Phone: Light Flip Phone
Date release: 2027
I would like your opinion, would the girlies buy it? Or the price is unreasonable ($349) since It’s rare to find pink dumb flip phones in the market that are minimalist and quite functional. HMD/Nokia has them, the 2660 series but they are cheaply made and the UI is just not that great (unless you use the KaiOs versions). Can it be justified for simply the aesthetic lemme know!!!
Let me preface by saying I know this looks very "-aesthetic" and...Yeah, I do really love decorating every device I own 😭 I like to mod consoles (such as the GBA, 3DS, etc) and decorate them as I please, so it translated into my phone of choice too. I promise I didn't get this phone for the sake of vanity, I just had a flip phone in middle school and really wanted to return to simpler times!
Anywho, I'm someone who lives in the U.S., and I use Mint Mobile. Despite this being a Japanese phone, it takes calls flawlessly here :) unfortunately, texts are a bit of a pain—I needed to install a custom texting app (QKSMS) to make it work, but otherwise the setup was very smooth. The mic quality seems to be pretty good, at least according to those I've called so far. It also has some cute little features, such as displaying the name of the caller on the outer sub-display and being able to have a custom LED for when you're called. I have my LED set to rainbow 🙏 it's a party when people call me!
I was able to load Discord onto this phone, if that's a concern to anyone. I know that's technically a form of social media, but it's the only form of contact I have with some of my friends, unfortunately. I could also load some other custom apps as well, such as Reddit and Pinterest, though I haven't actually used them yet since I'm a rather offline person to begin with.
Overall, I'm really loving this phone so far! It's all I could have ever wanted from a flip phone, personally speaking though since I don't use GPS (iirc GPS is wonky since it's a Japanese phone). I still have my iPhone for banking and work scheduling, but that aside, I'm happy to return to the world of flip phones 💗.
I tried porting Android 10 to an old Android 5 Kyocera keitai flip phone (the GRATINA KYF37), mostly for fun and so I could run modern apps on it. The result is a mostly working ROM, with microG support (so apps that expect Google services work) and Bad Apple on the outer screen.
What works / doesn't
I have uploaded it to the Github Repo.
kudos to Sonnet 5.5 for fixing most of the hardware realed stuff and creating the custom recovery for the phone.
it's been a year and a half of dumb phone life which has been very cool! started with a nokia 2780 to test out how little i needed without dropping a ton of money. would highly recommend that route instead of diving right into a more expensive device. i ended up upgrading to the light phone 3 a year ago since i found it second hand on the r/LightPhone subreddit which was great.
i have not felt the need to go back at all, especially since as a public librarian i am surrounded by information access that i really do not feel the pressure of needing it through my phone on top of the desktop i am in front of at work. i don't need much and everything works so well and i love how consistent new updates are for it. it's a device i know will last me years and that's what i mainly wanted.
i also recently broke free from the kindle ecosystem (yay!!) and switched to a boox go 7 black & white and god i love it. i primarily read books through multiple library apps (libby, cloud library, hoopla) and the ability to download both audio and ebooks without being dependent on getting them through amazon's finicky upload system is wonderful. i can also access pdf formats so much better which is great since some publishers i love such as iskra books puts out free pdf versions of all of their books.
i still usually carry another physical read with me which is why i included an actual book in my edc, and i love listening to various podcasts on the light phone but also learned another great publisher (foreign languages press) has free audiobook recordings of most of their books using a podcast format so if you're also into marxist-leninist-maoist thought and socialist theory i would highly recommend them. then of course i included my wallet cause that's the only other thing besides my keys that is absolutely a part of my edc! feel free to ask any questions about any of the devices (or books!) you'd like <3
Hey y’all!
I’ve been trying to find a dumb / dumbed down phone since my plan comes up in December, but I’ve been running into some challenges finding ones that can run on Canadian providers.
Also due to the nature of my job (an arts professional who travels a lot) I would be in the market for something that has emailing capabilities & navigation.
I want to specify that I'm open to using my current iphone as a secondary if necessary. I just don’t want to give stinky apple any more of my money. This being said, I won’t want to feel like the entire world is in my pocket.
Some of the options I’ve considered are:
The Light Phone III
The Unihertz Titan 2
but my knowledge is pretty limited on what’s out there. I’m also not super crazy about a flip phone design, but would love a proper keyboard.
Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help 🙂
Hey,
a while back, I shared the first few lightweight, FOSSify-based apps I built for T9 and keypad Android phones (like the Qin F21 Pro, Doov R77 Pro, and Dumber Mini) to make navigation smooth without a touchscreen.
Since many of you pointed out the need for a dedicated, D-pad optimized dialer alongside the contacts app, I went ahead and built it!
Here is the complete DumberKit lineup so far, fully optimized for pure D-pad / keypad navigation:
I would love to know how these work for you. I'm especially curious about how the apps perform on other keypad Android devices.
Also, which app do you think should be my next priority to add to the suite?
