It seems phone innovation isn't dead after all – the MindOne Pro is a device with a difference
Straight out of left field comes something unique
Quick Summary
The Ikko MindOne Pro features a rotating 50-megapixel camera that can be used on the front and the back of this device.
It's a compact square phone, leaning into an AI OS, with the promise of free global AI access.
If you thought that smartphones were getting a bit samey, you're right. But the Ikko MindOne Pro wants to offer something different with its square body and flip camera.
Rather than packing cameras into the back and front of the phone, it just has one rotating camera that will act as both. It's designed to give you a better selfie experience from the 50-megapixel camera.
Ikko, the company behind the MindOne Pro, pushes this as a card-sized "AI smartphone", looking to shake up the status quo with something a little different.
It's currently on pre-order (for £324) but it found its way onto the test bench of JerryRigEverything, which probably seemed like a good way to promote the new device, seeing as one of the highlights is a sapphire display cover.
There's a 4-inch AMOLED display, the camera has a 50-megapixel Sony sensor and it's all powered by a MediaTek 8781 chip. It runs Android, but a big part of this phone's identity is based around the AI OS that it also offers.
There's the boast of free AI internet, which appears to be just for using the AI functions, while it will support a regular nano SIM or vSIM for regular connectivity. It's an odd arrangement – with testing by Zack Nelson revealing that the AI was so slow it was barely worth using.
It appears that the display cover is indeed sapphire so provides good protection, but that doesn't extend to any other part of the phone. It has an IP54 rating and the camera itself doesn't get the sapphire protection.
The result is a strange little square phone, a bit like using the external screen of a flip phone without the advantage of being able to open it up.
Somewhere, this probably seemed like a good idea, but as many entrepreneurs will discover, the norm usually exists for a reason – because it's the best compromise of all factors.
The MindOne Pro looks interesting – especially as there's a plug-in keyboard which some might enjoy – but it's full of compromise compared to a normal phone. Still, at least someone is innovating in this space – even if the promise of an AI operating system seems to have fallen flat, as it has on so many recent attempts.
