It came as a surprise when Punkt, a Swiss company, unveiled the MC03 earlier than usual ahead of CES 2026. The MC03 is a minimalist smartphone that allows you to go about your daily life while maintaining your right to ultimate privacy. It won’t break the bank, as this one costs $699. Don’t get too excited; the MC03 will be available in Europe by late January, but for North America fans, it arrives later this spring.
The MC03 is built in Germany, specifically at a Gigaset factory, and has the all-important IP68 rating, which means dust and water will not be a problem. A replaceable battery is becoming increasingly difficult to find (5,200mAh in this case), but you may still replace it if yours begins to fail. There is also a microSD slot, which allows you to expand the storage capacity if necessary.
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When you turn the phone over to the front, you’ll notice a pretty lovely 6.67 inch OLED screen with 2436 x 1080 pixels and that all-important 120Hz refresh rate, which gives everything a silky smooth feel. Scrolling is simple, and colors stand out against a black background. It is also suitable for outdoor use, as it handles bright light with ease. You also get an in-screen fingerprint sensor for quick access, and the back camera arrangement isn’t bad either, with a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide, a 2-megapixel macro shot, and a 32-megapixel selfie snapper.
A MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset and 8GB of RAM power the operation, so don’t worry about it slowing you down too much. It easily handles all you need, from surfing to multitasking. Charging is speedy, whether wired at 30W or wireless at 15W; you can go from zero to hero in about an hour.
The MC03 runs AphyOS, a custom version of Android 15 developed by Swiss company Apostrophy, and its primary goal is to keep your data private. No Google services are pre-installed, and the system does not track or profile you in any manner. It’s divided into two sections: ‘Vault’, where you’ll find Proton Mail, Calendar, Drive, VPN, Pass, and Threema for messaging, and ‘Wild Web’, where you can download any Android app, as well as a tool called Ledger, which shows you how much this app is snooping around in the background and what permissions it’s been granted.
There is also a built-in VPN called digital nomad that keeps you safe when using public networks. Punkt provides 5GB of cloud storage as well as a unique email service. To protect your data, the phone includes three operating system upgrades and five years of security fixes. In addition, when you buy the phone, they will give you a free year of membership. After that, it’s between $10 and $12 every month, depending on where you live; but, they do offer savings if you pre-pay for two or more years. If you don’t pay the membership price after a year, the phone reverts to regular open-source Android.
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