As always, feel free to test them out, report any bugs directly on GitHub, or drop feature suggestions here. Let me know how they work for your setup!
People always say that ESim is the future and way to go, but the reality is, it can be just as insecure if not worse than having a physical Sim.
Just today my carrier account got compromised, someone was able to hack into my account and as a result changed the Esim from my iphone 16e to their phone which immediately made me lose my cell service.
Long story short i rushed to my carrier store, and they gave me a new physical one after verifying my id with them.
I know technically this is not common at all and carriers should be more secure ideally but the point is, the fact a hacker can just steal my entire phone number and connectivity in a second is 10x scarier to me than the possibility of my physical phone getting stolen off me.
Moreover, if my main iphone has a software update or crashes or glitches, i can swap the physical sim to another phone and switch back moment the iphone is fixed.
So with all these, isnt esims technically not a good idea going forward?
Are flagship carriers going to just end up abandoning physical sims altogether, making it more difficult to obtain sims or even use one praxtically with a dumbphone/smartphone hybrid users?
Really scary the direction our world is heading in terms of technology.
(Im by no means old, im a gen Z)
I finally made the switch to a Sunbeam Bluebird in June after years of lurking on r/dumbphones . This post from Veronica Explains is what finally pushed me over the edge: https://veronicaexplains.net/dumbphone-summer-2026/
After a few months, I'm super happy with the transition. I have a young child and used to have a lot of trouble staying present during play time - getting rid of my smart phone has made a huge difference.
One thing that I missed was my notes app. I used use Apple Notes all the time to jot down things that were on my mind. I tried using the native Sunbeam notes app, but missed being able to read from my computer.
So I built a minimalist, dumbphone-friendly notes app. You can submit notes via SMS (like how OG twitter worked) and review them on your computer later. I've been using it daily for a few months and finding it very useful. This core functionality is free, and there's a paid plan that adds some extra features.
I'd love to hear some feedback from fellow dumphone users. Check it out here: https://tothevo.id/ , and click "try it now" if you want to test out the SMS features before creating an account.
What is everyone’s go to for a digital camera?
Background info - my wife and I are going to make the switch from iPhones to the dumphone 2 this week. We’re stoked to make the change and lower our screen time. Our only concern is pictures. We have a 3 month old baby, so pictures are an absolute must.
We currently have a huge shared album with any of our family members that have iPhones, and we fully plan on continuing to contribute to that. We have the cannon selphy printer that has wifi connection capabilities, along with SD card and USB connection options. So I’m sure I could find a way to “reverse”(?) upload the images from the digital camera to my iPhone for the purposes of sharing them in the album. But if anyone has experience with something similar and recommendations based on that, you get bonus points.
I also plan on printing photos with the cannon printer so I can make huge photo albums for our daughter. So any recommendations that take print quality into account would be appreciated.
Edit - adding some missing details
- Something durable, and with a long battery life
- Budget isn’t a concrete number. Idk enough about cameras to even try to guess what a fair price would be for a good quality camera. Open to any price, just need to know why it’s worth it.
Hello everyone,
Which of these two phones would you recommend?
My mother had the Nokia 2660, and I want to replace it with an identical phone.
Are the two phones similar, or would it be better to go with the Nokia?
Thanks
Hey everyone! 👋
As many of us using T9 / keypad Android phones (like the Qin F21 Pro, Doov R77 Pro, or Dumber Mini) know, standard Android apps aren't always great to use without a touchscreen. To fix that, I've built a set of lightweight apps based on the FOSSify core, fully optimized for pure D-pad / keypad navigation.
Here are the first three apps I’ve put together (tested and working on the Doov R77 Pro and Dumber Mini):
(Note: The Phone/Dialer app is currently in progress!)
I would love to get some feedback from you guys on whether everything works smoothly. If you encounter any bugs, please report them directly on GitHub. I'm also very open to any new ideas or feature suggestions.
Let me know how they work for you!
Hi everyone!
I’m using a Qin F21 Pro and would like to skip songs on Spotify using the physical buttons without having to unlock the phone or open Spotify.
I’ve already tried a few things: Using both the default launcher and Niagara Launcher, looking through the phone’s settings to remap the buttons, trying to find an option to assign next/previous track functions to the physical keys.
Unfortunately, the button remapping settings don’t seem to offer any options for skipping music.
Is there any way to achieve this? Ideally, I’d like to assign a long press or double press of one of the physical buttons to skip to the next or previous Spotify track while the screen is off and the phone is locked. Would an app like Key Mapper work for this, or would it require ADB commands, root access, or a different launcher?
I’d appreciate any suggestions from people who have managed to get this working on their Qin F21 Pro!
Thanks!
This is the last photo I'll ever take on this damn smartphone. The thing in the middle with pink floyd is actually just a digital audio player running deezer. Now the only thing I need is a bag to carry stuff in.
