Flip phones are having a moment.
It’s true: People are snapping up these basic early 2000s flapper throwbacks faster than a discounted bag of Reese’s the day after Halloween.
The reasons are simple: we are exhausted by our smartphones, our social networks and we passively let years of our lives melt away, stuck mindlessly on screens.
According to the latest statistics, the average person spends almost five hours a day on their smartphone, which equates to six days a month and a staggering lifespan of 12 years.
Our human will and band-aid solutions, like the built-in limits of social media apps, don’t help.
“If you take an alcoholic who has a drinking problem and can’t control it, then the best thing to do is get the alcohol out of the house, right? So that’s kind of how I looked at it,” tech entrepreneur Wil Brawley, 49, said from his office in Waxhaw, North Carolina.
Brawley, who created and co-owns the popular restaurant management software company Schedulefly, went cold turkey and replaced his iPhone 11 with a basic Verizon flip phone exactly four years ago this month- this. He says he doesn’t miss it – at all.
“I didn’t like who I was when I had an iPhone,” he said. “I was not present with other people. I was constantly checking my email, text messages, sitting at a red light, looking at my phone, and constantly reaching for the phone, I was distracted and I was distracted when I was with my wife and kids .
Now, having just a flip phone “has been a godsend for my mental health,” he said. “The small inconveniences are far outweighed by the positive results, just for my presence, my mental health, my anxiety. All of that has improved considerably.”
Tired of 9 hours a day on my iPhone
It’s a feeling that more people can relate to. Lately, I’ve felt like the hours spent on my smartphone are an endless loop of wasting time on a hamster wheel. I hate that. I want to change. But I… don’t.
Fed up with recently spending nearly nine hours a day interacting with my iPhone on emails, texts, social media, watching “Baby Reindeer” and listening to podcasts or audiobooks, I opted for a Verizon Nokia 2760 Flip Prepaid Total. during “non-work” hours, nights and weekends.
I’ve already cut the time I spend on my smartphone in half, which, according to the Screen Time Calculator, gives me back about six years of my life in total. My friends and family have the number in case of emergency.
Flip phone searches and sales are increasing
Sales of simple flip phones – not the new Samsung Galaxy Flip5 or Fold5 smartphones – are up in the United States for the second year. According to tech news site ZDNet, searches for flip phones are also on the rise, up “15,369% over the past year among Gen Z and younger Millennials,” writes contributor Artie Beaty.
Some people credit Gen Z TikTok influencers like Sammy Palazzolo (@skzzolno), who garnered over 17 million views in 2022 when she, as a student, explained why she doesn’t pick up a phone flapper only when she goes out for the night. The essential? This allows her and her friends to be more present, eliminating “drunk texting” and bad connections, as well as “all the bad things about college and all the good things about a phone, which allows to connect with people and take photos and videos,” she wrote.
Others evoke nostalgia for all things retro, just as we saw the return of the Sony Walkman and instant cameras last year.
But the biggest reason for this wave of digital downgrading seems to have more to do with why I bought a flip phone: I refuse to let a thousand-dollar gadget make me feel powerless over my time, focus, and my energy.
Wyatt Olson, 20, a student at Williams College, feels the same way. He said spending too much time on his smartphone really hit him in late 2023.
“I felt like I was spending every second of free time on my phone,” he said, “whether it was walking between classes or like I had just finished a class. …And when I looked up and looked around, everyone was on their phones too.
Olson has tried many tricks to spend less time on his phone that I’ve been talking about since 2018. He set his phone to grayscale and set time limits on apps. It wasn’t enough. On January 1, 2024, he left his iPhone at home with his mother and sister in Maryland and left for a semester of “personal development time” with a Nokia 2760 Flip.
“I love it. I’ve always been a phone person, and this makes it easier for me to talk to my friends rather than texting. I have a legitimate excuse because I’m not going to spend two minutes to answer you,” Olson says. He misses streaming music from his phone, which he now does with his laptop. Navigating without Waze or Google Maps can also be a challenge. of power,” he said.
Doomscrolling outside, the “idiots”, digital detoxes are in fashion
The r/Dumbphones subreddit is in the top 2% of the most engaged communities on the platform, with nearly 60,000 members. This is hands down the best place to search for dumbphones online.
The moderator, 28-year-old church pastor Jose Briones, took over the role in early 2020 after switching to a Lightphone – a simple E-ink screen phone for calling and texting – in 2019. Before that change, Briones was logging “12 or 13 hours of screen time a day — pretty much every waking hour I spent online,” he said. “And I didn’t want to do that, you know. I didn’t want to change the way I interact with the world, with all the online experiences (activities and lacks) and so many richer real experiences.
Briones also created a useful tool called Dumbphone Finder to help people determine how much they can — and can’t — live without it.
You take a short quiz with questions and options like “Do you want smart apps?” and “Choose your favorite style” (flip phone, candy bar, touchscreen), and it might recommend the Cat S22 Flip or TCL Flip 2.
Since taking the helm of r/Dumbphones, Briones says he’s been surprised by the scale of the problem of people’s addiction to their smartphones. “Most people think it’s a device problem, but it’s a lifestyle problem,” he says. “Technology is designed to amplify our vulnerabilities and get our full attention – as much as possible. I want to choose what I pay attention to. I don’t want a device to dictate that.
Is a digital downgrade right for you?
Briones recommends taking small steps before making a complete change, such as using a $49 3D-printed device called the Brick.
It’s a small plastic magnet about the size of an AirPod case. You download a corresponding app (iOS, Android), select the apps and features you want to block – calls, messages, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube – then tap the little brick like you do when paying for something with your phone. All of these features remain blocked until you physically press the brick again.
I bought one about two months ago and I highly recommend it, as long as you are used to putting it in another room so as not to deactivate it at the slightest tick.
The Minimalist Phone app works well on many Android phones, transforming flashy app icons and backgrounds into boring grayscale blandness. The Dumbwireless website is another good resource for checking out your options for digital downgrading. It includes everything from the more expensive Lightphone II ($299) to the AGM M9 ($50).
If you’re considering purchasing a dumbphone, I recommend starting like I did, with an inexpensive device that costs very little and uses a prepaid wireless plan. This way, if it works, great. If not, you’re losing less than the price of a nice dinner.
If you want the broadest overview in general, go with Briones and r/Dumphones. In addition to basic information, the forum is a great place to answer specific questions and get advice tailored to your particular needs. It also contains lots of helpful comments and honest reviews from people at the forefront of the dumbphone movement, which includes the latest, greatest, and most expensive sleek devices:
- Light Phone III (Pre-order for $399 until July 15, then $799): Called the ultimate digital detox phone, this ultra-watered-down candybar phone with an e-ink display now comes with a pair of cameras on the front and back. the rear. There’s even a camera-style hardware trigger, similar to a camera. Other additions include a USB-C port, flashlight, fingerprint sensor, and 5G support. However, it won’t ship until January 2025.
- Item MP02 ($255.20): Candybar which looks like an early 2000s phone with 4G support.
- F1 Horizon (blue bird) by Sunbeam Wireless ($249): Classic flip phone with Hotspot and Waze.
- Wisephone II by Techless ($399): Shipping is just starting now. Smartphone-like dumbphone with a great camera and a custom operating system.
At the end of the line ? You don’t need to spend a large amount of money to save yourself. Another benefit of matching is that it saves money – about $3,000 over two years.
Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning on-air columnist and correspondent covering consumer technology. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her atJJ@Techish.com.