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Cat S22 Flip Phone
- NoGravitas 4y agoIf I were to get a flip phone, it would be because I didn't want Android. This is a little weird to me.
- xwdv 4y agoIf Apple made a flip phone I’d buy that. The reason I wouldn’t get something like this is just that it’s not in the ecosystem, and not privacy focused. FaceTime calls on a flip phone would be pretty bad ass, as would getting my usual app notifications.
- eu 4y agoThe specs are on T-Mobile's site: https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/cat-s22-flip https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/cat-s22-flip
- fady 4y agoI want one! Probably the coolest looking flip-phone I have seen
- heleninboodler 4y agoOh, I miss the tiny rear screen on my HTC Star Trek. What a great feature for quick status updates or just using the phone as a clock.
- jmcphers 4y agoOh gosh, I had one of those! What a great little phone.
- soylentcola 4y agoMy first phone with a camera was a Sanyo SCP-8100 and it also had one of those. The "gee whiz" feature was that you could open the camera app, close the phone, and then it would show a live display from the camera on the tiny screen, allowing you to take "selfies" despite only having the single camera.
- nick238 4y agoI hope this brings back the ear-splitting PA-DURRRP that I heard everywhere in my old job where Nextel (later Sprint, now T-Mobile) cell-phones were basically walkie-talkies. /s
- thrill 4y ago"Go for Snake Doctor"
- krinchan 4y agoI remember when Nextel PTT was all the rage. I had a job coordinating a bunch of contractors and had to spend all day just being chirped at. I'd be mid-conversation on the landline and then "PA-DURRP Hey man can you text me that customer's address again?"
- H8crilA 4y agoI have been using CAT phones for a few years. They really are tough, work pretty well with gloves, do not care much about water, etc. Can recommend, and the infrared sensors are worth it just for the wow effect alone :). From the downsides - some of the smaller things break faster than you'd like (e.g. laser meter, or rubber covers for the USB port, or the painted/glued layer on the back in one of the older models). These downsides do not invalidate the main purpose(s) of the device. Also the phones rather quickly fall out of the supported Android version range, but this seems to be a common problem with all Android phones.
- 2000UltraDeluxe 4y agoI used to go through two phones per year simply because I'm clumsy. After two years, I'm still on my first CAT. There are definitely downsides, but the durability is something else compared to other phones.
- bo1024 4y ago> Also the phones rather quickly fall out of the supported Android version range This was my first concern. Otherwise seems awesome.
- shp0ngle 4y agoyeah if you care about getting updates, don’t get CAT phone. They stop putting updates very quickly. Much shorter time you get updates than even Samsung, forget Apple.
- 0x0000000 4y agoDoes anyone know if this has a built in Hotspot? I want a simple flip phone so badly, but in the rare case I need to get online while out of the house, I don't want to have to pay for and carry a separate device/plan.
- axjmc 4y agoIt does, specs here: https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/cat-s22-flip https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/cat-s22-flip
- 0x0000000 4y agoThank you! I did check out that page but missed the "Mobile Hotspot Capable: true" the first time around.
- omoikane 4y agoThe original site (https://www.catphones.com/en-us/cat-s22-flip/ https://www.catphones.com/en-us/cat-s22-flip/) is curious in that I can see the technical specs when browsing in Lynx, but not in Chrome or Firefox. I can find the specs enclosed in a <div> but couldn't find a path that would make it visible. Maybe there there is some reason why they want the specs to only be visible on T-Mobile's website?
- saint_angels 4y agothis stock(?) android doesn't look well-suited to the flip phone form factor. Is there an android UI made for feature phones?
- macinjosh 4y agoThe specs list "Android 11 (Go Edition)". I assume "Go Edition" is that?
- nicoburns 4y ago"Go Edition" is really just a version for phones with low amounts of RAM.
- pjerem 4y agoWhat you need is really just a custom input method to write text. Android is already designed to be controlled with arrow keys. For tier apps, idk.
- Minor49er 4y agoI have an LG flip phone that I use for testing phone systems. I believe it runs some form of Android. It's mostly okay, but typing messages with the keypad requires much slower input than the flip phones of yesteryear. Otherwise, typing too quickly will miss inputs. The rate is something between half a second to a second every time you press a key
- loeg 4y agoI like that they describe Android 11 not as the world's best operating system, but as the world's biggest operating system.
