r/flipphones

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".

Hola, he estado mirando el kyocera 902kc y tenía algunas preguntas:

1. ¿Funciona bien con WhatsApp, lo soporta bien?

2. ¿Podría pasar mi historial de chats de mi smartphone al keitai?

3. ¿Puedo hacer llamada (yo sé que video llamada no) desde WhatsApp?

4. Leí que los keitais tienen la función de de escanear codigo QR, ¿desde WhatsApp todavía se puede?

5. ¿Conoces algún otro keitai que sepas que funciona bien con WhatsApp?

This might be a dumb question, but how easy might it be to remove the system-level restrictions on the Commodore Callback? Everything about this phone appeals to me except the fact that it won't run a browser. Would it require just figuring out how to run android instead of the custom os?

Hi hi !!

I’m writing this post for anyone who wants to use a flip phone as their primary cell phone in France. Everything I’m about to say is based solely on my own experience.

First of all, I bought mine used on eBay—a black one with a clear case. I

loaded it with everything I needed, including a microSD card for music; the phone’s built-in music player is more than enough.

As for the network connection, I had a Free SIM card and I live in Paris—it worked perfectly: calls, texts, voicemail, everything. However, I switched to Bouygues Telecom later, and with them, basic calls wouldn’t go through. Calls via WhatsApp or Signal, on the other hand, worked flawlessly.

For me, the phone is perfect for avoiding doomscrolling, since the screen format is terrible for that—plus the keyboard wasn’t well supported on YouTube Shorts. However, the keyboard isn’t well supported by most mobile apps, such as Discord.

One downside, though, is that you have to turn it off and on again every once in a while; otherwise, it can get really slow.

As a primary phone, it does its job perfectly.

If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them in the comments!

Have a great day :)

I desperately want to daily a phone like these but its not really doable in the Midwest/ south USA. 😔

Edit: ik somtimes worth woth atnt/ not verizon cell towers. Verizon is the only truly reliable service in my area.

There is a lot of info about this model, so here I'm trying to put up things others either didn't post about or didn't elaborate enough (or I couldn't find).

• It can record calls, silently, with no announcement. By default this option is off, but you can enable it in the default Phone app settings. I think it's illegal in some countries, so use at your own risk.
• You can disable roaming/double clock on lock screen in roaming options.
• Phone supports Lockscreen Widgets app. https://github.com/zacharee/LockscreenWidgets/
• You can map outer/SOS button to absolutely anything with any Keymapper app. But it will only work when the phone is opened. When closed, outer button cycles through outer screen modes.
• Outer screen has 3 modes - clock, pedometer and music player. 3rd party music player apps are supported, but displayed text can be misaligned and difficult to read. Still better functionality than Cat s22. Can't change outer screen wallpaper though.
• Outer screen has the exact same dimensions as Redmi Watch 3 Active. I dunno if it's standard smart watch dimensions or what, but they're 1:1 meaning protective films for this watch model match outer screen perfectly.
• Phone supports expanded storage mode for SD cards, but accessing it from outside the phone is basically impossible. So if you wanna load your music from your PC, you won't be able to. At least not easily. So I chose to use external storage mode.
• Hard +LOOK cases, that you can buy pretty much everywhere, look metallic, and you might assume they are metallic going by the price, but they are in fact plastic. So don't expect them to prevent any serious damage from bad falls or strong impacts. They're mostly for aesthetic change and defense from light scratches and everyday use. On the flip (hue) side they are quite light and won't make the phone noticeably heavier.
• Charm slot is present! It's quite robust but hard to use. It can handle the phone's weight+case, but don't pull it if you're wearing real tight jeans.
• THERE IS NO DARK MODE. You might assume that you can somehow enable it or install a 3rd part app, but no, you can't. It's removed on manufacturer's level. Even with the latest software update it's not present. You can force the option in developer options and/or run ADB command, but it will do nothing. There are ways to partially mitigate it, but each one comes with its own problems and hiccups. 3rd part notification shade/control panel apps work with touch screen, but ignore keypad and C9 cursor app for example. Some system apps have their own dark mode (gallery), some don't (file manager).
• Default launcher is functional but has very limited customization - you can't change grid size, no icon pack or theme support, you can't hide apps in the drawer. You can still use apps like Shortcut Maker or X-icon Changer to change icons without switching launchers. KaiOS Launcher works pretty good with this phone, but doesn't support widgets.
• Some sites and marketplaces state that this phone supports 2G, it DOES NOT. It only supports 3G and 4G/LTE. I can't figure out if it supports VoLTE or not, if there is a sure way to test it, let me know.

I think that's it. Other info was posted by other people already, so no reason to parrot it.

