Experience Ikko MindOne Pro: This is no ordinary phone
Ikko MindOne Pro is not a familiar rectangular smartphone that you see every day, but a device with a completely different shape: a square phone. This is a product that I had the opportunity to glimpse at CES earlier this year but only now have the opportunity to experience it more closely. Let's see with us what kind of user experience a phone with a strange shape like this will bring and what it can do.
Design: Compact, unique, fun
At first sight, Ikko MindOne Pro sets itself apart from the rest. In a world where smartphones are gradually becoming similar, a square design is truly a breath of fresh air. When I take this device out, from the coffee shop to the company, almost everyone has to look and ask "what is this?".
This is a smart design solution that saves space and ensures selfie quality equivalent to the main camera. However, this hinge mechanism is also a point I'm a bit worried about. The feeling of folding and opening is not really solid, and I haven't dared to experiment much because this is a borrowed device hahaha.
Usage experience: The pros and cons of square screens
With a phone, functionality is still the most important thing. Ikko MindOne Pro can still do everything a regular smartphone can do: surf Facebook, Twitter, check mail, text, watch videos, and take photos. However, the 1:1 square screen ratio creates unique advantages and disadvantages during use.
Camera: Enough but not really impressive
With the unique flip camera mechanism, I had high expectations for image quality and it is equipped with a 50MP sensor. However, after taking a few test photos, I felt the quality was only at a usable level, not really commensurate with such an interesting hardware design.
The resulting image feels a bit flat, lacking depth and contrast. In bright enough conditions, the device can still produce okay photos, but when compared to other phones in the same segment, the difference is quite obvious. Perhaps this is a camera to play with and experience the uniqueness of the flip mechanism, rather than a tool for serious photography.
Ikko OS and offline AI: An interesting direction
The most special feature of Ikko MindOne Pro probably lies in the software. The device runs two operating systems in parallel: Android 15 and a separate operating system called Eco OS. Personally, I find Eco OS works more like a launcher than a full-blown independent operating system, but it offers a very notable feature: the ability to use AI offline.
Through a technology called NovaLink, which I understand is a form of virtual network, the device can access AI tools such as AI Chat, AI Note, or AI Study without needing a Wi-Fi or 4G/5G connection.
I tried standing in a place with no signal and asked "In what year was the Independence Palace founded?". After about 10 seconds, the machine returned a reply. Although the information returned is quite small, the fact that a phone can perform AI tasks without a network is a very good idea and has a lot of potential.
In short...
So what kind of phone is Ikko MindOne Pro? This is definitely not a device for the masses. It has obvious limitations in terms of display experience and camera quality. However, it brings something that the current smartphone market is lacking: difference.
From the square design, the flip camera mechanism to the ability to use AI offline, MindOne Pro is like a commercialized concept, a product for those who want to experience new ideas. It may not be the most practical phone, but it's certainly one of the most interesting and unique phones I've ever held. And you guys, what do you think about a phone like this?
