Minimalist, Modular, and Whatsapp-Enabled: Here’s How to Get the Sidephone in SA

We’ve been covering a few minimalist devices in recent months, but the Sidephone is something different. A minimal and distraction-free device that also has a special talent: it’s modular.

The whole philosophy of the Sidephone is to deliver a streamlined and nonsense-free ‘dumbphone’ experience that prioritises communication first and foremost, but one that can help people transition from a smartphone by adding necessary features and upgradable options.

It uses a split-face design with a physical keyboard and a modest 2.8-inch LCD touchscreen display. Calling, basic messaging, clock, and camera apps are built-in from the get-go. However, it doesn’t discount the fact that many people do need certain ‘modern-day’ features.

One problem with minimal phones, though, is that many of them lack the ability to have apps. While it’s understandable, as many want to cut back their social media use, there are obviously key apps that some people need. App Packs can be added to the on-device App Library, giving you access to third party messaging apps (Whatsapp, Uber, and others), browsers, GPS, extra utilities and other applications that do not require Google or Google Play services to function.

However, the coolest thing about the Sidephone is the interchangeable parts. If you’d like to swap out the keyboard for a numerical pad, or even a trackpad to make the phone like an old-school iPod, you can do that.

The Sidephone is currently only available from the official website, which doesn’t ship to South Africa. However, we’ve got a solution.

All you need to do is sign-up with Postbox Courier and you’ll get your own personal address allocated to you in the US, UK, or other regional depots, then allowing you to use that address when purchasing from US, UK, or other international stores. If they only ship locally in the UK or US, well, you now have a local address — winning! Postbox Courier will then forward the parcel(s) from your remote depot to your doorstep in South Africa.

The Sidephone will work in South Africa for basic cellular connectivity and data, as its global FDD-LTE bands (including B3/1800 MHz and B7/2600 MHz) match major local network operators like Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Cell C. Of course, it’s good to check with the Sidephone Reddit community to see if others have been able to successfully connect to a carrier in SA.

You can check out the Sidephone here, and remember to use Postbox Courier to get a US address and use Postbox Courier’s parcel forwarding service to get it to your door in South Africa.