screenless smartphone KARRI lets kids send voice messages

Kids send voice notes via screenless smartphone KARRI

Pentagram designs the second generation of the screenless smartphone KARRI, a device that lets kids record, listen to, and send voice messages to their parents like a walkie-talkie. Dubbed a smart messenger, the gadget is a display-free alternative to phones for children aged five to 13 years old. In the era of digital displays, the screenless smartphone KARRI allows for a detox so kids are not immersed and fully exposed to blue light and the use of social media apps and games. When KARRI, a technology company based in London and Berlin, and the design studio Pentagram started their collaboration, they drew from the research insights that a simple interface to record, listen to, and send voice messages would be the best design for the device.

This is, in fact, the result since the gadget’s main key is the ‘slide to talk’ button at the center of the device. There are four command actions that the kids can do. They slide up and hold to record a message and do a short slide up to send it. Then, they slide it down to listen to the received message and slide down and hold it if they want to delete it. The buttons on the left of the slider are for the volume, while the ones on the right change the channel, meaning who the kids will send their voice messages to. For a complete screenless smartphone, KARRI uses an LED matrix screen with animations so kids can know what’s happening to their voice notes.

all images courtesy of Pentagram

Pocket-sized gadget with GPS functionality for the parents

The way it works is that the screenless smartphone KARRI is connected to the app installed on the phones of the kids’ parents. The device has its own data SIM and works on all mobile phone networks, and it even has a GPS functionality that shares the location of the child, so the parents can locate them all the time. Parents can also create safe areas for their children called geo-fences and get notifications if they move in and out of them. The company and design studio add that the device works well between the other KARRI devices. In this case, other users can chat or send each other voice messages, as well as be in one-on-one or group discussions.

Design-wise, the gadget is pocket-sized, making it portable, and the kids can also add a lanyard so they can carry the screenless smartphone KARRI around their necks. For customizations, there are also accessories available, including a silicone bumper case, so users can style their gadget, and the vibrant colors of the second-generation series allow the kids to choose the hues they resonate well with the most. At the rear of the device sits a torch, too, that allowed the children to use the gadget as a torch at night. So far, KARRI and Pentagram say that they’ve developed and refined the design of the screenless smartphone for kids through several prototypes and tests. In the end, the second-generation messenger is set to be launched in early 2026.

Pentagram designs the second generation of the screenless smartphone KARRI