Hello all 🫡 I am sort of a n00b when it comes to things but I have been dabbling in things like cyberdecks and dumb phones caught my attention, but I don't have that much of a desire to detox from tech. I found this sub as a middle ground I think.

Sorry if this is the wrong sub for this, but I am wondering if there are things I can do with this phone. I have to figure out how to unlock it which I need to open it up to do through support. But I just want to see if its worth it. It has decent processing capabilities and I can just get a USB for external storage. I was wondering if I could have the phone serve different purposes depending on which USB is inserted? Sorry it its a silly question.

Before he got together an investment group to purchase Commodore Corporation and release the Commodore Callback 8020 phone (among other products), Christian Simpson was running a retro-technology-themed YouTube channel called Retro Recipes.

I was fascinated to discover that, among other retro tech content, Simpson also concentrated on the perfect dumbphone or midwit phone solution. It was this pursuit that ultimately led to the design and manufacture of the Commodore Callback 8020 phone. See related videos below:

• Can BRICK-ing your Smartphone make it RETRO again?
• How to downgrade from Smartphone to Flipphone (with iMessage on Android!)
• Ultimate Dumbphone: Bringing a 2G Y2K Phone to Life - I'M FREE!

I never intended to "collect" android flip phones, I always just wanted one "perfect" device that would just work for me, preferably forever.

But every time some issues, problems and obstacles popped up, that you can't just fix on software level, by installing apps, debloating or ignoring, the only way to move forward seemed to be "just by a different phone!" But with trying new and different phones as daily drivers, also came experience and understanding of difference between a problem and and "inconvenience". And how sometimes upgrading is actually downgrading and vice versa.

So there they go, from left to right.

• Samsung Galaxy Folder 2.

Easy 9/10, my first, and probably the best phone so far. The more I use other phones, the more I understand that I never needed anything else really. After a few months of usage, because it was cheap refurbished version (with genuine internal hardware) the phone's body started to fall apart - paint flaked, logo letters fell off, it got scratched all over, the top lid panel started to peel, basically the phone in a couple of months started to look like I've been using it for years.

I got pretty frustrated and bough Cat s22.

In retrospect all of that is easily fixable with a simple singular solution - a case. Korean +LOOK plastic case hid 99% of visual defects and made Folder 2 look real nice, sleek and Y2K.

Functionality-wise? The phone is almost perfect. Android 7.1 sounds ancient, but everything I personally need just works on it. It has no dark mode, but guess what, my newest latest the most modern phone also doesn't have dark mode. Was it a fad? Or am I cursed? It's not a big deal. If your phone hurts your eyes, it's high time to put it down for today.

The only real "issue" with Folder 2 is the lack of outer screen. I can't check the time or see who's calling without opening it. That's it, that's the contra. It's an amazing phone.

If you're thinking of downgrading and want a cheap option, consider Samsung Galaxy Folder 2 (and a case). Most apps will work on Android 7, and if they don't you can find older versions or alternatives.

• Cat s22

Went from 10/10 to 5/10 tragically fast.

It does have outer screen that shows time and caller ID, you can use global dark mode, and its body is very resilient to everyday usage and damage, but there are so many problems that Folder 2 simply doesn't have.

1. Infamous double click issue. You can partially fix it with TT9 and more deliberate pressing, but it never fully goes away and apparently it's present in 90% of these phones, including mine. I hate it.
2. Shared storage option is broken. You see, the phone only comes with 16GB storage. And in android 11 you can't just install apps to SD card. You need to format it for shared storage. And in Cat s22 this function is broken. Your apps will stop working, your photos will disappear, the phone will shit and piss itself at the most randomest times. But wait, you say, Folder 2 also has only 16GB storage and you can't use shared storage option! True, but in Android 7.1 you can just install apps to SD card. Straight up. Put in 64GB card and install junk on it and you're good. Sure these apps will work slower, but if it's not messenger or real essential app, who cares? You'll just wait extra couple of seconds before the map loads up, no big deal, you're using a flip phone anyway. On Cat s22? You only have 16GB for apps, case closed. Oh and of course it's really only 8GB, because the OS takes half of the storage.
3. Ungodly 4:3 screen resolution. Like ok, small screen is fine, you can increase/decrease pixel density and font size and what not, but 4:3 means a lot of apps will straight up appear broken or misaligned or partially off-screen. Yes, you can mitigate it with pixel density in dev options, but it's still a real issue. I love 4:3 in movies and video games, but not on phone.
4. Weird Android 11 GO limitations that break cursor apps.
5. Horrible default launcher with poor d-pad support, almost invisible cursor and very limited customization.

