The Barbie Phone Is Plastic, Fantastic, And Impractical

The Barbie Phone, overmuch for illustration nan doll it pays tribute to, is simply a constituent of beauty. But for illustration that doll whose proportions, historically, are impossible, nan Barbie Phone conscionable isn’t built for nan modern world.

Even if nan ultra-feminine creator isn’t your constituent — and it’s not really excavation — you personification to manus it to nan Barbie flip phone. From nan instrumentality it comes in, to nan interchangeable backmost plates, rhinestone stickers, and Barbie-fied interface, it’s a delight. The charger and artillery are immoderate pink, though they’re a lighter shadiness than Mattel’s trademarked Barbie Pink (Pantone 219). The telephone says “Hi Barbie!” erstwhile you move it on. It’s nan meaning of committing to nan bit.

The breezy nosy of nan Barbie aesthetic, Pantone 219 aliases otherwise, is astatine likelihood pinch nan existent acquisition of utilizing nan phone. It’s based connected 1 of HMD’s characteristic phones, and it runs an operating strategy called KaiOS. The telephone is designed for basal connectivity — texting, calling, emails — and moreover includes a web browser.

According to HMD, successful summation to being cute, the nostalgic creation and constricted characteristic group are expected to beforehand you to disconnect and locomotion clip pinch your friends IRL. There are a bid of “Barbie Tips” successful nan phone’s menus that counsel you connected this point. 

“No petition to springiness up nan smartphone entirely,” sounds Barbie Tip 1. “Find a equilibrium betwixt your smartphone and your Barbie Phone.” Barbie Tip 6 is titled “DreamHouse™️ Rule” and encourages you to “Make tech-free zones successful your ain DreamHouse. More room for fun!” Incidentally, Mattel says it sells a Barbie DreamHouse each 2 minutes. The DreamHouse retails for $199.99; nan Barbie Phone is $129.99.

The thought of popping my SIM insubstantial successful nan Barbie telephone and moving distant for a play of integer detoxing pinch my besties sounds great. The reality isn’t truthful easy. Have you ever tried to participate your Google narration password pinch an alphanumeric keypad? Do you cognize really to find nan curly brackets successful T9? I personification and I do, acknowledgment to nan Barbie Phone, and I don’t wish that connected anyone. Typing retired messages pinch predictive matter is overmuch tedious than I remember; if I utilized this telephone regularly, I’d astir apt telephone group a batch more.

Aside from texting, immoderate of nan features of this characteristic telephone conscionable didn’t activity decently for me. I successfully synced my Google calendar, but my appointments look connected nan incorrect days for reasons I can’t discern. I couldn’t get nan FM powerfulness app to admit nan wired earbuds I plugged into nan 3.5mm jack. The web browser is painfully slow and refuses to render The Verge successful immoderate usable form, though I admit I americium astir apt nan only personification who would effort to publication The Verge connected nan Barbie Phone.

The delight I felt erstwhile I first unboxed nan Barbie Phone was decidedly fading. Even nan beforehand of nan phone, which is mostly covered by a mirror, looked a batch small charming covered successful my ain fingerprints and smudges. And I conjecture having a reflector connected nan beforehand of your telephone is cute, because you tin model up your selfies and cheque your teeth for pieces of kale.

But you cognize erstwhile it’s not cute? Having to look astatine your ain look each clip you cheque for a notification. This is simply a benignant of existential dilemma that Barbie doesn’t personification to endure, because Barbie’s constitution is pre-applied and she’s perpetually 20 two or whatever. I don’t want to spot my look erstwhile I’m checking texts, 4 espressos dense connected a Tuesday greeting pinch nary a driblet of concealer nether my eyes.

Barbie’s world is simply a dream. Unfortunately, nan world successful which nan Barbie Phone lets maine formation nan drudgery of modern connectivity too seems to beryllium a dream. Sure, it fto maine return a mini picnic from my smartphone and still matter my friends. But mostly, it conscionable replaced nan annoyances of utilizing an ultra-connected instrumentality pinch different annoyances.

Someone overmuch committed to utilizing T9 could astir apt personification an enjoyable clip pinch nan Barbie Phone. Otherwise, this is conscionable a neat collectible item; point to return retired of nan instrumentality and play pinch for a while, but yet clip disconnected successful a drawer. Kind of for illustration a doll.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge