NichePhone-S Is a Tiny Little Android Phone

As Apple brings smartphones to bold new places, another company is trying to take people back to a simpler, calmer, and much cheaper time.

FutureModel plans to release a surprisingly accurately named device called the NichePhone-S later this month that runs Android but doesn’t seem to do much more than make calls, send texts, and stream music. It’s similar in shape to a credit card and looks like an odd little calculator, The Verge reported.

According to reports, the phone will come out in Japan on Nov. 10 and sell for around $95.

The phone is supposedly running Android 4.2. Its screen looks like a digital clock. Apparently, though, users will be able to record voice memos, play back music, and connect to Bluetooth headsets.

The whole thing looks reminiscent of the Light Phone, another super-minimalist device announced earlier this year.

That phone can only make phone calls and does not offer anything else — no texting, no Bluetooth, no apps, just the ability to store some phone numbers.

These devices certainly are not going to find a mass market audience, but the fact that they keep getting made suggests they are at least tapping into some lingering desire for simplicity.