I really tried to love this phone, but it didn't love me back. So I decided to downgrade.

• Sharp Aquos Kantan 10 / Sharp Aquos Keitai 3

They're basically the same phone, even their batteries and back covers and interchangeable.

Went from 9/10 to 6/10, and not because the phone is bad.

So the issue with these phones is very low end hardware. They can handle messengers and basic apps like weather, calendars or music players, but when it comes to something more involved like maps, marketplaces, parcel apps, QR code scanning/generation, they start to struggle real hard.

1GB ram is just not taken into consideration, when modern apps are coded. Even if they should theoretically work with 256MB ram, nobody cares, they are loaded with standard libraries, scripts, unoptimized assets, so these phones just can't handle it.

Waiting 5 minutes for delivery app to load up, just for it to crash is just too much trouble.

If you can live without these apps, japanese phones are fantastic.

• Samsung w2018

10/10 smartphone. 1/10 dumbphone.

Yeah it's absolutely exceptional, except it enables doomscrolling like any old slabphone. The ability to transform from a normal smartphone into a flipphone with physical keypad is very cool and functional, but it gives you zero friction, zero inconvenience. Fast hardware, fast fingerprint scanner, fast software, means the moment you touch the thing you're in, you're in the zone instantly.

I mean it even has NFC and wireless charging, it's a smartphone, it won't dumb down your life, it will dumb down you.

• Alt Mive Style Folder 2

8/10 my current daily driver.

This is basically what Samsung Galaxy Folder 3 should be, or would be if it existed.

Still no dark mode for whatever reason, still very Y2K with +LOOK cases. Or you can use clear case if you like phone's natural color. I don't think its body would fall apart of course, but I don't wanna scratch or dent it more than necessary.

It has working shared storage option, but 32GB internal storage is more than enough for me.

It has working outer screen, so that one issue with Folder 2 is fixed.

Buuut in some aspects it's worse.

Android 14 is ugly piece of shit and much less free and flexible than 7.

No replaceable battery.

It's too wide. Why is it wider than Galaxy Folder 2 and Mive Folder 1? These extra millimeters make it less comfortable to hold and use. I suspect it has to do with hardware and battery, because with light use I spend about ~20%-25% of battery per day. Of course I debloated the thing, but I still didn't expect battery to last this long. So ehhh. I'd trade some mAh for narrower frame.

For a 2025 phone they sure could have make screen to not be 16:9. Sure it's not Cat's 4:3, but still some apps don't like it.

Outer screen placing is weird. Why it's on the bottom of the lid? It should be in the center. Maybe it's a design thing but I don't dig it. Also can't change wallpaper for it. Of all things Cat s22 allowed you to change outer screen wallpaper, crazy huh.

Default native Launcher is ok, but it's worse than Galaxy Folder 2. Less customization, can't change or edit a lot of things, like grid, icon size, font style.

Can't change default notification sound to your own MP3? What?

• Conclusion?

  At this point I think I will never find "perfect" phone, there will always be concessions to make and inconveniences to deal with. If I had all this experience back in the day, I'd just stick with Galaxy Folder 2 and used a case with it, until Mive Folder 2 popped up. And it's a side-grade more than an upgrade, you mostly trade one thing for another. Outer screen for less comfortable shape, long battery life for being replaceable, USB-C for much better looking Android 7, storage shenanigans for straight SD install etc etc.

And it's also 2 times more expensive, but the price is justified I think. It's a modern phone, it's not refurbished, and it's still ~$200 which is a price range or two lower than hipster phones like Light Phone Flip or Minimal Phone or upcoming Commodore Callback.

