Not ‘smart’ but ‘straight’ phones are fine

The Nokia 3310 is considered the best-selling phone in the world, with an estimated 12.6 million units sold so far. Seventeen-year-old Robin West is considered unique in his group of friends because he does not have a smartphone. Instead of spending all day on apps like Tik Tak and Instagram, she uses a so-called ‘dumb phone’.

These are basic handsets, or feature phones, whose use or functionality is very limited compared to the iPhone or other smartphones. You can usually only send and receive calls and SMS text messages on these phones. And, if you’re lucky, listen to the radio and take some very basic pictures, but they definitely don’t have internet or apps.

These phones are similar to the earlier handsets that people used to buy in the late 1990’s.
Two phones used in 2005. That was two years before the app’s iPhone and 11 years before TickTalk came along. Robin West suddenly decided to give up his smartphone two years ago. While looking for an alternative handset in a second hand shop, he was attracted by the low price of the ‘Brick Phone’ (a brick-like phone).

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Their current handset is a French firm’s Mobyfire, priced at just eight pounds. And since it doesn’t work like a smartphone, they don’t have to worry about expensive monthly data. It wasn’t until I bought a Burke phone that I realized how much a smartphone is taking over my life,” she says. I put a lot of social media apps on it, and I couldn’t do that much because I was always on my phone.

Londoners say they do not think they will ever buy a smartphone again. “I am just happy with my phone. I don’t think that limits me. I’m definitely more active. According to software firm Seymour, dumb phones are making a comeback. From 2018 to 2021, Google searches for them have increased by 89%.

According to a report, global sales of dumb phones last year, which were around 400 million in 2019, were now expected to reach one billion. This is comparable to the sales of 1.4 billion smartphones, whose sales declined by 12.5 percent in 2020. Robin West says her friends often ask her when she is buying a new smartphone. Meanwhile, a 2021 study by accountancy group Deloitte found that one in 10 mobile phone users in the UK had a dumb phone.

Ernest Doko, a mobile phone expert at the price comparison site U-Switch, says: “Fashion seems to have played a role in reviving the dumb phone, remembering the old days and then appearing in tic-tac-toe videos. Many of us used to have a dumbbell phone as our first mobile phone, so it’s natural for us to think back to these classic handsets. ”

Doku says the re-launch of Nokia’s 3310 handset in 2017 has really revived it. It was first released in 2000 and is one of the best-selling mobile phones ever. “Nokia launched the 3310 as a cheap alternative to the high-end mobile world.”

He added that although it is true that dumb phones cannot compete with the latest models from Apple and Samsung when it comes to performance or functionality, “they outperform them in key areas such as battery life and durability.” can.’

Five years ago, psychiatrist Przemak Olynik Zak replaced his smartphone with the Nokia 3310, initially due to its long-lasting battery life. However, they soon realized that there were many more benefits. The paramedic Olynik Zack says that when he travels now, he is more prepared than ever.

“I used to stay connected to the phone, and check everything and everything, check Facebook and the news or the facts I didn’t need to know,” he says. Now I have more time for myself and my family. One of the great benefits of this is that I’m not addicted to liking, sharing and commenting or telling others about my life. I have more privacy now. ”

However, Olinik, who lives in Lodz, Poland, admits that initially the switch was difficult. “I used to check everything like buses and restaurants on my smartphone (while traveling). Now that is impossible, so I have already learned to do all these things at home. I’m used to it. Dumb Phone is one of the leading manufacturers of light phones in New York. But there is a slight change in this phone, just be careful.

Its handsets allow users to listen to music and podcasts and link to headphones via Bluetooth. Still, the firm promises that its phones will “never have unlimited feeds of social media, click-beat (spicy) news, email, internet browsers, or any other annoying feed. Lightphone says that sales of its handsets have increased.

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The company says 2021 has been its strongest year in terms of financial performance, with sales up 150% compared to 2020. This is despite the fact that its handsets are more expensive than dumb phones. Prices start at 99 99. Kaywe Tang, co-founder of Light Phone, says the device was initially designed as an extra phone for those who want to take a break from their smartphones over the weekend, but now half of the firm’s users use it. Use as your primary phone.

“If space creatures came to Earth, they would think that the mobile phone was the superior race controlling humans,” he says. And it’s not going to stop, it’s going to get worse. Consumers are realizing that something is wrong, and we want to offer an alternative. ”

Tang added that, surprisingly, the firm’s main customers are between 25 and 35 years old. He says he expected its buyers to be older. It’s understandable that some of us are looking for simple mobile phones,” says Tech expert Professor Sandra Watcher, a senior research fellow at Artificial Intelligence at Oxford University.

“One could reasonably say that the ability of a smartphone to connect calls and send short messages is almost a side feature nowadays,” she says. Your smartphone is your leisure center, your news generator, your navigation system, your diary, your dictionary, and your wallet. ‘

She says smartphones always want to get your attention with notifications, updates and breaking news, constantly interrupting your day. Professor Sandra Watcher says it makes sense for people to be “overwhelmed” by smartphones.

Professor Watcher adds, “It is understandable that some of us are now looking for simpler technologies and think that dumb phones might take us back to the simple times.” It may give you more time to focus on one task and spend more time with it. It may even calm people down. Studies show that too much choice can lead to unhappiness and frustration.

But Robin West in London says many people are surprised at the choice of his mobile phone. “Everyone thinks it’s just a temporary thing. They say: So when are you taking your smartphone? Are you taking one this week?