- AdamH12113 4y agoI've been looking to reduce my smartphone usage, and I would be really tempted by this if it weren't limited to T-Mobile. The ability to make a hot spot and run a handful of 2FA apps really seals the deal.
- wffurr 4y agoT-Mobile coverage and speeds are great. Also it's a GSM phone and probably works with other carriers if you purchase it outright.
- pjerem 4y ago> T-Mobile coverage and speeds are great. Not in EU :D
- CharlesW 4y agoI don't know how pricing compares to local brands, but T-Mobile is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom. I imagine this explains a related benefit: "With our Magenta plans, you get unlimited texting and data in 210+ countries & destinations. No international data-roaming charges. No setup. It just works the minute you arrive." https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/roaming https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/roaming
- username190 4y agoIn the fine print, that page notes that international data is limited to 128kbps (or 256kbps if you're on the top-tier 'MAX' plan). Phones that are designed for (or sold through) T-Mobile US won't necessarily work on T-Mobile NL, because they operate on different frequency bands, take advantage of different CA combos (combining different frequency bands for better coverage/speed), etc. The phone would likely also be locked to T-Mobile US for a period of time after purchase.
- CharlesW 4y ago> In the fine print… Good catch! > The phone would likely also be locked to T-Mobile US for a period of time after purchase. Looks like 40 days: https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/policies/sim-unlock-policy https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/polici... > Phones that are designed for (or sold through) T-Mobile US won't necessarily work on T-Mobile NL… Supported network bands according to https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=6464 https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=6464: LTE 4G band 1 / 2100 MHz IMT (Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Brazil, India, Israel) band 2 / 1900 MHz PCS (Americas) band 3 / 1800 MHz DCS (Europe, Asia, Africa) band 4 / 1700 MHz AWS (Americas) band 5 / 850 MHz Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel) band 7 / 2600 MHz IMT-E (Canada, South America, Europe, Asia) band 12 / 700 MHz Lower 700 (USA) band 13 / 750 MHz Upper 700 (USA (Verizon)) band 20 / 800 MHz EU Digital Dividend (Europe) band 25 / 1900 MHz PCS+G (USA (T-Mobile)) band 26 / 850 MHz Extended Cellular (USA (T-Mobile)) band 28 / 700 MHz APT (Oceana, Asia, Central America) band 38 / 2600 MHz IMT-E (Europe, Latin America, Asia) band 39 / 1900 MHz DCS–IMT Gap (China) band 40 / 2300 MHz (Asia, Africa, Oceana) band 41 / 2500 MHz BRS / EBS (USA (T-Mobile)) band 66 / 1700 MHz AWS-3 (Americas) band 71 / 600 MHz 600 (USA (T-Mobile)) WCDMA 3G band 1 (I) / 2100 MHz IMT (Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Brazil, India, Israel) band 2 (II) / 1900 MHz PCS (Americas) band 4 (IV) / 1700 MHz AWS (Americas) band 5 (V) / 850 MHz Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel) band 8 (VIII) / 900 MHz (Europe, Asia, Africa) CDMA 2G / 3G band 27 / BC10 / 800 MHz ESMR (Americas (T-Mobile)) band 5 / BC0 / 850 MHz Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel) band 2 / BC1 / 1900 MHz PCS (Americas) GSM 2G band 5 / 850 MHz Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel) band 8 / 900 MHz (Europe, Asia, Africa) band 3 / 1800 MHz DCS (Europe, Asia, Africa) band 2 / 1900 MHz PCS (Americas)
- HidyBush 4y agoThe current mobile software ecosystem makes me so angry. We could truly have flip phones if only whatsapp, imessage, and whatever else were open protocols. Just program a simplified client that sips battery and is optimized for number keys and I would be golden. Instead if you want to have the privilege of sending text messages you have to pack a whole android distribution to install some bloated unoptimized app
- dlivingston 4y agoMatrix offers bridges to a large number of messaging services (WhatsApp & iMessage included). I don’t know why it hasn’t become more popular. https://matrix.org/bridges/ https://matrix.org/bridges/
- renewiltord 4y agoHow do they implement iMessage? Through a puppet VM of some sort?
