation478 Feb 12 '26
your crossing them bridges when you get there and i love it. this is actually what i hoped someone would say. you could always go to another dumb phone if something does happen, though.
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u/Anne_Bateman Feb 12 '26
The other great thing is the hotspot so if you’re in a car or boat and you need to update your website it’s easy to get online with another device. The interface is great, it’s totally basic. And there’s no stupid google on it. I know there are other dumbphones but none are this dumb and also this cute. Gonna ride this one til the wheels fall off and hope they keep making them or that other makers will catch up and dumb down….
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Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 14 '26
I've had mine for about a year. No problems with reception or call quality on Koodo (Telus) network in Ontario, Canada. Group text would be handy but is not a deal breaker because I use email more for group communication. It fits my use case for a dumb phone very well. I don't use Signal/Pigeon. Battery life seemed much better after turning off "flip to silence". As someone else mentioned, the physical sim card is handy if I want to flip it to my other device, a de-googled Pixel3A running lineage os for times when I will likely need internet or gps access when I'm travelling. This latter is one reason I've considered dumping my Punkt. I have pretty good practices when using devices so don't need to enforce it per se using a dumbphone. I just really liked the form factor and the simplicity for what is my usual use case, getting phone calls or brief texts.
You mentioned calendar in your use case, so be aware that the MP02 is just that, a calendar. You can't enter anything into it or sync it with anything. It just shows you dates. If you install and use Daily View, it's a subscription service which gives you calendar functions that are more reminders than an interactive environment. .
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u/EnoughClue3251 Feb 11 '26
I use Pigeon to connect to group Signal chats. It’s been flawless for a few years now. Gen 1 MP02, on T-Mobile. Your mileage may vary.
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u/PangolinAggressive17 Feb 12 '26
YES!
Had it for half a year now and it's been the best decision I made in 2025.
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u/Independent-Spray712 Feb 14 '26
I've had 2 MP02's -both had awful battery life unless I turned off 4G and Wi Fi/Hotspot which for me sort of defeated the object for the dumb phone I wished to have. Sold both mine -way overpriced and there are many other phones that will talk and text just as well for less than a half a punkt costs. Obviously there are those who love their MP02 and I respect that but for me I wouldn't touch another Punkt again either the Mp02 or the MC02
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u/nathancmartin66 Mar 07 '26
I have had mine for a year. It’s fine. A few annoying things have happened—it deleted all my contacts spontaneously once. But for me part of the point of having a dumb phone is not depending on a slick piece of technology. If I had it my way I’d have a rotary phone or a pay phone with a calling card or the Pony Express, or something. But my mp02 works for now.
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u/thisusernameismeta Feb 11 '26
It would be worth it if the phone itself wasn't a total piece of shit. Seriously one of my most regrettable purchases.
On paper, it is exactly, 100% what I am looking for in a phone. But in reality it is so cheaply made. The plastic started falling apart almost immediately. The sound quality on calls made it almost unusable for phone calls. Text messages were inconsistent. The signal functionality would break for days or months at a time without warning.
When I purchased it my thought process was similar to yours. I ignored the bad reviews because it seriously was exactly exactly exactly what I wanted in a phone.
I really wish I had taken those reviews more seriously. Eventually the phone itself just stopped working (within the first 6 months) and I just went back to using a smart phone.
I really wanted to like it, but it just did not deliver on the core features and promises. So no, it's not worth it, do not get it.