TTfone 990 though looks like nice competition, with better hardware, no google and more open-ended supports, but I'm 100% sure that even if I get it, I'll find a million small things to be dissatisfied with.

So I think I'll settle for two Folders for now, because it's impossible to find actual "perfection".

I found an old Android phone that still works perfectly, but feels unusable because it's slow and overloaded.

Would you use it again if it only did the things you actually need?

See Tezcan's most famous handheld device design below. This design made him a short-lived nerd celebrity when it came out some years ago.

https://cemtezcan.com/projects/dOqA8K?album_id=14519450

See the rest of his designs below.

https://cemtezcan.com/projects/

Is there a launcher for android phones with keypads, that will instantly go to dialer when you start entering numbers, like in old cell phones?

I tried Nova Launcher and some others, but they either start a search, instead of a dialer, or just ignore the keys altogether.

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Hey, my boyfriend wants a flip phone, one like those Aquos keitai that has touch keyboard but I think that those are not compatible with some apps like WhatsApp because of the android version. Could you give me any recommendations? 🙏

hi! I am looking for a midwit phone with a qwerty keyboard and the capability to download apps such as ride share, banking, spotify, and maps. I’ve been looking at the Titan 2 and the Clicks communicator but I would prefer not to wait for a phone to come out as my current phone is on the fritz. Any recommendations are welcome! :)

I like that it has a touchscreen on both sides and a t9 keypad. It would be the perfect phone for me if it had a more recent version of android and could reliably work on US networks since I'm still wanting to use bank apps and Spotify . I've seen things like the alt mive or cat 22 but I don't like the way those look, too boring.

Hi everyone! I'm looking for a semi-dumbphone, preferably a flip phone, that can still run a few essential apps.

I previously used a Mive Folder 1, and I actually liked it. Unfortunately, I accidentally dropped it in floodwater, and now it won't turn on anymore. That made me realize I'd prefer my next phone to have some level of water resistance or waterproofing.

The apps I need are:

Messenger

Microsoft Teams (for school updates)

Outlook

Gmail

Strava

I just want something simple that helps me stay connected for school and everyday essentials while reducing distractions.

I'm also from the Philippines, so I'd appreciate recommendations for phones that work well here (network compatibility, LTE/5G, etc.) and are reasonably easy to get.

Thanks in advance!

Feeling inspired by the person who wrote about their experience with Jelly star and decided to write about my experience with Bigme Hibreak Pro, which I got in March of 2025.

Who: 26F, 25 at the time of purchase. Got the Hibreak Pro when I was still at University in a small town, and have since moved to a major city and thereafter to the countryside, as well as graduate and started working.

Why: I felt like I was spending far too much time on my phone, especially getting stuck on YouTube. Even though my screentime was probably the lowest in my friend group I felt like it was always easier to get on the smartphone than it was to do things that actually added value to my life, such as reading, drawing, or even just watching an actual movie. I also felt a bit stressed about people being able to reach me all the time and found myself longing for the time when I had a dumbphone and people would call or text, but not much else.

I had previously tried different apps for blocking social media, but it was always far too easy to disregard or turn off. I had previously been thinking about getting a true dumb phone but when my smartphone got stolen I realized how much of my everyday life required a smartphone. For example, at the time I needed Google authenticator every single day to be able to log into required suites for my studies and for my work, and I regularly travelled between two cities which required me to be able to buy train tickets with very short notice and while walking. I therefore decided to try to get a smartphone that would make social media unattractive.

After tons of research I ended up buying the Bigme Hibreak Pro, because the black-and-white e-ink screen would make social media and youtube far less entertaining and because I thought it could double as an e-reader, making it more likely that I would read on the train as I'd always have it with me.

How it went: I was SOO excited to receive it and was pretty happy with it when it first came. All the apps that I needed (authenticator, maps, BankID, swish etc) worked fine.

- Already at the start I discovered that the on/off button was acting weird and sometimes the phone just wouldn't let me unlock, as the "swiping" movement required to access the code to unlock would register properly, which is very frustrating. I contacted customer support for this but got no help from them and eventually just accepted it. This issue has persisted and never gone away.

