Miss your flip phone? A growing number of people are ditching the smartphone for 'dumb phones'

Smart phones can accomplish so much nowadays that it appears their functionality as actual phones, although a foregone conclusion, is beside the point. Their ever-expanding offering of apps and abilities evidently appeals to those who grew up corded and using party lines — those for whom old-world conditioning sustains excitement over such novelties.

There appears, however, to be a contingent of smartphone users who have grown tired of the constant promise of something slightly better — consumers keen instead on something radically different, even if that change means regress.

It is not just schools that have realized the appeal of dumb phones' limited features. Some parents have provided their children with the technologically lesser phones in hopes of sparing their children from distractions and the mental ravages of social media.

So-called dumb phones are apparently on the ascent as an alternative, no longer just the go-to for geriatrics, drug dealers, and others whose lifestyle choices might precipitate the need for a cheap, basic, and possibly disposable cellular device.

Brian Roemmele, the president of Multiplex Magazine, recently noted that the "rise of the massive popularity of 'dumb phones' and flip phones with the 14-25 age group has taken off. So much so that they are on back order at many stores."

"It is not at all a fashion trend but a boredom of the NEW stagnant smartphones of their parents and grand parents," tweeted Roemmele.

Pascal Forget, a Canadian tech columnist, has echoed this suggestion, telling Canadian state media, "The smartphone is not a source of enjoyment anymore."

For Gen Z and millennial users, the smartphone "used to be fun, but now they're addicted to it, so they want to go back to simpler times using a simpler device."

The Economist indicated earlier this month that dumb phones account for roughly 2% of phone sales in the U.S., but that demand — to Roemmele's suggestion — is growing. This phenomenon is not limited to America.

North of the border, there was reportedly a 25% increase in dumb phone purchases last year, accounting for over 98,600 sales.

The subreddit r/Dumbphones defines "dumb phone" as a

cellular phone with less or no 'smart' features as a smart phone. It's actually called a "feature phone' but it's commonly referred to as a dumb phone because it's seen as the opposite of a smart phone. Dumb phones lack the advanced technology of smart phones and typically only have core tools like calling, text messaging, maybe a calendar or notes, and typically do without feature-rich apps like social media and maps.

While boredom might prompt some young people to buy dumb phones, there are various factors at play.

Smartphones and the social media apps thereon have been linked to various mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and, perhaps paradoxically, loneliness. Their routinized use also impacts cognitive ability.

A study published last year in the Nature journal Scientific Reports revealed that smartphone use results in a loss attention — that "even the mere presence of one's smartphone consumes cognitive resources, without willingly shifting attention or actively using the smartphone."

Cognizant of the fallout of smartphone use, the Economist indicated that some schools such as the esteemed British school Eton are providing their students with dumb phones and barring the use of the more capable alternatives.

It is not just schools that have realized the appeal of dumb phones' limited features. Some parents have provided their children with the technologically lesser phones in hopes of sparing their children from distractions and the mental ravages of social media.

"When there's a smartphone or screen, you don't practice guitar, you don't read a book, you don't just be bored," Leigh Tynan told Canadian state media. "I just thought I really don't feel comfortable with her being online all the time.... I'm trying to protect her from it for as long as possible."

According to Roemmele, the most popular flip phone he had observed among the "youth cohort" was the TracFone TCL Flip 2, even though Nokia's flip phones come frequently recommended as the best dumb phones.

Although I have greyed out of membership in the youth cohort, I sought out the TCL Flip 2 for under $40 to see what the fuss was all about.

Upon acquiring the dumb phone I was immediately reminded of why decades ago, Blackberries — with their QWERTY keyboards — were preferable to those of us with limited patience as well as to those loathe to learn how to speedily text using number keys assigned triads and quads of letters.

For the Luddites comprising the dumb phone movement, that's apparently part of the appeal: to make texting and web browsing so vexatious as to preclude users from trying in the first place. In the case of the Flip 2, mission accomplished. Texting was so arduous a process that I abandoned the effort altogether.

Fortunately, the TCL Flip 2 also operates as, yes, a phone, meaning I could effortlessly speak to someone on the other end. For this purpose, the phone works beautifully. Sound through the earpiece is crisp and my voice was well-received on the other end.

Since the phone is not devoting computational power to ad-trackers and other background processes, but is rather serving a singular purpose, its battery life is excellent especially when compared with my supposedly smart Samsung Galaxy. The phone also survived its handling by a toddler presently keen on investigating the inner-workings of the various electronics around our house.

The tag line for the r/Dumbphones is, "Join the revolution and enjoy the simple life!"

Simple life indeed.

Without social media apps and with a camera so useless it seems a waste of parts, the Flip 2 does serve to liberate. After all, while the reflex may remain to idle on the phone, there is virtually nothing worth doing on the phone apart from calling a loved one.

Time will tell whether the dumb phone movement has legs to run the distance, but there's certainly something to it. Freed from the obligation to take photographs or doom scroll, you're left only to live in the present. If that's boring, then you only have yourself to blame.

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