Smartphones have become something of a paradox. The more capable they get, the less in control we feel. Notifications pull us in every direction, social feeds demand constant attention, and app stores offer thousands of things we never asked for. For all the technology packed into these slim glass rectangles, they’ve stopped being tools we use and started being systems we manage.
That tension is exactly what Berlin-based architect Marko Lazić sat with one afternoon in 2016, waiting for a friend at a coffee shop with his phone battery nearly dead. He sketched an idea, one that took years to develop but eventually became Offone, a 3D-printed phone with an E Ink display that he calls a “wisephone.” Not a dumbphone, and certainly not a smartphone, but something deliberately in between.
Designer: Marko Lazic
The first thing that catches your attention is how unassuming Offone is. Its 3D-printed body is slim enough to slip into a wallet alongside your cards and fits in the palm without effort. White, monochrome, and clean, the E Ink touchscreen looks more like paper than a display. The side bezels are practically nonexistent, while the top and bottom house the usual earpiece and microphone.
The E Ink display is a practical choice as much as an aesthetic one. It means no screen glare, no blue light, and no eye strain from prolonged use. Reading a text or checking a contact feels like glancing at a printed page. Lazić also considered night use, suggesting optional backlighting so the phone remains usable in the dark without disrupting sleep the way most backlit screens tend to do.
Lazić’s approach to the interface is as intentional as the hardware. Instead of text labels, Offone uses universal symbols to represent its apps, meaning navigating the phone doesn’t require knowing any particular language. It’s a small detail but a telling one, reflecting a philosophy where clarity and accessibility come before convention. The only time you type letters is when writing a message or searching for a contact.
The app selection is just as deliberate. You get calls, SMS, Google Maps, Waze, Uber, and messaging platforms like WhatsApp, but nothing else. No camera, no app store, no social feeds. Imagine getting through a travel day, navigating an unfamiliar city, calling ahead to a hotel, and ordering a ride, all without once falling into the scroll. For frequent travelers and the easily distracted, that’s a meaningful trade-off.
Even the hardware choices are guided by this spirit of restraint. At least one prototype shows no ports at all, meaning charging would be wireless and headphone connectivity handled over Bluetooth. It’s a cleaner device in every sense, free from the usual tangle of cables. The E Ink display also dramatically reduces power consumption, pushing battery life well past what most smartphones manage in a day.
Offone never reached production. Lazić wrote about the startup’s collapse in a 2022 Medium post, pointing to a mix of ambition, poor team choices, and a lack of funding as the reasons it fell apart. Development halted that same year after the team disbanded, leaving it an intriguing concept that was perhaps just a few years ahead of the minimalist phone movement it helped inspire.