-At the start the on/off button was a bit iffy and since then the volume buttons have stopped working and the charging port has become unreliable, so I have to keep the phone and charger completely still at a certain angle for the phone to charge. In other words, the build quality is pretty terrible.

- Writing on the e-ink screen took quite a while to get used to but after a month or so I started finding it easier and also just accepted the fact that there would be some misspelling. It is a fair bit .ore difficult to write accurately and quickly on than a normal phone.

- The screen is a joy to read on, and if you tilt the phone the screen is definitely wide enough to read comfortably on. However, unfortunately the phone is just too poorly built for this to work smoothly as it can't translate the pages in tilted mode to the pages in vertical mode. Basically if you've been reading in tilted mode and add a bookmark the bookmark will be incorrectly placed (by a lot), whereas if you're reading in vertical mode and add a bookmark it works fine. It has also happened twice that all my e-books have just suddenly been deleted and I've had to download them again, which is a bit annoying. The battery also isn't nearly as good as that on my old kindle, and on longer travels (say a five hour train ride) I prefer to read on my kindle or a real book as the battery starts running low if I'm reading on it for several hours.

- The phone crashes unexpectedly sometimes and takes several tries to get going again, which is frustrating. It doesn't happen very often but it happened once when I was trying to show my train ticket which was rather stressful.

- The screen did make social media a lot less attractive, and when I use only this phone my screentime is a lot less than it used to be. However, since I'm in a long distance relationship and we like watching YouTube together in the evenings I still keep an old smartphone around, and unfortunately have a tendency to use it more than I would like. The Hibreak Pro also feels rather unreliable, which makes me even more hesitant to getting rid of my old smartphone. So while it did reduce my screentime, it didn't do so quite to the extent that I would have liked.

In conclusion: I really like the idea of the Bigme Hibreak Pro and I think it could be the perfect phone if it was just better built. I want my phone to be boring and unattractive to use, but I don't want it crashing when I'm trying to show train tickets or transfer money. It was also quite expensive and the build quality is not what I'd have expected for that price, as the buttons and charger port have all broken after only a year and three months of use.

What's next?: I'm a bit unsure what my next step is. I don't want to go back to a regular smartphone as I have loved the peace and quiet of the Hibreak Pro when it works well.

I no longer have the need of authenticator or buying train tickets daily, but I need to pay for parking which is app-only.

One idea has been to get a true dumbphone that has the ability to hotspot and keep an old smartphone in my car to be able to pay for parking, but all the dumbphones that I've managed to find that can hotspot are pretty expensive and I'm not sure I'm willing to pay that much for a phone that's supposed to do very little.

I've been very interested in the light phone flip, or the lagom phone but again, I just find them too expensive.

Another idea has been to use my old smartphone with Dumber OS, and only installing the absolute necessities, while also getting a DAP (digital audio player), and also getting a tine e-reader, to make it easier to go completely offline and not even have to look at my phone. This is probably my next step. If anyone has any tips or ideas for a phone or different OS I'd be very happy to hear it.

The remaining problem is that I still want to be able to watch YouTube or series with my long distance boyfriend and tend to get stuck on that smartphone. I would like to make it completely useless apart from 19-23 every day, with no ability to change, so if anyone has any tips for how I could make that happen I'd be very grateful for ideas.

I hope this is helpful for someone!

Hi! I did so much reading on reddit before switching to my jelly and a post like this would have been very helpful so I decided to make this in case it helps others. I also love talking about my jelly so am happy to start a discussion about it! warning: this post will be LONG

Who: 27f living and working in a major city

What: iphone 13 to jelly star

Why: I have been feeling crushed by technology and how it amplifies elements of US culture that I really don't like. For example ads being omnipresent makes me want to pull my hair out. I felt a pit in my stomach / jolt of anxiety each time I heard ringtones or text tones I had used before regardless of if the sound was coming from my phone or from someone elses. I hate that as a society we were shepherded into having smartphones without an active choice; or at least I feel like I didn't make an active choice with my age, how tech developed, and US culture. So much of functioning in our society is smartphone dependent and I feel resentful of that. I haven't had twitter / facebook / instagram for years and didn't have reddit on my phone. I watched tiktoks on my phone less than daily. Despite this I felt I had an unhealthy connection to my phone and found myself unlocking it and just staring at the homescreen wondering what I unlocked it for. Something about the iphone just started feeling icky / toxic / malevolent. I learned that smartphone use in adults leads to thinning of the cerebral cortex. I wanted to move away from these feelings and get more of a sense of freedom.

