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Minimal Phone 2 with physical QWERTY keyboard, 5G, and iMessage support gets 12 GB RAM upgrade as Kickstarter soars

The Minimal Phone 2.
ⓘ Andre Youkhna
The Minimal Phone 2.
The Minimal Company is set to start shipping its second-gen device, the Minimal Phone 2, at the end of the year. The Minimal Phone 2 is a callback to popular BlackBerry phones of the past, and features a MediaTek Dimensity 8300, 5G, and a touch-capacitive physical QWERTY keyboard.

The first-gen Minimal Phone debuted over a year ago to a mostly positive reception. The Minimal Company is set to bring a direct successor to the market soon and—judging by its Kickstarter progress—appears to have garnered a fair bit of interest.

The Minimal Phone 2 went live on Kickstarter earlier this month, and exceeded its $100,000 goal within minutes. Since then, the project has received more and more backing, with over $1.6M currently pledged. That should please potential buyers, with The Minimal Company previously promising to upgrade every Minimal Phone 2 to a minimum of 12 GB of RAM if the Kickstarter hit the $1.5M mark. 

While the Minimal Phone featured an e-ink screen, the Minimal Phone 2 opts for an OLED, which should improve the overall user experience. The minimalist phone also sports a physical QWERTY keyboard akin to older Blackberry phones, with said keyboard being touch-capacitive. 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, a physical SIM slot and E-sim, Bluetooth 5.4, and GPS are all present as well, and the phone will run on the Android-based Minimal OS. 

Company co-founder Andre Youkhna has teased iMessage support on the Minimal Phone 2, but it's important to note that it's a feature only possible thanks to OpenBubbles, which typically requires a Mac for activation or a $16.99 monthly fee otherwise. The Minimal Phone 2 is expected to begin shipping in December or early 2027, and we'll keep you updated on further developments. For more information, head to the Kickstarter page in the "Sources" section below.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2026 08 > Minimal Phone 2 with physical QWERTY keyboard, 5G, and iMessage support gets 12 GB RAM upgrade as Kickstarter soars
Ricci Rox, 2026-08-27 (Update: 2026-08-27)