Brax Wink unveiled: a modular smartphone designed to protect against surveillance

Brax has unveiled the unusual Wink smartphone, featuring a 4-inch OLED display and a detachable physical keyboard. The device runs Android without Google services and offers enhanced privacy features, including a dedicated switch to disable the cameras, microphones and other components.

Design and modular keyboard

The Brax Wink has a compact 4-inch OLED touchscreen; its exact resolution has not yet been disclosed. A detachable QWERTY keyboard sits below the screen. Its surface is touch-sensitive, so the keys can also be used as a touchpad for scrolling through pages and controlling the phone with gestures.

Thanks to its modular design, the keyboard can be detached so the phone can be used without it, or replaced with an additional battery module. The capacity of the built-in battery and the removable module has not yet been revealed. Another unusual detail is the SIM tray, which has a fabric pull tab that lets users remove it without a special pin.

Specifications

The Brax Wink is powered by the 4nm MediaTek MT8875, an octa-core processor with four Arm C1-Pro cores, four Arm C1-Nano cores and a Mali-G625 MC2 GPU. The smartphone has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, expandable by up to 1TB with a microSD card.

The rear panel has a single 50MP camera. There is no front-facing camera. The device supports 5G, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, as well as simultaneous use of a nano-SIM and eSIM. It also has stereo speakers, a USB-C port with USB 3.2 Gen 1 and a 3.5mm audio jack. NFC support has not yet been confirmed.

Privacy protection

The Brax Wink runs BraxOS, an open-source operating system based on Android. According to the manufacturer, it has no Google services, built-in advertising trackers or telemetry.

There are two operating modes: Omni, which supports Android app installation, and Zero, which offers a limited set of core functions.

A privacy switch is located on the top edge of the phone. It can be configured to disable the camera and microphones and control other device functions. The developers note, however, that some restrictions are implemented in software or at a lower level. The full hardware-disconnection scheme has not yet been disclosed.

BraxOS lets users disable motion and other sensors, as well as set USB-C to charging-only mode, blocking data transfer. Personal information can be protected with emergency data erasure using a special password, automatic wiping after several incorrect unlock attempts, after the device has been powered off for an extended period, or on every reboot.

Additional features include changing the IMEI, restricting regular calls and SMS, and end-to-end encryption for calls and messages between Brax users. The manufacturer promises software updates through 2032.

Pricing and release date

The regular price of the Brax Wink is $700, but the first batch can be pre-ordered for $449 with full payment. In Europe, the pre-order price is €480, down from the regular €700. Shipments of the first batch are scheduled for July 2027.

For the second batch, buyers can pay a $30 deposit and pay the remaining $520 later. The total price will be $550, with shipments starting in September 2027.

The package includes a detachable QWERTY keyboard, a USB-C cable and a translucent protective case. The final specifications may still change, as development of the device is not yet complete.