Bluey Phone Review

Summary

In this April Fools’ Day parody, Marques Brownlee gives a deadpan flagship-style review treatment to the $10.99 VTech Bluey Ring Phone — a children’s toy phone modeled after characters from the Australian kids’ show. Brownlee evaluates the unboxing, hardware, and feature set with all the rigor he’d apply to a real flagship, noting the open-faced cardboard packaging, the absence of a charger or replacement battery tool, and the surprisingly large 1.7-inch black-and-white display.

The bit lands because Brownlee plays it completely straight: he frames the device as the ultimate “minimal phone” precisely because it has no internet, no Bluetooth, no cell radios, and no cameras whatsoever. He praises the speaker grille’s thoughtful placement, the under-1-second boot time, and the bubble-blowing microphone game as a “much healthier” alternative to doomscrolling TikTok or Instagram. The chat feature, he notes approvingly, is not AI — the only conversation partners available are Bluey and Bingo the dogs.

His verdict: while expensive minimalist phones still cave and include touchscreens, cameras, and apps (“cowards”), the Bluey phone genuinely commits. With sub-1,000 total pixels, sub-4 frames per second, and zero connectivity, it reduces total doomscrolling to effectively zero. He signs off with a directive to “check the date.”

Highlights

”It costs $10.99. That’s $10.99.”

“So, I ordered one, and now it’s here. It costs $10.99. That’s $10.99.” — Marques Brownlee, 0:21

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”All these huge touchscreens… cowards”

“And that makes sense, but you look at the minimal phones these days and they all still have these huge touchscreens and cameras and internet connections and apps… cowards.” — Marques Brownlee, 1:41

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”Doomscrolling is effectively reduced to zero”

“If you have less than a thousand total pixels across your whole display and never go above three to four frames per second, and also have literally no cameras and no internet connection, then battery life becomes weeks instead of days, and screen time becomes minutes instead of hours, and total doomscrolling is effectively reduced to zero.” — Marques Brownlee, 3:44

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Key Points

• Top-rated phone on Amazon (0:08) - Brownlee says he was scrolling top-rated phones and found the Bluey had incredible ratings
• $10.99 price point (0:21) - Significantly undercutting the rest of the “minimal phone” market
• Open-face cardboard unboxing (0:27) - Phone ships exposed in a cardboard box; “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before”
• No charger, no battery tool (0:51) - Removable batteries (rare for 2026) but the required tool to access them isn’t included
• 1.7-inch black-and-white display (1:18) - No cell radios, no internet, no cameras, exclusively physical buttons
• No Bluetooth on a “Bluey” phone (1:31) - The naming irony is acknowledged
• Voice-feedback dialer (1:54) - Instead of placing calls, it just says the dialed numbers out loud
• Three-volume rear speaker (2:12) - Grille opening big enough to never get blocked by your finger
• Microphone bubble game (2:27) - Blow into the mic to create digital bubbles; Brownlee’s personal favorite
• Sub-1-second boot time (2:40) - “One of the fastest booting phones”
• Bluey & Bingo chat (not AI) (3:04) - Built-in chat is a scripted conversation with the dogs from the show
• Better commitment than E-ink minimalists (3:34) - Even the Boox Palma still lets you reach Instagram; the Bluey phone doesn’t
• April Fools sign-off (4:13) - “Also check the date”

Mentions

Companies

• VTech (0:00) - Maker of the Bluey Ring Phone toy
• Amazon (0:08) - Where the phone has high ratings
• Boox (3:34) - Makers of the Palma E-ink minimalist phone

Products & Technologies

• VTech Bluey Ring Phone (0:00) - The reviewed device
• Nexus 6 (1:10) - Used as a size comparison reference
• Boox Palma (3:34) - E-ink minimalist phone that, unlike the Bluey, can still get to Instagram
• TikTok (2:27) - Cited as the kind of doomscrolling the Bluey eliminates
• Instagram (2:27) - Same

People

• Bluey & Bingo (3:04) - The fictional dogs you can chat with on the device

Surprising Quotes

“It also has a chat feature built in, which again might sound backwards for a minimal phone, like ‘really, chat, AI slop?’ But no, it’s not AI. The only person you can talk to is Bluey and Bingo the dogs.” — Marques Brownlee, 3:04

“I’m not even sure this thing’s processor can run a benchmark to be honest.” — Marques Brownlee, 3:30

“This, this is good. This is a good minimal phone, especially for the price. It’s undercutting the competition by from what I can tell quite a bit.” — Marques Brownlee, 4:05

“So good work Bluey. Thanks for watching. Catch you in the next one. Also check the date.” — Marques Brownlee, 4:13

Transcript

Marques Brownlee: 0:00 Hey, what’s up? I’m MKBHD here, and welcome to a hands-on and first impressions of the Bluey phone made by VTech.