I wanna know what type of launcher is used to get this cute scroll app thing (context: i have that exact type of mive flip phone) does anyone know the name the launcher used??

hi! I’m looking to get a new flip phone, I saw an add for this one and I love the look! I’m only using this one to avoid a screen I can scroll on. I’m mainly looking for my bank apps to work, messages, Instagram, calls, YouTube and YouTube music, discord, Pinterest, and Depop. Will this phone run these? I also have a few questions:

1. can I use this phone in the car…? (lol probably a dumb question)

2. Can I connect my Apple AirPods to it?

I’m not very smart with this stuff so please be kind. If you have any other recommendations for other flip phones I’d be happy to do the research! I’m going to keep my iPhone and I have an iPad for apps that don’t work, but those apps are my main priority to get the phone permanently. thank you!

At first I wasn't entirely sure if this was going to work as a main phone, or would only be a secondary one. The only way to find out was to try, so I decided to go with this purely for a month and evaluate.

Short version is that I'm certainly not going back to a big glass brick now I'm used to this excellent phone.

Plenty of room for improvement, but not really in the hardware. That's its strength. It's the OS that could benefit from some tweaks, like more use of the outer screen (it shows the time, and the icon of the app that's notifying, but not much else at the moment) and more options for the three physical shortcut buttons (being able to choose any app or function rather than only from a shortlist of apps). Also, the battery monitor doesn't tell you what's eating power, so investigating battery-destroying apps was a chore. I hear there's an update due, so that might take care of these, none of which are deal breakers anyway.

I've had to be delicate with the battery though. For example, I initially installed Tailscale which I use as both a VPN and as a way to deliver some notifications (more on that in a moment), but it ate the battery fast. Same with Home Assistant - its persistent connection tanked the battery hard. Anything that moderately hits a smartphone battery hammers this one. But take real care with the apps you have on it, and it gives you a day and a half no problem.

It's a de-Googled phone, which is something I very much appreciate. The downside is that no Google Services means no notifications (for the most part). For the likes of us, that's actually a positive thing! But sadly there are some notifications for very select apps (banking, Home Assistant, Beeper, password manager) that I do still want just to operate my daily life.

HA was an easy solve, as there's a cut back version that doesn't look for Google Services. No notifications, but doesn't touch the battery at all. I had to drop Tailscale, but using a combination of Cloudflare and a ntfy server running on my NAS it's really unlocked a great option that, even if I went back to a full smartphone (hurl!), I'd continue to use, in terms of getting notifications in a way that doesn't impact the battery. There's a ntfy integration for HA, so that's done; Signal doesn't need Google Services anyway, so that's sorted; banking apps get their notifications forwarded from my old smartphone which is in a cupboard at home, via ntfy. So yes, there's still a smartphone in play, but I haven't so much as unlocked it for a month. This isn't the place to provide a tutorial on ntfy, but it's worth 10 minutes research if you're looking for Google-free notifications.

I took the TT990 on holiday for a week as a real test, and with a little preparation, it served every need. I created an Organic Maps map of where we were visiting before I left, and the phone worked great for navigation from that. In fact, it did the whole thing offline, as I downloaded the city's map before leaving home, so didn't even need data. For boarding passes and such, I sent the QR codes to myself in Beeper before leaving, and the airport scanners had no problem if the phone was on full brightness. Spotify hasn't blinked in the least, and I've been using it plenty. A small 5000mAh powerbank gave me two full charges, which took it to over three and a half days use without plugging in.

I know there are layers of complexity in what I've just talked about, but switching away from a big fat smartphone does take some preparation if you don't want to fall into the trap of slipping back into the screen. That being said, I had to stop myself at one point when I realised I was working to turn the TT990 back into the smarphone I wanted rid of. Doing without smart features is the reason we want dumb/transition/small phones back, so knowing when to stop with the features and workarounds is important. Get the essentials working well, then stop. I had to tell myself that a few times.

I'm not doomscrolling or reaching for the phone any more, I make calls rather than sending WhatsApp messages, and it finally feels like I'm using the phone rather than it using me, which was why I took the chance on this device in the first place.

And I get to flip it open and closed, Kirk style. It's worth it just for that.

Overall, A+.

(i got my money back but not the import tax) last year, i bought the retro 2 as a replacement for my glitchy old A-line samsung. i had the retro 1 for about 2 years from 2019 which was significantly cheaper (£35 used vs almost £200 nib for the 2) and broke down with natural use, but after a month, the battery exploded whilst charging and started a lithium fire. it was a miracle that i was both there in the room and that i hadn't fully migrated the content from my old phone. Please don't buy one, if you still want an android flip phone check out the myriad of options for the elderly or one of the Mive phones from Korea. even before the explosion the build quality was Shocking.