Japan's iconic Infobar returns as a gorgeous Apple Watch case
An unexpected revival for Naoto Fukasawa's breakthrough 2003 phone
KDDI has revived one of its most beloved devices in a surprising new form. As part of the Japanese carrier’s long-running AU Design Project, it's released a case that transforms your Apple Watch into an original Infobar, a groundbreaking phone from 2003.
The Infobar was manufactured by Sanyo and conceived by Naoto Fukasawa, frequent Muji collaborator and one of Japan's best-known industrial designers. It immediately stood out for its frameless design, with the keypad extending to the edge of the device, as well as its carp-inspired "nishikigoi" colourway.
Fukasawa designed the Infobar as a reaction to the increasing homogeneity of Japanese flip-phone design. "Since, down the road, the phone function would become just one of the functions of this portable information device, and email, internet access, music downloads, and digital moving images would be added, it was decided that a suitable name would be Infobar — a bar for information — rather than simply a ‘phone,’" he recalled in Phaidon's 2007 retrospective of his work.
KDDI continued to release new Infobar models, most recently an Android-based feature phone for the line's 15th anniversary in 2018. With this new Apple Watch case, though, the company has hit upon an inspired idea. The Apple Watch is a surprisingly capable computer in its own right. Why not use it as the basis for a "phone"?
This Apple Watch case is an unbelievable match for the Infobar. I had to laugh when I first unboxed it next to my own beat-up version of the original phone; it looks just like a brand-new model. The colours, the fonts, the finish on the plastic — everything is perfect.
KDDI even went as far as to design the housing for the Apple Watch in a way that lines up exactly with the original phone's battery cover. The case is designed to fit larger Apple Watches, meaning the 45mm Series 7 to 9 or the 44mm Series 4 through 6. I did try using it with an old 42mm Series 2, and it fit okay but didn't stay perfectly straight in the housing.
The biggest difference with the real Infobar is that the buttons don't actually push in, which wouldn't have done much for functionality but might've been nice for fidgeting purposes. You also can't extend the antenna. And obviously, there's no camera. This case doesn't connect to the Apple Watch in any technical way; it is purely about form factor and aesthetics.
Which, hey, I am here for when the aesthetics look like this. The functional changes include a cutout for the digital crown, a passthrough button for the side button, and a circular hole for the charger. The side button works well enough for bringing up Control Centre, though the crown is a little fiddly since you can only really manipulate the back half.
The Apple Watch Infobar is best controlled by touch, but even that takes some practice. KDDI decided to maintain the original phone's flat plastic front panel, which makes sense both for visual authenticity and so that you wouldn't be swiping against the Watch's curved edges in a recessed rectangular cutout. But that does compromise the screen's responsiveness, so you have to make your inputs with a little more force and purpose.
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Once you're used to the case, it turns out that the Apple Watch makes for a surprisingly capable standalone phone. You can use it to make calls and send texts, either through iMessage or third-party apps like Line. It works great as an iPod; I've been downloading playlists through Apple Music and podcasts with Pocket Casts, and you can pair AirPods to the Watch. It gives me emergency weather alerts and I can use it to unlock my e-bike.
There are a couple of downsides compared to using the Apple Watch as intended. You do give up most of the fitness functionality, since a lot of that relies on being strapped to your wrist. It's also not really practical to use with a passcode, since the screen turns itself off much more frequently than an iPhone. Security concerns aside, that means you can't use the Watch to unlock your Mac or authenticate Apple Pay purchases.
The Infobar Apple Watch case makes for a fascinating comparison with the Infobar of 2003. The screen is far better, the UI is much more advanced, and features like AirPods, Apple Pay, and even Siri would have seemed truly futuristic back then. On the other hand, the Infobar had a camera, a physical keyboard, and access to a bunch of Japan-focused web services. People would actually read on the Infobar, which isn't really possible on the Apple Watch.
But maybe that's a feature. While I was not altogether convinced by a recent article in The New Yorker asserting that "The Dumbphone Boom Is Real", I do think more and more people are considering the effects of 24/7 access to pocket supercomputers. I'm one of them myself, as I recently wrote regarding the Boox Palma. I'm just not sure that "buy a bad phone" is going to be helpful or practical advice for most folk.
The Apple Watch isn't a bad phone; it's a great watch. If you already have one, it's probably as good an option for smartphone avoidance as anything else. Using it in this form factor made me realise just how functional the platform can be. It has most of what you need from a communications device and almost none of the doomscrolling capabilities.
Yes, you could just wear the same Apple Watch on your wrist. But where's the fun in that?