Marques Brownlee: 0:08 So, I was just scrolling top-rated phones on Amazon a couple days ago, and I saw this one has gotten incredible ratings, and I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet. Maybe I’m not on their review program list or something.

Marques Brownlee: 0:21 So, I ordered one, and now it’s here. It costs $10.99. That’s $10.99.

Marques Brownlee: 0:27 So, first of all, the unboxing experience is interesting. The phone actually ships exposed in this open-faced cardboard box, which is unique. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.

Marques Brownlee: 0:38 But then actually getting the rest of the way into the box was kind of unintuitive and difficult, to be honest. I had to rip some cardboard to get to these fasteners behind the phone holding it in and untwist those. Didn’t feel very premium, but I suppose that’s forgivable at this price.

Marques Brownlee: 0:51 And then there is no charger or cable included in the box. And while it’s a rare 2026 phone that does have removable batteries, there’s also a tool required to open the back and replace them, and that’s not included either.

Marques Brownlee: 1:05 Thankfully, though, it does actually come with enough juice from the factory to just fire it up out of the box.

Marques Brownlee: 1:10 So, the phone itself is definitely on the big side, but not too big. We’ve seen phones like this before. It’s roughly the same size as a Nexus 6—a little bit smaller, actually.

Marques Brownlee: 1:18 But this phone must clearly be some type of minimal phone because it’s actually rocking a 1.7-inch black-and-white display up here. And despite this antenna up here at the top, there are no cell radios, no internet connection, no cameras at all, and exclusively physical buttons.

Marques Brownlee: 1:31 It doesn’t even have Bluetooth, which in a Bluey phone, you’d think maybe it would. But you know, I do know a few people in real life that are trying to use their phone less by switching to a minimal phone.

Marques Brownlee: 1:41 And that makes sense, but you look at the minimal phones these days and they all still have these huge touchscreens and cameras and internet connections and apps… cowards.

Marques Brownlee: 1:54 So yeah, this Bluey phone, it takes it to the next level. When you type numbers on the Bluey phone, instead of making any phone calls, it just says the numbers out loud to you. So that’s nice.

Marques Brownlee: 2:12 The speaker on the back has three volume levels and ordinarily a single rear-facing speaker wouldn’t be that nice, but the grill and the opening are more than big enough to never accidentally block it with your finger. So that’s thoughtful design.

Marques Brownlee: 2:27 It also does have a few games built-in, which might sound counterintuitive for a minimal phone, but these are much healthier than doom scrolling TikTok or Instagram or something like that. My personal favorite is the one where you can blow bubbles by blowing into the microphone. It’s sweet.

Marques Brownlee: 2:40 Also, look how fast this boots up. This is power… already on. So one of the fastest booting phones. Bubbles right there. Okay, now it’s your turn. Blow into the microphone. You did it! I did it.

Marques Brownlee: 3:04 It also has a chat feature built in, which again might sound backwards for a minimal phone, like “really, chat, AI slop?” But no, it’s not AI. The only person you can talk to is Bluey and Bingo the dogs.

Marques Brownlee: 3:18 Look, I think if other reviewers are reviewing this phone up against other more expensive flagships, they’re making a mistake here. It’s not gonna have the thin bezels or high benchmark scores to compete with the 13, 15, 20 dollar phones.

Marques Brownlee: 3:30 I’m not even sure this thing’s processor can run a benchmark to be honest.

Marques Brownlee: 3:34 But as a minimal phone, this one really commits to that idea more than any other that I’ve seen. Like E-ink is cool and everything, but you could technically still find your way over to Instagram on the Boox Palma.

Marques Brownlee: 3:44 But if you have less than a thousand total pixels across your whole display and never go above three to four frames per second, and also have literally no cameras and no internet connection, then battery life becomes weeks instead of days, and screen time becomes minutes instead of hours, and total doomscrolling is effectively reduced to zero.

Marques Brownlee: 4:05 This, this is good. This is a good minimal phone, especially for the price. It’s undercutting the competition by from what I can tell quite a bit.

Marques Brownlee: 4:13 So good work Bluey. Thanks for watching. Catch you in the next one. Also check the date.