- jdmoreira 4y agoYou need a mac computer and the bridge reads some local folder as far as I know
- SahAssar 4y agoIt needs you to run the bridge on either a mac or a jailbroken iphone. Connecting matrix to non-open ecosystems is a bit hit-and-miss in that it often requires you to run bridges in special ways and there are sometimes ways it breaks unexpectedly. I expect that to improve if the EU passes its law to force more interoperability.
- HidyBush 4y agoI know about matrix bridges, but I'm sorry to say they're a pipe dream. First of all I would have to manage them myself, which is a pain and costs money. Secondly, anything could break at any time: the vps provider, the domain provider, the matrix server, the bridges themselves could go unmaintained or suddenly not be compatible anymore. It's truly a flaky hack, and in truth you shouldn't need a flaky hack to send a photo to your uncle using whatsapp
- pjerem 4y agoOh I want it. Looks like it's only available in the US though :(
- tmikaeld 4y agoI'd be all over it if it where available in the EU :(
- fxtentacle 4y agoYeah, it's a pity they don't sell it in the EU.
- grenoire 4y agoLooking at the reviews on the T-Mobile website, you can't type using the number pad. That's an insane oversight!
- SamBam 4y agoWait, what? So how do you type? Minuscule touch keyboard on the screen? Edit, yes, here's a video.[1] The thing is also a lot bigger and thicker in the hands than I realized. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVzuT6eYZUA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVzuT6eYZUA
- SahAssar 4y agoAt https://youtu.be/GVzuT6eYZUA?t=107 https://youtu.be/GVzuT6eYZUA?t=107 he types with the keyboard Watching that video the phone was a lot bigger than I thought, I was hoping for something compact but this thing is really chonky.
- SamBam 4y agoIf you look at the screen, the only thing he "types" at that timestamp is one "#", then he presses the screen with his thumb, then a types "##########" I'm pretty sure you never see him typing letters.
- SahAssar 4y agoNo, that was at a previous part of the video. Look at the timestamp I posted.
- bryans 4y agoThe parent comment's link goes directly to a portion of the video where he types "fdro" and then taps on the "F-Droid" search result.
- TurkTurkleton 4y agoA bit after that he switches to a keyboard called "Kika" which appears to enable typing with the keypad and provides predictions. A bigger objection to this device to me would be the fact that UI animations appear to chug like a freshman at his first kegger and overall it doesn't look to be all that responsive.
- not1ofU 4y agoHad an S35 a few years ago, bought it because of the waterproof factor. Worst phone I ever owned. They dont provide android updates (at least for that model) and would just stop working randomly, I had to hard reset it at least once every 2 days, but sometimes twice in 1 day. Might have been just my phone though as I knew someone else with the same model and they didn't have that issue.
- hedora 4y agoAny hope of custom roms on this thing?
- phh 4y agoIt is unlikely to be officially bootloader-unlockable (being a T-Mobile exclusive). But I'm expecting it is a Mediatek SoC, which has known security flaws allowing for bootloader unlocks, so uh, /maybe/. If by chance it is bootloader-unlockable, GSI (Generic System Image, generic Android custom ROMs) should boot just fine on it. As a reference, GSI work on Coolpad C558 (not flip-phone, but uh bar-phone I guess? not sure if the term still makes sense in the age of smartphones) - it doesn't work great on Coolpad C558 because of the severe lack of RAM, but should be ok on Cat S22. Some specifics will just probably need a bit of work for PTT button, and mapping long press on "#" to vibrator. Unless you want T9 on it, or to fix random apps's broken DPAD UX, there shouldn't be more than a day of work to be fully usable. Edit: If someone wants to send me one (in EU), I'd be happy to take a look
- nfriedly 4y agoSoC is Qualcomm QM215 Snapdragon 215
- mschuster91 4y agoAt least the old CAT phones all used to be shipped with unlocked MTK bootloaders.
- stratosmacker 4y agoHey! We spoke on your Github https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/2295 https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/2... Bootloader unlocking worked out of the box, and GSI installed without a hitch issues right now: - The flip doesn't turn on the internal screen - front screen is inoperable and just displays T-Mobile's logo after installing the APK for the radio - obviously there is no T9 keyboard with the GSI - PTT button DOES work with an add-on app that maps keys, it registers fine Happy to help anyway I can if you're interested
- vvladymyrov 4y agoThe promise 13 day standby battery life. Looks like it costs $240 from t-mobile. I'd love to get phone like that for my kids. Not sure it would withstand abuse though. Would be nice if there would be iPhone like that .
