The flip phone era is coming.
It's true: People are buying up those basic clamshell throwbacks from the early 2000s faster than a discounted Reese's bag the day after Halloween.
The reasons are simple: we are bored with our smartphones, social media, and wasting years of our lives mindlessly staring at screens.
According to the latest statistics, the average person spends around five hours a day on their smartphone, which is the equivalent of six days a month and 12 years in a lifetime.
Solutions like our human willpower and the inherent limitations of social media apps don’t help.
“If you take an alcoholic who has a drinking problem and can't control it, the best thing to do is get the alcohol out of the house, right? So that's the way I look at it,” tech entrepreneur Will Brawley, 49, said from his home office in Waxhaw, North Carolina.
Brawley, who created and co-owns the popular restaurant management software company ScheduleFly, replaced his iPhone 11 with a basic Verizon flip phone exactly four years ago this month. He says he doesn't miss it at all.
“When I had the iPhone, I didn't like who I was,” he said. “I wasn't present with other people. I was constantly checking email, checking texts, sitting at stoplights looking at my phone, and just constantly holding the phone, being distracted, and being distracted even when I was with my wife and kids.”
Now, just having a flip phone “has been a mental health boon,” he said. “The minor inconveniences are outweighed by the positive outcomes for my presence, my mental health, my anxiety. All of that has improved dramatically.”
I'm fed up with spending 9 hours a day on my iPhone!
It's a feeling most people can relate to. Lately, I've felt like the hours I spend on my smartphone are an endless cycle of wasting time. I hate it. I want to change. But I just… don't change.
Recently fed up with spending roughly nine hours a day on my iPhone checking email, texting, social media, watching “Baby Reindeer,” and listening to podcasts or audiobooks, I've started using a prepaid Total by Verizon Nokia 2760 Flip during “off-work” hours at night and on weekends.
I've already cut my smartphone usage in half, which according to the screen time calculator gives me about six years of life back overall. My friends and family have my number if there's an emergency.
Flip phone searches and sales surge
Sales of ordinary flip “feature” phones — not the new Samsung Galaxy Flip5 or Fold5 smartphones — have risen for a second year in the U.S. According to tech news site ZDNet, searches for flip phones are also on the rise, with demand among Gen Z and young millennials “up 15,369%” compared to last year, writes contributor Artie Beatty.
Some credit Gen Z TikTok influencers like Sammi Palazzolo (@skzzolno), who racked up more than 17 million views in 2022 when she posted about why as a college student she always takes a flip phone with her when she goes out at night. What’s the bottom line? It keeps her and her friends more present, eliminates “drunk texts” and bad hookups, and “all the bad things about college and all the good things about phones, which is connecting with people and taking photos and videos,” she wrote.
Others point to nostalgia for things past, like the return of the Sony Walkman and instant cameras we've seen in the past year.
But the biggest reason for the rise in digital downgrading seems to be something similar to why I bought a flip phone: I don't allow a thousand-dollar gadget to make me feel powerless over my time, attention, and energy.
Wyatt Olson, 20, a Williams College student, thinks so too. He said spending too much time on his smartphone will hurt him badly by the end of 2023.
He said, “I felt like I was spending every single second of my free time on my phone, whether it was walking in between classes, or even like I had just finished a class. … And when I would look up and look around, everyone else was on their phone too.”
Olson tried a number of tricks to spend less time on his phone, which I've been talking about since 2018. He set his phone to grayscale and set app time limits. It wasn't enough. On January 1, 2024, he left his iPhone at home with his mom and sister in Maryland and set out for a semester of “self-improvement time” with a Nokia 2760 Flip.
“I love it. I've always been a phone call type of person, and it makes it easier for me to talk to my friends, rather than text. I have a legitimate excuse because I'm not going to take two minutes to answer you,” Olson says. He misses streaming music from his phone, which he now does from his laptop. Navigating without Waze or Google Maps can also be a challenge. “But honestly, it feels empowering,” he said.
Doomscrolling “Dumbphones” out, digital detoxes in
The subreddit r/Dumbphones is in the top 2% of the most engaged communities on the platform, with nearly 60,000 members. It's the best place to research “dumbphones” online.
Church pastor Jose Briones, 28, took on the role in early 2020 after switching to a Lightphone — a simple e-ink screen phone for making calls and texts — in 2019. Before that change, Briones spent “12 or 13 hours a day on a screen — almost every waking hour I was spending 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 (activity, and miss out on) so many rich real-life experiences.”
Briones has also created a useful tool called Dumbphone Finder, which helps people figure out what they can live without and what they can't live without.
You take a short quiz with questions and options like “Do you want smart apps?” and “Choose your favorite style” (flip phone, candybar, touchscreen), and it might recommend the Cat S22 Flip or the TCL Flip 2.
Since taking over r/dumbphones, Briones says he's been surprised by how widespread the problem is that people are addicted to their smartphones. “Most people think it's a device problem, but it's a lifestyle problem,” he says. “This technology is designed to amplify our weaknesses and grab all of our attention — as much as possible. I want to be able 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 full transition, like using a $49 3D-printed device called the Brick.
It's a tiny plastic magnet about the size of an AirPod case. You download a corresponding app (iOS, Android), choose which 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 those features stay blocked until you tap the brick again.
I bought this about two months ago and I highly recommend it, provided you keep it in another room so it doesn't go off with the slightest movement.
The minimalist Phone app works great on many Android phones, turning attractive app icons and backgrounds into boring grayscale blandness. The DumbWireless website is another good resource for checking out your options when it comes to digital downgrading. It includes everything from the more expensive Lightphone II ($299) to the AGM M9 ($50).
If you're considering buying a “dumbphone,” I recommend starting like I did, with a cheap device that costs very little and uses a prepaid wireless plan. That way, if it works, great. If it doesn't, you've lost money on less than the cost of a nice dinner.
However, if you want the most comprehensive overview in general, go with Briones and r/dumbphones. In addition to the basics, the forum is a great place to take specific questions and get advice for your particular needs. It also has lots of helpful feedback and honest reviews from the pioneers of the “dumbphone” movement, including the latest, hottest, and most expensive pared-down devices:
- Light Phone III (Preorder 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 two cameras on the front and back. It also has a hardware shutter button like a point-and-shoot camera. Other features include a USB-C port, flashlight, fingerprint sensor, and support for 5G. However, it won't ship until January 2025.
- Punkt MP02 ($255.20), A candybar that looks like an early 2000s 4G phone.
- F1 Horizon (Bluebird) Sunbeam Wireless ($249): Classic flip phone with hotspot and Waze.
- WisePhone II by Techless ($399): Shipping just started. A smartphone-like dumbphone with a great camera and custom OS.
The bottom line? You don't have to spend a lot of money to protect yourself. Another benefit is that it saves money – about $3,000 over two years.
Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer technology columnist and on-air correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USA TODAY. Contact him[email protected],