Digital Detox Phone

Step Out, Turn Off.

Joy lives outside the screen.

Pre-orders open

Free. No purchase or payment. We’ll only email you about the launch.

The problem

165min

The time people in Japan spend on their phones each day.
A record high.

Source: Hakuhodo, Media Teiten Survey 2025 (as reported)

A person facing a screen indoors. The friends, tree and fish outside are crossed out.

Somewhere along the way,
I was spending most of my day on a screen.

Someone at a desk, swiping through an endless phone feed

Social media is fun. Games are fun.
That's why I couldn't stop.

A room where someone lies in bed looking at a phone from morning to night. Outside the window the sun sets and the moon rises.

It was morning, and then it was night.
Another day with nothing to show for it.

What I really wanted was to go outside.

But I set limits,
and turned them off every time.

I’ll just stay as I am.

Wait a second.

There’s Soto Phone.

Soto Phone

Soto means
“outside” in Japanese.

No social media or games, the apps that keep you glued to the screen. And the time you put your phone down becomes points to spend outside.

A phone for heading outside the screen.

MorningJust the map, and off to the river.

What's inside

Only what you need
to head outside.

Inside

  • Calls
  • SMS
  • Maps
  • Transit
  • Weather
  • Camera
  • Music
  • Alerts
  • Clock
  • Notes
  • Points

Not inside

  • Social
  • Games
  • Video
  • App store
  • Browser

The screen stays black and white, and color returns only when you open your photos. Pay with your own cards. Support for transit IC cards (such as Suica) is under consideration.

AfternoonPoints saved up, spent at a hot spring.

Points

Time with your phone down
becomes time outside.

  1. 01Choose your time awayDinner, before bed, a weekend morning.
  2. 02Keep it, and earne.g. one hour at dinner: +10 pt
  3. 03Pick a place on the mapOnly shops and experiences picked by pros.
  4. 04Spend it theree.g. a bathhouse ticket: −100 pt

The shops fund the points. They pay Soto only for the customers who actually come in.

Point numbers are examples. Partners and rewards are still being prepared.

Trial

Live with Soto
for two weeks.

When the prototype is ready, a small group will use it for two weeks.
With their permission, we'll share what they felt here.

Apply for the trial

Letter

Why I'm building this.

I've never built a phone.
But I know what it's like to be controlled by one.

I'd look at my screen, and the day would be gone. I set limits to stop, and turned them off myself. Willpower didn't work.

I think a lot of people feel the same way. So I decided to build a phone that makes you want to go outside, without relying on willpower.

I can't build it alone. I'll share the road to launch honestly, right here. I'd be glad if you followed along.

Kazuma Sasaki, Founder, Soto Phone

EveningA sunset, with no notifications.

Pre-order

Joy lives
outside the screen.

We'll tell you first when it launches.
Prototype trials will be announced here first, too.

Registration is free. Nothing is purchased and no payment is taken. We use your email only to tell you about the launch and early trials.