TomTom fiat edition - $12 thrift store
iPod nano 7th gen - traded for it
Canon sx600 hs - mom found it cleaning
AirPods - mom got a pair on accident for free
Motorola T900 - $100 ( turned on and working)
Wallet - Xmas present
Pager bcuz no apps just texting and email. No spam calls or calls in general 😂. Doesn’t get dumber
Hey all,
I'm the developer of Screentide, a flexible screen-time manager for Android.
I'm giving away 495 lifetime Screentide Gold licences, currently valued at $19.99.
Screentide is a flexible screen-time manager built especially for Android that helps you cut back on distracting apps and websites using smart triggers, schedules and different levels of intervention, from subtle friction through to a strict block.
A few things that make it different:
While you can use all the core features for free, Screentide Gold is for more advanced setups. It unlocks:
This is a lifetime unlock, not a subscription!
🎁 495 × Screentide Gold lifetime licences
💰 Currently $19.99, free for this giveaway
(Gold will increase to $39.99 after the early-bird period.)
Claim Gold Coupon: https://www.promies.net/promotion/11928f4f-4674-4b92-ad46-9256583b01ae
How to claim in the app: https://www.promies.net/knowledgebase/unlock-gold-lifetime-free/article/26
App on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.screentide.screentime.appblocker
Learn more about Screentide: https://screentide.app
Feedback would be great, especially if something doesn't work as expected. Android development in this space is tricky because different devices and OS versions can behave differently, and I haven't been able to test every device.
If you do run into an issue, please report it through the feedback form in the app so I can get to the bottom of it.
Hope it helps users cut down on their screen time!
This might seem stupid. Maybe those with babies could understand. I am a mum with a 5.5 month old and use my iphone A LOT while they are napping - grocery shopping, paying bills, general life admin. I dont use my phone in front of my baby except when I’m taking pictjres.
But I’m wanting to make the switch to a dumbphone.. has anyone switched while they have a baby? Did you just do all your life admin stuff on your laptop? I know this seems ridiculous (like of course use your laptop) but the convenience with a baby is the current “excuse” I’m stuck on.
As a GenZer, know my phone brings me more bad than good, hence I'm starting to look into dumb phones.
It would need WhatsApp availability and physical QWERTY keyboard. As extras, it would be nice if it had Telegram availability too.
I don't know how common this is, but if it had Bluetooth and an SD card slot it'd be great too. Would prefer it if it didn't have a touch screen. Don't really need much else. If it runs on Android, awesome. But mainly just want something I can communicate with and Won't distract me.
TLDR: LF phone with no touch screen, that has Whatsapp and qwerty physical keyboard.
​
Hey, I recently got the s22 flip from amazon. It was listed as the Unifone S22 Flip and i got it for around 100 bucks. I've had it for about a week and I have a lot of thoughts I wanna share. Firstly, the phone has a lot of limitations, like no rcs and the mic quality being really bad. The speakers aren't the best either and its not really a true flip phone experience because you can't do everything from the dpad and numbers. The hinge is also kind of annoying since the phone is really heavy and the hinge closes down pretty fast (i may or may not have pinched my fingers really badly). Apart from being really bulky and heavy, there's not much else to complain about. The camera quality is decent, it has bluetooth and hotspot, it can run google maps and play games. However, that's one of the worse things about this phone, it's a bit too good at being a phone. My main concern for getting a flip phone was for it to reduce my screen time and have some sort of maps functionality. I originally looked for the nokia 2780 but I couldn't find it anywhere in canada for a good price so I looked towards the tcl flip 2. The flip two was a good phone but my main concern was that it didn't have maps. I attempted to "jailbreak" into it but the Canadian version had a software update blocking me from doing it. Thats where the s22 flip came in. Its got too much functionality to be a good dumb phone. I'm still going to be keeping it because its still inconvenient enough to reduce my screen time but if you can find it, I'd definitely go for the Nokia because it embodies everything a dumb phone should be imo. The s22 is just a really inconvenient, tiny smartphone with a really shitty microphone. Thoughts?
Hello everyone :), I’ve looked around and searched the page and can’t seem to find anything here which is exactly what I want so here I am :).
I’m looking for a dumb phone which works in the uk preferably with 02 as that’s my current provider but can change.
I heard that 2g/3g is shutting down so I need something that will last. Preferably something that runs Monzo and nhs app however I can keep my old smartphone around for specific things like this and just use the dumb phone day to day, I’d like something that isn’t overly expensive such as £300 so somewhere in the £100 range would be nice.
I just want to get away from using the internet too much and have my old phone/computer as a dedicated internet device like the good old days, also with the news with ai etc I want to get away.
The thing is I’d like it to have texting and maps and that’s about it, like I said I can keep my old iPhone in a drawer for specific needs.
I have an iPod and a Walkman for music and can do majority of other things elsewhere
Hello!!! I'm thinking of my next phone being a flip phone, but for certain apps and websites it's unavoidable to use Microsoft authenticator (for example, getting into my work emails as I work for the government). Has anyone else encountered a similar issue? How did you get around it? I've worked out alternatives for every other app I'd need/decided I just don't need it on my phone, but this one thing I just don't think I can get around :(
