As undeniably good as the iPhone is, it still has one or two shortfalls. Namely that it costs an arm and a leg, and you’re lucky if your battery lasts the day.

Driven by an ethos of using design to improve everyday life, New York design consultancy FormNation have set out to create a viable alternative to the pervasive iPhone with their E-ink prototype – a phone that puts basic functionality and style at the forefront. By stripping the phone of superfluities and focusing on low energy consumption, FormNation have designed a device that lasts a month on one charge, is affordable (the target price range of the phone is $175-$200) and allows people to do everything they need to do on a daily basis.

Despite claiming to be 'stripped back', the phone retains many popular smartphones functions including; calls, email, texting, internet, music, maps and even a throwback black and white camera that is able to create stop motion GIFs instead of fluid video.

It seems there are a number of designers out there trying to right the wrongs in the phone industry. We featured Dave Haakens in our latest Journal for his Phonebloks concept, a cell phone made out of assembled components that can be individually replaced to eliminate unnecessary waste.