- thatguy0900 4y agoThis is a construction company, cat phones are literally made solely for abuse. Even says you can wash it with bleach.
- francoisdevlin 4y agoRight, but experience has taught me that construction equipment has nothing on my toddler...
- kube-system 4y agoIt’s not made by a construction company. It’s made by a ruggedized phone manufacturer who licensed CAT’s name.
- seltzered_ 4y agoOddly, this seems like the perfect phone for elders that from my experience have: - dropped the phone into the toilet, on ground cracking the screen, etc. - can't figure out how to end a call. - get addicted to reading garbage news on their phone instead of trying to use a laptop for thinking about news, writing, organizing instead.
- steve_adams_86 4y agoWe talk a lot about kids and smartphone addiction but yeah, elderly people go crazy for them too. My wife’s parents sit on Facebook just scrolling through photos endlessly. They do have other things they get up to, but I think their screen time is easily 3-4 hours per day. My elderly dad is guilty of too much screen time but he gets my partial endorsement because he’s hacking on Linux and hates the news
- jlkuester7 4y agoPeople, talk to your parents about addition to Kernel hacking before it is too late!
- happyopossum 4y agoNone of those are exclusive, or even more common in elderly people than the general population. Let’s not ascribe negatives to people based on any single factor such as age, sex, or race, ok?
- corrral 4y agoThat kind of thing happens to me all the time. iOS c. version 6 was a refuge from it, mostly, but they've since added so much more stuff to it (and replaced the home button with a gesture) that I find myself doing things by accident on there all the time, too, now. It's much worse for my parents, because when they do something by accident (or when some designed-by-assholes program decides it needs to replace your usual screen with some "helpful" full-screen message about an update, on launch or on trying to take an action) it takes them far longer to figure out what's happening and how to undo it. Often they just give up after a while.
- jdmoreira 4y agoWill this make me less addicted to my phone? If so, worth it!
- MiddleEndian 4y agoConsider getting a Palm Phone. They're small, and if you spend too much time dicking around on one, it will simply run out of battery.
- hinkley 4y agoPeople bag on Apple for making their phones thinner instead of increasing battery life. But perhaps as a constrained resource it keeps civilization running instead of grinding to a halt.
- throwaway787544 4y agoHighly recommend a regular feature phone or a KaiOS phone; the latter still has useful apps, the former doesn't. You can still keep your old smartphone with wifi if something requires a real smartphone, and a bunch of feature phones have a hotspot mode. My biggest problem is I have to keep my smartphone stowed away somewhere or I just use it instead of the feature phone.
- hedora 4y agoAny recommendations for a feature/kaios phone with a good camera, maps, music streaminf, signal, and yelp or similar? (Without google spyware or a web browser). Budget: <= $1500.
- 0x38B 4y agoI used a Nokia 2720 running KaiOS. It has a Google Maps webapp installed that works well enough - it's not blazing fast, but lets you search with voice or T9 input. It was enough for me. No Signal or Spotify, but you can transfer songs via USB. Camera is OK for small snapshots of things you want to remember or send via MMS, but nothing more - not good for landscapes or people. You can root the phone and then you should be able to remove the browser (0). The b-hackers store (1) is a good place to find apps to sideload (there's a Telegram app, for example). 0: https://old.reddit.com/r/KaiOS/comments/ux6v8t/uninstalling_qr_reader_nokia_6300_4g/ https://old.reddit.com/r/KaiOS/comments/ux6v8t/uninstalling_... 1: https://sites.google.com/view/b-hackers-store/home https://sites.google.com/view/b-hackers-store/home
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- herpderperator 4y agoI actually confused this with Samsung S22... interesting that there's no branding issue/trademark?
- _carbyau_ 4y agoS22. Whereby the 22 is a year designation. Not sure what there is to trademark here?! The letter 'S' ?
- everdrive 4y agoThis is exciting in general, but I'm sad they went with Android. I certainly understand the practicality of this decision, however. It's not as if building your own OS is feasible for most manufacturers. As has been well-reported, it's effectively not possible to turn off a lot of the spying built into Android. That said, I'm still happy this phone exists. While imperfect, it seems like a step closer to phones which are primarily phones, and are made with practical concerns in mind.
