r/dumbphones

And this one is really primitive, 12 yo and no gimmicks.

The first day without iPhone and it is shocking how people don’t even know how to write a SMS.
I love it. Less stress. Less distractions.

I know need an trustworthy iPod for music, then the old brick is not needed anymore.

Lo compre en Mercado libre por unos $90 dólares nuevo, lo uso de celular principal y lo acompaño con un E32 para Whatsapp y Maps.

I've used this phone off and on for the last few days. In short, it's a decent phone. It's a bit slow and the lack of Google will be either a killer feature or a deal breaker for you, but there's hardly anything like this in the Australian market (especially at the price).

• The battery life is fine, maybe even good. The 2150mAh battery lasts me a full day of light/moderate use with a SIM, but your mileage may vary. The lack of Google services helps battery life.
• The OS is barely modified Android 11 Go with no Google services and security updates dating to November 2022. No further updates were promised and with these specs I doubt there would be any. If the old security patch bothers you, avoid this phone.
• The quad-core 1.5GHz(?) CPU is slow, but Android Go Edition and the lack of Google services makes the system pretty responsive. Apps are still slow though, but usable. Web browsing with a modern browser (I chose Brave) is doable. 2GB of RAM is enough for what you'll be doing with this and the 16GB of storage is tight but you have a Micro SD slot that supports up to 128GB.
• You can install any app onto it by sideloading APKs. I recommend Aurora Store (a Google Play store front end), but APKPure Lite is preinstalled for your convenience. However, a lot of apps rely on Google services for not just Google logins, but push notifications and location services (I can't seem to get notifications from FB Messenger or Discord, for example). That means no Google Maps, but some apps like Magic Earth and OsmAnd don't rely on Google so they work fine. I tried installing Google services by installing the right APKs as user apps, but it didn't work.
• The keypad is pretty good. The buttons all feel good, with the exception of the right navigation button. That one feels soft and needs more force to press down (anyone else?). Time will tell if it will develop double clicking issues like my Cat S22 Flip did after a few months, but it's surprisingly solid right now. It also lights up very dimly when in use. While you can use a normal on-screen keyboard for typing, you would buy this phone for the keypad. Despite that, Android's included keypad typing is terrible. Traditional T9 should be the first app you install on this phone, to get proper keypad/T9 typing.
• The navigation buttons are a bit of a mess. The back/recents key is one button (short press for back, long press for recents) which acts as backspace when typing. I'm also not a fan of the power/home/end call button. It usually acts as a home button, but you can only turn the screen off with it if you press it while on the first page of your home screen (but only on the default launcher). The R key is used for bringing up the password screen from your lock screen and long pressing it can be bound to a couple things that would be worth listing if that action didn't only work on the home screen of the default launcher smh. The # and * keys are volume up and down (when you aren't typing). There are no other buttons around the sides of the phone.
• The 2.8" 640x480 screen looks very sharp at the size and has great viewing angles. It's just bright enough for use outdoors. This Android version weirdly doesn't have an option for auto-brightness, but there are apps that can replicate the functionality using the phone's light sensor.
• The phone comes with an RUIO Family app which is a very basic parental control / location tracking. I wrote more about how the app works here.
• The flashlight is impressively weak. It's weaker than most actually dumb phones I've used.
• The cameras are usable. Here's a sample image from the rear camera compared to a good smartphone.
• The phone has WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, 4G LTE (with hotspot), GPS, a light sensor, proximity sensor, but no accelerometer, gyro, nor NFC. Calls, texts, and mobile data obviously work on Australian networks.
• It has no headphone jack and while the manual says the phone supports audio over USB C, people here have been having issues with that. I'll buy an adaptor soon and test it myself.
• It comes with a wrist strap and a free clear case that will likely yellow over time, but no one will ever make a case for this phone so cherish it.
• I don't know if it works internationally, but it is sold exclusively in JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stores in Australia. If you can get one shipped to your country, maybe check what network bands your carrier requires. These are the bands this phone works with: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B26/B28A+B/B40, WCDMA 900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900Mhz

This is RUIO's first smart feature phone. While it's pretty good, I find it hard to recommend to a lot of people because it's not a great experience out of the box. If the phone came with Traditional T9 preinstalled, had the navigation keys more separated, used a better processor with a current Android version, and came with MicroG services, it'd be a much easier sell. I hope RUIO continues to design smart feature phones in the future!

(PS: also read the two other reviews on this sub!)

:) lmk

I keep buying these goddamn flipphones.

You only need one right? I already have 5 of them, not counting older 2G models. These, in the picture, are android phones, fully functional and usable in 2026, supporting 4G/LTE and what not. Can run messengers and social media if needed, with some quirks.

And guess what, now I'm eyeing Alt Mive Folder 2. Even though I know it will be a downgrade from my current daily driver Samsung W2018. But Sharp 805SH was also a supposed downgarde from Cat s22, but I still used it for like 6+ months.

The whole "it's a collection bruh" argument sounds like an excuse, I do not display them on a stand like action figures or something, they all are stored in a box, except the one I'm using currently.

Them being relatively cheap doesn't help. This entire picture costs less than whatever the latest iPhone does. Not even ultra pro max deluxe or whatever top end version.

Talk me out of buying another one, I want it, but I don't need it, it's some kind of mental health issue at this point.

