HMD Barbie Phone Review: Cool yet Ironic Feature Phone
The HMD Barbie Phone is a dumb phone or feature phone. In short, it is an old-fashioned flip phone that doesn't run on Android and does not have the ability to run apps like WhatsApp. It's a phone that's supposed to promote your digital well-being and reduce your hyper-dependence on social networks and the attention economy.
However, it is also, above all, a very cool and rather expensive toy with many accessories and references to the Barbie universe. Is it worth its $129.99 price tag? I'll let you know in this full review.
HMD Barbie Phone design and display
Plastic, lots of pink, and even more accessories. The HMD Barbie Phone is all about design, of course. The box includes a host of accessories to personalize the phone. Stickers, jewels, interchangeable shells, and a strap that can be decorated are all part of the Barbie look, and the pink color and pastel tones are omnipresent. As soon as the phone boots up, a voice alert greets us, "Hi Barbie!"
HMD Barbie Phone design and display at a glance:
- Internal screen: 2.8", 240 x 320 p, 143 dpi
- External screen: 1.77
- Weight: 123.5 g
- Removable battery
- Removable back shell
- Plastic design
The T9 keyboard displays all the attached letters, which I found to be very classy. It's also backlit, revealing hidden symbols when you use it in the dark. However, the keys are rather soft, and the directional pad is frankly unresponsive. There are also physical buttons on the right side. One serves as a shortcut for calls while the other is a toggle button for volume and screen brightness.
Overall, I love the design of the HMD Barbie Phone. I love how the box is full of accessories, reminding me of a child's jewelry box like the ones my sister had when we were kids. I loved how the removable battery is painted pink and that there are replacement shells. However, I also found the design to be rather cheap. The phone creaks and squeaks with even the lightest of touches applied.
Above all, what I think is the biggest affront, the song "I'm a Barbie girl" isn't even pre-installed among the few ringtones offered by default. I suppose it's a question of copyright, but still!
The internal screen is very small as expected. Its resolution will not blow your mind away, and neither will its brightness. In bright sunlight, legibility is greatly reduced. However, I was surprised to be able to even adjust the brightness. The cover screen is just a kind of Always on Display that shows the time. When switched off, it acts as a perpetually dirty mirror, covered in fingerprints.
HMD Barbie Phone: Limited performance and features
The HMD Barbie Phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 215 SoC that runs KaiOS 3.1, enabling WhatsApp, among other things. Over in Europe, the Unisoc T107 SoC runs the antiquated S30, an OS developed by Nokia years ago specifically for feature phones. The experience across the pond is drastically more limited, making US users the winners here.
HMD Barbie Phone software and SoC at a glance:
- OS S30+ with Barbie UI
- Dual SIM 4G
- 4 GB storage
- 512 MB RAM
- Expandable storage via microSD (up to 32 GB)
- Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
- Wi-Fi support
- USB-C port
The only game available on the HMD Barbie Phone is a special version of Snake called Malibu Snake. It's a classic, but the imprecise directional pad controls make gameplay a bit messy.
A web browser, Opera mini, is available, but it doesn't work very well with HTML and made a hash of most websites displayed.
However, aren't all these criticisms pointless and irrelevant when we're talking about a feature phone? The idea is not to remain online round-the-clock, wasting time on useless applications. While KaiOS does support WhatsApp at the moment, it is extremely limited in nature, making it pretty much pointless in the first place.
Do note that WhatsApp will stop supporting KaiOS by February 2025. What does this mean for end users? Those who are already logged in to WhatsApp on KaiOS-enabled devices purchased before June 25, 2024, can continue using the app until early 2025. Once February 2025 comes, there will be no more WhatsApp updates or maintenance for KaiOS. To rub salt into the wound, the WhatsApp app will be removed from the KaiOS store.
In other words, WhatsApp will be absent soon. I am bothered by that fact, since I primarily use WhatsApp to call my sister, and I can't see myself doing without it on a daily basis.
As for the rest, I enjoyed being able to connect my headphones wirelessly to the HMD Barbie Phone via Bluetooth. With a microSD card inserted in the phone, I was able to add a bit more music. Do take not that the phone is unable to recognize any microSD cards larger than 32 GB.
HMD also offers some rather gimmicky functions, such as a very basic meditation app and some rather extravagant digital wellness tips. In keeping up with the gimmick theme, certain Easter Eggs can be unlocked by entering certain codes on the keyboard. It's fun, but nothing more.
HMD Barbie Phone photo quality
Those living in the US have it great, as the HMD Barbie Phone is equipped with a 5 MP lens complete with flash. Shots are decent at best, and only under great lighting conditions. Otherwise, treat them as just ghostly references of a blurry memory from the past.
HMD Barbie Phone camera at a glance:
- 1 single lens
- 5 MP
- Video recording is possible
For folks living in Europe, HMD shortchanges you once again with the 0.3 MP camera. The photo quality of the HMD Barbie Phone in Europe is poor. In short, the photos are unusable. Occasionally, the low 0.3 MP resolution of the VGA sensor (640 x 480 p) lends a certain charm to certain shots, with the right light.
The vast majority of the time, photos are just a jumbled mess of poorly defined pixels. The photo application even has the audacity to offer digital zoom. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a 200 MP triple camera module with a variable-focus telephoto lens, but 0.3 MP?!?
You can also record video with the HMD Barbie Phone. I don't know how many FPS does it record video in, but I think you can count them using your ten fingers.
HMD Barbie Phone battery and charging
HMD promises up to 9 hours of talk time on a single charge. In reality, unless you're on the phone all the time, the phone can last much longer than that.
HMD Barbie Phone battery at a glance:
- 1,450 mAh
- Wired charging
In fact, the entire concept of the Barbie Phone revolves around using it as little as possible. Personally, I was able to last practically an entire week of five work days before having to plug it in. I also noticed that 4G calls drained the battery considerably.
The battery accepts wired charging via USB-C. The phone even offers a charging optimization function to limit charging to 80% in order to preserve the battery's health. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to measure the charging speed of the Barbie Phone. I suppose that's not a buying criterion for feature phone users anyway, is it?
Should You Buy the HMD Barbie Phone?
Would I recommend you buy the HMD Barbie Phone at $129.99? No.
This is the first feature phone I've actually reviewed. Hence, I don't have enough points of reference to determine whether it's a good or bad choice. With its technical and software limitations, the HMD Barbie Phone fulfills its mission of a forced digital detox.
During my week of reviewing it, I made drastically less use of my phone. Instead of scrolling on the commute, I read a book (Lord of the Flies). I didn't pavlovianly consult Slack or Gmail in the evening on my way home from work.
In my opinion, this quasi-digital detox imposed by “by-design” isn't necessarily the best solution. Above all, the aim is to get me off my phone, isn't it? So why does the Barbie Phone look like a brightly colored toy with numerous little things waving and making noise, capturing my attention? Aren't we simply replacing one toxic use with another with this object-based gamification?
What do you think of the HMD Barbie Phone after this comprehensive review?
Where to Buy the HMD Barbie Phone
The HMD Barbie Phone has been available in the USA since October 1, 2024, with an asking price of $129.99. You can buy it from the official HMD store or on Amazon.