- WesolyKubeczek 4y agoLet me remind you that KaiOS exists for phones exactly like this.
- umeshunni 4y agoWhat is "Programmable PTT Button"? I assume it's "Push to Talk". What's the use case for it? Who uses it?
- tener 4y agoI can imagine it being used as a walkie-talkie replacement.
- Thoreandan 4y agoAn example I've seen is a dozen construction workers on a big job site whose phones push-to-talk goes to the speakerphones of everyone on their team. This functionality was big with Nextel phones/service in the early cellular era.
- serf 4y ago>This functionality was big with Nextel phones/service in the early cellular era. as one of the fossils who was a subscriber to Nextel, I feel compelled to mention that the Motorola TAC phones were like 30 years earlier; the 'early cellular era' had been underway for some time before Nextel.
- stusmall 4y agoI used to work on another ruggedized Android smartphone that focused on large commercial deployments. We focused more on hospitals than industrial. The PTT feature was a big selling feature. It was really popular with nurses communicating with the rest of their team on the floor. Think of it like a walkie talkie you can easily integrate tons of other daily work tasks with. Instead of just talking to your team you could also pull up charts, check emails, etc all on one device. Built into the PTT was also a panic button to sound an alarm for an emergency. It's just a handy flexible tool and from my understanding our customers found different useful ways to apply it to their needs.
- Pxtl 4y agoDo these go through an app/wifi or do they use conventional radio?
- daviddaviddavid 4y agoWhen Sprint/T-Mobile forced me to get a new flip phone because my Kyocera would no longer be supported, I had to decide between the Alcatel Go Flip, the Cat S22 and a Sonim XP3 Plus. I went with the Sonim and I am very happy with it. https://www.sonimtech.com/products/devices/xp3plus/ https://www.sonimtech.com/products/devices/xp3plus/ The Alcatel had many bad reviews. The Cat seemed huge and defeated many of purposes I have for having a flip phone in the first place. The Sonim has incredible build quality, no apps, internet works fine. I have no complaints. I haven't tried using Google Maps on it yet, but if that works I will love it even more and ditch my Garmin GPS.
- hammycheesy 4y agoI'm also rocking an XP3 Plus! I bought it around September because I was looking to curb my screen time. I ruled out the S22 for similar reasons. I find that in rare cases I need to bring my old smart phone with me (traveling, mainly) for things like airline tickets, movies on planes, maps in new areas. Otherwise day-to-day I am exclusively using the XP3. My screen time is now at an average of <10 min per day, and my battery life is between 5-6 days on average. Super happy with the experience, and I bought back so much more time and sanity by not staring at my phone for hours per day.
- jamestanderson 4y agoWhat's your experience with group texting? I've been looking for a dumb-er phone, but I need good group texting support to stay in touch with my family. I've tried phones like the Nokia 3310 and Nokia 225 TA-1282, and have been disappointed in the way they handle group texting.
- daviddaviddavid 4y agoGroup texting works fine for me. It auto converts to MMS and sending/replying works as expected. On my old Kyocera, a group text would seemingly send individual texts in a loop over the recipients, which always seemed broken. The one maddening thing about texting on my Sonim is the KT9 predictive texting. Short, high-frequency function words such as "am", "of", "the", etc always have way decreased preference compared to larger, less common words that start with those substrings. e.g. If I type "amethyst" just one time, that word will always be preferred over the much more common "am".
- greatjack613 4y agoFor all the fliphone enthusiasts here check out https://forums.apps4flip.com https://forums.apps4flip.com . It’s a great community dedicated to flip phone users.
- r2sk5t 4y agoWe have push-to-talk, group chat, and live video software for similar devices: Kyocera DuraXV https://kyoceramobile.com/duraxv-extreme/ https://kyoceramobile.com/duraxv-extreme/ Sonim XP3 Plus https://www.sonimtech.com/products/devices/xp3plus/ https://www.sonimtech.com/products/devices/xp3plus/ Both flip phones are based on AOSP (https://source.android.com/ https://source.android.com/) and we've had to deal with custom implementations of soft keys, and push to talk headsets. Even Kyocera's implementation varies between the ATT version (https://kyoceramobile.com/duraxe-epic/att/ https://kyoceramobile.com/duraxe-epic/att/) and the Verizon one. This phone is made by https://bullitt-group.com/ https://bullitt-group.com/ and they very smartly license the CAT brand. We have not worked with them yet, but I'm guessing it would be relatively trivial to support the phone. Without good soft-key support, these phones are unusable. Any questions, please LMK.