SGH-A256

Does someone knows if this support 3G network? I can't find any info

TL;DR (if you want to skip the essay):
Dropped my iPhone 13 Mini in the rain and decided to go fully dumb(er). Now using a Kyocera KYF42 + XTEink + Casio watch. Kept a cheap iPhone SE 2nd gen in my car for maps/music (plus MDM-managed work iPhone in my bag). Ditched the Apple Watch and realized I don’t need 24/7 connectivity. Still on the fence about the Sidephone I’d ordered earlier. Pretty happy with current arrangement.

Full post:
Finally made the transition fully, after trying out different ways of disconnecting—going slow, semi-dumb, etc. All thanks to dropping my minuscule iPhone 13 Mini (a reasonable not-dumbphone) on tiles in the rain (2-minute reboots make retrieving stuff _fun_). After having tried several dumbphones before my 13 Mini, I knew I _didn’t_ want to replace it with another smartphone, and definitely not a larger phone. A blessing in disguise.

I’ve also been in and around the subreddit for about a year, looking to transition from a heavily iOS setup to something simpler (starting point: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch).

All of this—plus working in ICT, my ADHD, and just living in this era of late-stage capitalism, omnipresent rent-seeking, and the ensh*ttification of everything—pushed me to rethink my relationship with tech.

Simultaneously, I’d worked out other smaller things. My work doesn’t allow PEDs, so 80% of the time I was wearing my Casio, and my Apple Watch was just for swimming and HEMA (and did I really need that health data? No). So the watch went. I’d bought a Sony NW-A55 Walkman, dug out my old pre-streaming-era MP3 collection, added Libra.FM audiobooks, and Bandcamp albums, etc.—and boom, offline music/audiobooks.

Tried several dumbphones (newer/crappy Nokia/HMD feature phones, Nokia 8000 4G, an Aspera, an Opel), but they felt like plastic rubbish. Even the Nokia 8000 had a terribly clicky keyboard. Enter _Kyocera flip phones_. The KYF39 doesn’t work fully in Oz (no band 28/VoLTE), but the KYF42 does. And boy, these Kyoceras are like old-school flips—just better built. Plus calls, text, Wi-Fi, hotspot, email if needed, and, if I care enough, some app sideloading. They’re just _so_ nice to use (think BlackBerry keyboard nice).

A key takeaway for me is that _technology isn’t neutral_. TV, cinema, phones, and definitely smartphones change our behavior, our culture, how we interact with the world, and how we prioritize actions. Do I need to read email/WhatsApp/Signal 24/7? Do I need to be able to do banking anywhere? Or do I just need to plan better? Streaming music is nice, but I know I feel better buying the artists I like, loading them onto an SD card—and it makes for more intentional listening.

There have been a few exceptions, though: Waze maps and music streaming in the car, especially with the family. I bought an old iPhone SE 2nd gen for AUD$100 with a battery at 70%, put a prepaid SIM in it, and there’s my CarPlay—permanently in my car in a spot even I can’t easily reach, functionally a basic car computer. (It was interesting to realize there isn’t a market for “car-only smart devices”—everything is CarPlay/Android Auto, etc.) On workdays, I have an iPhone 16 in my bag, but it’s so locked down it’s actually a functional/useful tool, not a way to monetize my attention.

I’d ordered a Sidephone International for Australia prior to all of this, but now I’m on the fence—do I even need it, or is the KYF42 enough?

The total cost for this current carry was half of what I’d pay for a new iPhone. Ha.

Lastly, my ‘EDC’:
- KYF42 on Belong (Telstra wholesale) in Australia, with a 64GB SD card loaded with music and audiobooks. I also carry some Jabra earbuds.
- A purple Mark Honore leather wallet (realized I needed a wallet with the basic license/keycard/Medicare/etc.—the four cards of the apocalypse—since I wasn’t carrying a digital wallet anymore).
- An XTEink. Holy crap, even better than a Kobo. I’ve read more with my XTEink in the last month than I have with paper or my Kobo in the past year. I don’t use Chinese internet-connected tech for cybersecurity/work reasons, but this thing can operate in purely offline mode with an SD card. What a gem, and so well made.
- Mark Honore leather notepad cover for the Spirax #560 + 4-color pen. One of my favorite bits to carry around now. Protects the notebook, is super small, and feels nice. The 560 notebook is 112mm / 4.5”.

Downsides?
- House music: I love it for the beats and the regulation, but short of streaming services, it’s difficult to easily/quickly find and download it.
- Podcasts: Love them, but short of sideloading an app that may or may not work on the KYF42, I haven’t found a way forward. Not a major issue, though.
- CarPlay: Feels like a compromise, but it’s small and contained.
- Shazam: I’m so used to Shazaming every song I randomly hear and like. Do I care? Kinda… Not?
- I need to reinstall MediaMonkey or some such mp3 tag editing software to clean up my music library (tiny violin).

I still use my iPad Air as my primary workhorse. For now, this setup feels like the right balance.

Thanks to all the folks in here who shared their experiences and gave me ideas.

i transferred some java games (.jar) to my Nokia E71 using USB and phone detects them, but they either freeze or fail completely.

what are the best java games websites and how to fix this issue?

would love recommendations for working games too