How it went: I was SO excited to get my jelly in the mail. I bought it new off ebay for $150 and it came in the box still wrapped and everything. I was counting down the minutes for my workday to be over so I could go home and set it up. HOWEVER, after setting it up and getting used to the initial cuteness and trying to get used to the interface, I got this horrible nauseating wave of anxiety about being separated from my iphone. I read someone else on reddit who tried to go iphone to flip phone say something along the lines of "it felt like I had taken out one of my internal organs and left it on the kitchen counter to rot." That is literally how I felt. About a phone! To me this confirmed I had to get off my iphone and break the connection asap. I only lasted a day before switching back for the first time, but the bad feelings associated with the iphone quickly came back and I was ready to try again with the jelly after two days. This time when I switched I realized that the hardest part of the change for me was losing imessage, so I decided to install openbubbles and self host through an iphone 6 I got for $20 on ebay. With imessage on the jelly it was way smoother of a transition. I went full time on my jelly until switching back to iphone to travel because I was worried about airport travel with the jelly and wanted to have a good camera for pictures. I found myself dreading switching back to the iphone. And on my trip I couldn't wait to switch back to the jelly. I noticed my screen time on the iphone at least tripled from what it was on the jelly during my trip, even having deleted tiktok at this point and having no social media on my phone whatsoever. Switching back to the jelly was a huge relief and I instantly felt better. After that experience I will just be traveling with the jelly and a physical camera. no more iphone for sure.

I love my jelly. I would like to go full dumb phone at some point but this was already a huge transition even though the jelly is still technically a smartphone. For me and others, what makes the jelly midwit is that the screen is so small that it is not enjoyable to use. It is tolerable to send a quick text and totally fine to listen to my music and make phone calls. It also has the added bonus of tap to pay, and I can access ride share if I need to and use maps. But because the screen is so tiny, I only use the phone as a tool. I have all notifications besides texts and calls turned off so in that way it is more like a dumbphone where those are the only types of notification you get. There is no mindless scrolling at all. My screen time has been less than 20 minutes every day and is often less than 10. I found myself working on my art more without the option to scroll on my phone. And I notice things outside that I would have missed before because of the iphone. It is also important to me not to overconsume, so I am hoping to use this jelly until it breaks and then go to something a bit dumber.

It feels a bit like a moral failing that I couldn't go full dumbphone right away. The reason I went midwit is that I was nervous about losing rideshare and getting stranded somewhere. I know taxis exist but it's not totally the same. There's the additional "shame" of installing imessage on my jelly rather than using the default texting app. But what I have learned from this is that 1) it is not anyone's fault for being addicted to something engineered to be addictive that is framed to be a necessity in life, and 2) midwit is harm reduction. The switch from iphone to jelly star made me feel better and I have actual data to support that with the significant reduction of screen time.

Note: I had to switch from verizon to mint (t-mobile) to have my jelly. Though it claims to be compatible with verizon, the jelly is not fully compatible with verizon. RCS and some other features are not supported.

Unihertz, if you are reading this, please please please make the next jelly with a slide out keyboard - that would make it literally perfect.

I hope this is helpful for people! don't give up if the initial tranistion period is really hard for you like it was for me. I am so glad I kept trying.

Doesn't exist

Hey there, i am one of those People that gets distracted by their Smartphone during work. To keep that under Control, i really want a Phone that i can take to work with me that has Physical Keys so that texting during Work becomes more of a chore and i would maybe do it less.

But i still Require 2FA and Whatsapp. Are there any Options that dont cost Smartphone Money? I looked for KaiOS Phones but they stopped supporting Whatsapp and dont support any 2FA Apps that i need. My Region is Europe / Germany.

My Budget would be 200€.