- nfriedly 4y agoThat's amazing! I was just saying how I missed the HTC StarTrek and wished someone would do a modern take on it.
- throwaway81523 4y agoBack in my day, flip phones had swappable batteries. It doesn't sound like this one does. Does it?
- nfriedly 4y agoIt looks like fairly weak specs for an Android phone (4x Cortex A53's @ 1.3Ghz & 2GB RAM)[1], but I guess that's not really the point. On the upside: it supports a lot of LTE bands, including all of the primary bands for Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile in the US, as well as bands used in many other countries - so if you can get one unlocked it should work on most carriers. Also, there are some complaints about battery life, but the battery is user-replaceable, so you can just get two and swap them out as needed. [1]: https://gsmarena.com/cat_s22_flip-11141.php https://gsmarena.com/cat_s22_flip-11141.php
- 12312er13r 4y agoThis phone selling point hides behind the fact that probably most apps won't run well on it :) i handle corporate phones for a few ONGs. Blackberrys with keyboard are still somewhat supported on android, but even gmail (gmail! the main app from the main company behind android) have bugs that break main functionality (reading email!) because they do not care to test the odd screen size. one of the largest use bases on tiktok are contractors. My guess is that this phone will be sold as a way to provide a work phone to employees which won't break and won't allow them to waste too much time. CAT phones (and all cheap/rebranded phones listed as "corporate ready" by google) are already know for that to be honest. They are all behind android release versions even on launch day.
- ranger_danger 4y agoTry it before you poo poo this phone. Every app I've tried runs perfectly on mine, even my favorite 3D pinball game (Zen Pinball).
- ck2 4y ago(spring-loaded) candybar slider would be superior... Half as thick (no fold) yet protective cover In other news they removed the last payphone from NYC this week.
- happyopossum 4y agoWhy would it be less thick? Each half still has to hold the same stuff - battery, screen, keypad, etc. In my experience, the candy bar sliders I used in the past were thicker than flip phones.
- Pxtl 4y agoProtective cover? Isn't the screen exposed in a candybar slider when closed? This is meant to be a jobsite phone so being fully closed is probably a pro.
- throwaway4aday 4y agoNot what I want in a flip phone at all. If I ever do make the switch to a flip phone it'll be to get away from all of the smart phone features. So that means no Android or iOS, just a basic feature phone "OS". Call and text only, no internet.
- Syonyk 4y agoYou might like Sunbeam's offerings: https://sunbeamwireless.com/ https://sunbeamwireless.com/ They have some that are exactly what you want.
- travisporter 4y agoLineage/Calyx/similar ports possible for such a device?
- stratosmacker 4y agoGSI tested and working
- rconti 4y agoThe thing I always hated about clamshell phones (I was a flip phone guy.. eg, Ericsson T28/T39) was the duplication of screens. It seemed so silly to need a 2nd screen to be able to see anything while it was closed. That said, for a rugged phone I sort of get it; you protect the fancy inner screen. I always loved flip vs candybar because of the active answer/termination of the flip function. I guess that doesn't matter so much these days since I never talk on my phone.
- ccbccccbbcccbb 4y ago> giving you access to ... security benefits of Android As secure as Google's scout's honor about it, and as private as a mesh fence.
- ramesh31 4y ago>The Cat S22 Flip takes the cell phone back to what it should be… a phone. Made for those who want a device as simple to use as it is tough, the Cat S22 Flip features physical buttons and a large touch screen, letting you choose how you interact with it. The Cat S22 Flip’s ‘Snap it to End it’ calling gives you confidence that when it is closed the call is over. Yay! >Android™ 11 (Go Edition) Yuck.
- upupandup 4y agofew things: - there is a big bezel that is occupied by CAT logo - impossible to type - most smartphones are already quite durable, so it really isn't a killer feature. - im confused as to who would use this. somebody working on an oil rig will likely appreciate more screen estate, ability to pinch zoom, type, etc.
