Unveiling the return of Unplugged's privacy-centric smartphone, boasting zero revenue generation from user activity
Unplugged's UP Phone: A Privacy-Focused Smartphone with a Premium Price Tag
The US-based company Unplugged has unveiled its latest offering, the UP Phone, a smartphone built from the ground up with privacy as a core focus. Priced at $989 USD, the UP Phone competes with flagship phones like the iPhone 16 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, yet offers a unique value proposition.
The UP Phone's extreme privacy features set it apart from other devices on the market. Independent tests showed that the UP Phone sent or received zero data packets to trackers during a 45-minute test, while Samsung Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16 Pro had over 170,000 and 210,000 tracker exchanges respectively.
The UP Phone runs on UnpluggedOS, a derivative of the Android Open Source Project, without Google Mobile Services. This means that the phone is free from the tracking elements associated with Google services. The device comes with a comprehensive firewall that blocks connections to over 225,000 known data-harvesting servers, and hardware kill-switches that physically disconnect the battery from all electronics, block the microphone, camera, Bluetooth, and other sensors.
Moreover, the UP Phone includes an integrated VPN that hides the user's IP address from websites and apps, a no-logs VPN at the system level. The device also comes with a preloaded privacy-focused browser, Brave browser, featuring AI-assisted private research capabilities. Additionally, Unplugged offers encrypted cloud and photo storage, with a one-year free subscription to its privacy suite, which includes tracker blocking, VPN, and encrypted photo storage. After the first year, the service costs $12.99/month.
Unplugged CEO Joe Weil emphasizes that the company aims to put people back in control of their digital lives and offer a true alternative to Big Tech smartphones. Weil argues that the privacy the UP Phone offers is its value for money, as other companies sacrifice privacy protection for extra features. He also states that Unplugged earns zero revenue from customer usage, unlike other companies that monetize their customers' data.
The UP Phone is equipped with the MediaTek 1200 chipset, 8GB of RAM, a 4,300mAh battery, a triple-camera system, 256GB of storage expandable up to 1TB, and a 6.67-inch AMOLED display. The device does not come with popular apps like Google Maps due to the absence of Google Mobile Services.
While the high price tag may cast a long shadow in the minds of some consumers, Weil states that the UP Phone's main technologies aimed at ensuring privacy are control over data transfer, an "off means off" approach to shutting down the phone, and secure data deletion. These features make the UP Phone a premium-priced choice for users prioritizing privacy over cutting-edge hardware specs.
RCS messaging support is on the way "later this year" for the UP Phone. However, Weil does not confirm the length of support for the UP Phone, meaning there's no guarantee that updates will keep coming as the years go on.
In conclusion, the UP Phone offers a unique value proposition focused on extreme privacy and user control via hardware kill-switches, a custom de-Googled OS, a comprehensive firewall, VPN, and privacy-centered services. While it may be priced similarly to top flagship phones, its focus on privacy sets it apart and may appeal to those willing to pay a premium for enhanced privacy protections.
[1] https://www.techradar.com/news/unplugged-up-phone-price-specs-release-date-and-everything-you-need-to-know [2] https://www.unplugged.com/products/uphone [3] https://www.phonearena.com/phones/Unplugged-UP-Phone/reviews/12442 [4] https://www.tomsguide.com/us/unplugged-up-phone-review,news-29172.html [5] https://www.androidpolice.com/2022/04/28/unplugged-up-phone-review-privacy-focused-smartphone-released-today/
