A ‘Screenless Smartphone’ Is Here—But What Does That Even Mean?

There’s no debating it: Without our smartphones, we’d be absolutely lost. They come with us everywhere we go, a pocket-sized portal into a whole internet’s worth of information. Although our phones are essential, do we want to hold them, stare at them endlessly, and carry them around everywhere we go? Is this the dystopian future we asked for?! 

Sure, you may be trying to cut down on screen time by tracking your minutes in an app on the very same smartphone you’re trying to unplug from, but how about a smartphone that doesn’t even have a screen to stare at in the first place? Enter MyManu’s Titan screenless smartphone. 

So, WTF is a “screenless smartphone”? Yeah, we were wondering that, too. Titan is a set of eSim-enabled, voice controlled earbuds with embedded live voice translation. If you're unfamiliar with an eSim, it allows you to use cellular plans without requiring a physical nano-SIM. (A SIM stands for security information management, and traditionally collects, monitors, and analyzes security-related data.) Said another way: It’s the thing that helps make your smartphone a connected, data-driven device.

So, what can you do with a “screenless smartphone, anyway? According to MyManu, you can make calls, send messages, listen to music or other streamed content, and even translate speech into over 30 languages using its built-in MyJune app—so basically, all of the “phone” parts of having a smartphone minus the hours of fucking around on apps, games, and social media. 

You may be thinking, why the hell would you want a screenless smartphone? Perhaps the sunken lifetimes of scrolling through TikTok or revisiting your selfies are how you want to be spending your time. But… is that really how we want our lives to be? Visuals may be half the fun of technology, but there are pros of owning a screenless smartphone, such as giving your eyes a break, saving moolah on high-roaming phone charges, and avoiding germs on screens. It is also beneficial to those who are visually impaired thanks to its voice-control. Other features include water-resistance for sweaty workouts and rain, silicone earbud tips, and an adjustable base memory cable for your neck, and is charged through an A type C-USB cable pod. If you’re a runner, for instance, this device could be a way of unplugging and diminishing the risk of dropping your iPhone down a gutter, while still listening to music and having access to phone calls in case of emergencies.

If you’re ready to go screenless (as to whether you can ever go back is up for debate), you can sign up for the waitlist at this link, and if you pay $5 to be a “VIP” and reserve a pair, you can score 57% off and pay just $170 (meaning that the full MSRP will be about $397).  Shipments start early 2023. 

Give your bloodshot eyes a break, and give this semi-futuristic, semi-Luddite-friendly thing a shot. Sure beats spending 11 hours a day mastering Candy Crush.

Learn more about the (or get on the waitlist) at MyManu. 

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