- Guillaume86 4y ago> impossible to type T9?
- etskinner 4y ago> - impossible to type T9 users from back in the day would like a word with you... assuming this has T9 or something similar. Personally, I used to be able to type with greater accuracy and speed with T9 than any touchscreen typing or swiping around today. After you develop the muscle memory, it's lightning fast.
- schroeding 4y agoI would love a reboot of the Samsung Galaxy Folder 2[1]. Worked just like this phone, but looked way better, as it wasn't ruggedized and just a "normal" (well, as normal as a flip-phone can be today) phone. Will probably never happen, though :D [1] https://www.gsmchoice.com/de/katalog/samsung/galaxyfolder2/ https://www.gsmchoice.com/de/katalog/samsung/galaxyfolder2/
- smegsicle 4y agoi guess if it's not claiming to be a 'multimedia device' no 3.5mm jack isn't that big of a downside
- stratosmacker 4y agoI just bought one of these and installed a GSI from phhusson Unfortunately there are a few things that keep me from daily use with the GSI, notably the lid switch doesn't work without the stock firmware. Less importantly, the front screen also doesn't work, but I can deal with that. WIP https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/2295 https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/2... There is no T9 keyboard on F-Droid that I can find, and everything on the Play store is adware. Last complaint is that it's thick AF. Yes all the reviews mention it. But it's the same WxL as my iphone SE 2016, and TWICE the thickness. When I contacted CAT to retrieve the original ROM so I could fix the lid switch issue, I was met with "we do not redistribute ROMs outside of the company". Aside from the usual "You are not GPL compliant if you don't release your kernel now!" style response, this is an asshole move. I want to like it, I want to use it, we'll see how much resolve I have to fix the aforementioned issues. Does anyone want an unlocked CAT S22 with a GSI installed? ;)
- smm11 4y agoThe world has changed when Cat Man pictured emphasizing manliness and durability of Cat Flip Phone has a ring in 'their' ear. https://www.catphones.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cat-S22-Flip-Header-2-1-2048x868.png https://www.catphones.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cat-S22...
- higgins 4y agoI used the CAT B35 all of last year (and some). Loved it. Battery lasted forever. Only pain points were in social scenarios bust most of those are mitigated with planning. More on what I learned with the "dumb phone" experiment here: https://encapsulate.me/writing/2021.html https://encapsulate.me/writing/2021.html
- bdefig 4y agoAm I the only one who thought this was going to be a flip phone startup in the Summer '22 YC batch?
- gingersnap 4y ago”I want a smartphone and a fliphone” Thats a Cat(ch) 22
- coryfklein 4y agoMy biggest impediment to downsizing my cell phone: maps and navigation. In my vehicle I need to have at least a moderately sized screen in order to navigate safely. And the device needs to have mobile internet access. How do folks who are downsizing their cell phones work around this? Do you use a non-phone GPS in your car? Do you keep a larger cell phone around for "when you need it"?
- zhobbs 4y agoIt's a pretty recent version of Android, it probably supports Android Auto. So if you have a newer car or an aftermarket Android Auto device it might be best of both worlds.
- Nition 4y agoUnfortunately not. It's running Android Go Edition, which doesn't support Android Auto.
- IE6 4y agoAnecdotally I have noticed that Android Auto is not supported properly on these oddball devices. I had a Unihertz Titan for a while and Android Auto refused to work properly and would just show a black screen. Of course with a Pixel phone it works fine.
- ZoomStop 4y agoTech like Android Auto could solve for this in a natural feeling way. Did these CAT phones lack mobile data?
- doublerabbit 4y agoHad me excited thinking for it to not be an android phone. I miss the days when companies made their own operating systems for their phones, with their own OS/Firmware. Using your friends phone which had a completly different set of features really made the expirence fun. Every year I would get a new phone for xmas and it was a whole new expirence. Every phone was different but now when a new phone is released, it's just a new rectangle with X camera's we don't even need. All running the same bloated OS with less privacy and restrictions on customisability to boot.
- takanori 4y agoWhy hasn’t push to talk (ptt) taken off on smartphones?
- _carbyau_ 4y agoI have a Nokia 7.2 with an extra button on the side. Not sure if it classifies as a PTT button. But by default it was assigned to the Voice Assistant. Which I hated because an accidental press was a waste of time. Once that association was removed I was relieved. It now does nothing.
