Mudita Pure development: New parts materializing!

We’re so pleased that we can share another update on the current development status of Mudita Pure with you. We’re getting closer to the finish line! The work is progressing at a steady pace and although we encountered some obstacles along the way, we're excited to see your minimalist phone taking its final form.

The battery capacity change

We needed to make a difficult decision in terms of the battery choice for Mudita Pure. Since our phone can be opened by the user, and as various components can be replaced, we needed to provide an additional form of fire related shielding to the battery. This is a safety measure, which is not present in most phones, as they usually can’t be opened.

Mudita decided to add it in order to better protect the user from any potential danger if the battery gets damaged. To fit this additional shielding, we needed to slightly reduce the battery capacity, from 1900 mAh to 1600 mAh.

Since Pure is an energy efficient device, it’s still a very good parameter. To know the exact numbers in terms of Pure’s stand-by time, we need to wait until the works on optimizing the operating system are finished, which is the last step in the OS development. We will keep you updated about the battery performance tests.

What’s happening right now

All of the molding forms are still under construction. It’s a long process but we can already recognize the shape of Mudita Pure and the other components. We can’t wait to see the first pieces emerge out of these forms!

Pure, molding form

Molding form under construction

This form was made to choose the right structure for the surface of the lid, it’s the back side of the phone. We’re trying three different combinations so that we can choose the one that looks the most suitable and matches perfectly with the other elements.

Molding form, surface structure

Our manufacturing partners continue to work on different components and confirm that some of the elements are ready. We can’t express how thrilling it is every time we see a new component, even the smallest one, arriving at our office! After months of conceptualizing and designing, they’ve finally materialized.

We’ve just received the first samples of two of the most important elements, the front panels and the first keypads. We will be using them for testing and optimizing the final elements. The front panels were made using several kinds of materials so that we can decide on the best one.

Front panel and keypad

Mudita also compared the colors and checked whether they were the desired shades that we had selected previously. It’s also time to compare and match the front panel and keypad colors.

Selecting the best materials and colors

Below, you can see the covers for Mudita Pure’s torch.

Torch covers

We continue to build the testers for Mudita Pure. Each piece, after it’s produced, will go through a round of tests. In the photo below, you can see one of the main tools under construction, the End of Line tester.

It will be checking several elements, such as the microphone, ear speaker and loudspeaker, frontlight and keypad light, torch and vibrations. Each phone will be placed in the middle of the tester, with a number of sensors pointed at it: a camera, an accelerometer, a light sensor, a microphone and a speaker. Each test takes around five minutes.

End of Line tester

Here we have two more testers:

• The battery tester (on the left), which will check if each battery keeps the voltage standards while charging, uncharging and when not being used.

• The PCB tester (on the right), which verifies whether all of the electronic elements are attached correctly to the board. It also checks the light power in the torch and its switch.

Mudita Pure testers

Over the last few weeks we’ve run the Over-The-Air (OTA) tests in a dedicated laboratory, in Finland, to ensure the performance and reliability of the signal and antenna.

During these tests the device is placed inside of a chamber, where real-life situations are simulated. We can also see how the antenna performs on each band. Thanks to these tests we’ve decided to put some additional time into the software part responsible for fast switching to the optimal band.

Simultaneously, we’re also taking care of some details such as the packaging for Mudita Pure. As with many other elements, the research, prototyping, discussions and time brought us towards simplicity.

One of our core assumptions for the box is that it’s fully recyclable and made with responsibly sourced materials. We’ve been collecting all kinds of boxes for a while. In the image below, you can see our brand manager Ula with just a small part of the collection.

Research for the box

We’ll continue to inform you about the progress of your minimalist phone and the ways we’re preparing for mass production. Even though the reality of the last months has surprised us in many ways, we’re very grateful to be able to continue our project and we feel so lucky to share this journey with you.

See you very soon for the next update!