- LarryDarrell 4y agoThe thing is, I don't want Android smushed into a less useful, more fustrating to use, form factor. I want a dumbphone that calls, texts, and has a wifi hotpspot. No battery draining screen, no app store, no navigation... if I need any of that, I can use the hotspot and a tablet/old phone...
- torvald 4y agoAnd some type of encrypting would be nice. I find it very exciting that The Punkt phone is picking up Signal at least. https://boingboing.net/2021/04/08/the-best-dumbphone-gets-signal-messaging.html https://boingboing.net/2021/04/08/the-best-dumbphone-gets-si...
- ranger_danger 4y agoThe S22 encrypts everything by default just like regular Android these days. And you can still run Signal or just about any other communication app you want.
- dcdc123 4y agoI feel like most people that want flip phones want something reliable and durable. I don't think shoving Android onto a tiny screen in a flip form factor accomplishes this.
- paulcole 4y agoThis is the kind of thing everybody says they want until they discover it exists and then they’ll find a reason to not buy it.
- npc12345 4y agoThey had me until "Android Go Edition"
- scottrogowski 4y agoI'm currently reading Digital Minimalism from Cal Newton and have started preparing for a 30-day digital declutter. So I was really excited to read this title and immediately disappointed after clicking - the Cat phone has a web browser. If you have access to the entirety of the internet in your pocket, it is hard to limit yourself and no little trick or hack is going to actually help - in my experience. I'll go ahead and take advantage of this post to ask, what do other digital minimalists on HN use for their phone? I'm looking for something with messages, maps, a camera, and WhatsApp with no access to a browser or an app store. The most difficult item on that list is definitely WhatsApp. Unfortunately, if you travel a lot (which I do) it's not really optional. Outside of North America, EVERYTHING happens on WhatsApp. I've started looking into custom Android ROMS but that feels like an extreme step for what must be a common problem?
- maxerickson 4y agoI don't understand how what you are describing can also be minimalist. It's some kind of aesthetic, but people used to do fine without digital maps or messaging.
- sanderjd 4y agoThose things are useful tools but not mindless time sucks. You can't doom scroll for an hour in a maps or camera app.
- maxerickson 4y agoWhich 'useful tools' is going to be pretty personal, not universal, which is why I acknowledged that an intentionally limited device is probably some kind of aesthetic. It's hilariously tedious to argue that WhatsApp is obviously required and then some other social communication tool is obviously a waste of time.
- sanderjd 4y agoNot really. There are really broad shared categories. Nearly all social media is a time suck for nearly everybody. Twitter is a time suck for most but a useful tool for many. Messaging apps are a useful tool for most but a time suck for some. Maps is useful for pretty much everyone. You get the drift; there are few universals, but clear distinctions do exist.
- jrochkind1 4y agoI kind of want this. What are the limitations of "android go", can you not install any arbitrary app?
- bschwindHN 4y agoI love how they're like "Oh yeah it's so tough, it can be dropped, dunked and washed regularly using the harshest of chemicals, bleaches and sanitizers." "It's backed up with our 2 year warranty." It's a cool looking phone but the warranty is hilariously short for what they claim you can do to it.
- pabs3 4y agoI wonder if you could run a Linux distro on this instead of Android.
- nunez 4y agoDamn that is a nice looking phone, actually. I hate typing on virtual keyboards; going back to something with buttons would be amazing
- firexcy 4y agoIs the name an (un)intentional pun on the catch-22 [0]? [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- rekabis 4y agoStill runs Android, so it will be obsolete and vulnerable long before any iOS phone. Plus, it’s Android, so all your personal data and behaviour will be flowing to the mothership in volumes that will give the NSA and CIA some serious chubbies. And then, it’s Android, so it has an App Store that sees more maliciously exploited and just plain malicious programs in a single year than Apple has had to work with with since theirs first opened. If you’re gonna put out a traditional flip phone, do your users a favour and make it a non-smart feature phone that can stay dumb, not leak your entire life to an evil company, and is commensurately more difficult to infect with malware due to its dramatically smaller attack surface. Just once I would love to see a dumb phone built on the same principles that OpenBSD uses. Simple, secure by default, and has nothing that isn’t absolutely needed for essential operations.