8 ms·
The dumbphone strikes back
- nicpottier 15y agoThe thing is that Android smartphones are getting really cheap. In Kenya, the Huawei Ideos is about $80 and is getting huge traction because of it. It's a bit more here in Rwanda but not much. The ZTE Blade is also pretty affordable. I would bet we'll start seeing $50 Android phones (unlocked prices here of course) within the next year or two.
- mrsebastian 15y agoIs Android designed for such cheap phones, tho'? Is there a minimum hardware spec that's capable of keeping the phone responsive? I just wonder if there's much difference between Android and Symbian once you get down to the $50 point. It's not like you're going to have any amazing hardware features at that point, so it more comes down to software, and how well that software is tailored for the device.
- kijin 15y agoWell, if a $25 Raspberrry Pi can run Linux and play HD videos, there's no reason a $50 phone shouldn't be able to run Android at a reasonable speed.
- nicpottier 15y agoI carried an Ideos for a few months, it was perfectly useable. Not my Galaxy Nexus by a long shot, but the important stuff of email, texting, Facebook all worked just fine.
- dagw 15y agoI know a few people who have ZTE Blades and they're happy enough with their phones.
- keeperofdakeys 15y agoMost of these low-end phones end up running an older version of Android (2.2), two major phone releases behind now that 4.0 has been released (not including 3.0, as that was tablets only). From what I have seen, one of the problems with running newer versions is ram and memory sizes; low-end phones simply don't have enough to run the newer versions of Android. I've got a Nexus S, one of the more powerful phones before the dual-core generation started. If you compare its specifications to the galaxy ace, one of the current generation low-end phones, they are actually quite similar. When you consider the Nexus S can even run 4.0 (officially too), something might be changing. Although, the galaxy ace probably lacks in the gpu area.
- technoslut 15y agoWhat you say is more than likely true but I think people underestimate just how many really do like Nokia and Symbian. The 6300 series was always popular, especially in Africa, because they were pretty rugged. This is still a problem with touchscreen phones. While many people have a problem with the hideousness of the Symbian UI, there are a lot who don't have this problem. They've learned how to use it and are comfortable with it. The iPhone, Android and WP7 don't necessarily improve their experience and there are also new things to learn.
- vasundhar 15y agoI am not sure if you heard of another cheap mobile maker called Micromax, Manufactured mainly in Chaina and marketed in India,Brazil, and many more countries under the brand name Micromax. Its just matter of time before they reach nearest store.
- daliusd 15y agoTwo years is a lot of time in mobile industry. E.g.: * Angry Birds released for the Apple's iOS in December 2009 (two year ago) * iPhone itself is 4.5 years old. I can completely see $50 Android after two years but Nokia is not sleeping either.
- beagle3 15y agoNewegg has the Huawei Ideos for $85 on sale every other week or so.
- rapind 15y agoI'm sure I belong to a minority here, but I do not want smart phone features. All I want is 1) voice, 2) text, 3) email (text only), 4) Long battery life, 5) reliability. I don't want web on my phone. I don't want a camera on my phone. I don't want an MP3 player on my phone. I don't want a GPS or a tip calculator or a thousand other pointless (to me) apps on my phone. I don't even want to play angry birds on my phone. * gasp * I had an iPhone. I got rid of it. I now own a Nokia, and other than coming with a useless camera, it fits my requirements perfectly and it's way cheaper and the battery lasts forever.
- shawnee_ 15y agoDumbphones are underrated. Last year, when deciding whether or not to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, I did extensive research and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was just not worth it. Yet. If or when telecomms ever stop trying to handcuff customers with contracts, it might be. Because, ultimately, it's never been about the phone; it's all about the contract that Verizon / TMobile / AT&T wants to handcuff us to. Net neutrality "lite" means that the telecoms have extreme incentives to keep us chained to contracts for as long as possible, no matter what advances in technology might make voice and data usage cheaper / bandwidth more efficient, or whatever. Anyway, I ended up keeping my contractless dumb phone for voice only, and got an Android tablet for anything that would have otherwise persuaded me to want a smart phone. Unfortunately, I ended up needing to buy a data plan for it, which means I'm handcuffed to a contract anyway. But at least the tablet is optimized for "reading" which is what I'd want to do most of, had I a smart phone. I guess that's where Verizon wins, spending my hard-earned money on lobbying for laws that decrease my power of choice, as a consumer.
- spindritf 15y agoWhat laws? You mean the contract?
- shawnee_ 15y agoI mean lack of laws. Net neutrality lite protects consumers only in the realm of hard-wired ISP service, not mobile broadband. The regulations ban content blocking and require transparency from ISPs. They also require network management and packet discrimination to be "reasonable," but they exempt wireless broadband from all but the transparency and blocking rules. source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/12/its-here-fcc-adopts-net-neutrality-lite.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/12/its-here-fcc...
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- spindritf 15y ago
- SandB0x 15y agoThe big advantage is battery life. I now carry around a £5 dumbphone in my bag for when my smartphone inevitably dies on a night out (and yes, I do have a second charger at work). When I use the dumbphone as my main device, the battery lasts around two weeks.
- sliverstorm 15y agoAlso small size, durability, light weight, and cool-running. Additionally, they are replaceable- my dumbphone (which I left smartphones for) was $20 without a contract. If I get pushed into a pool or drop it off a cliff, I won't be especially put out.
- pedrolll 15y agoAfter my smartphone was stolen, I switched back to a dumbphone and realized it was exactly what I needed, for the reasons mentioned above. I don't think I'll buy a smartphone ever again.
- Craiggybear 15y agoI do this too. A cheapie little dumbphone, durable and hard-wearing (been dropped, kicked scuffed about) and has a staggering battery life. Love it. It has never let me down. I question the validity of owning a so-called smartphone and I'm seriously considering either selling it or giving it away, because I know I'd really not miss it.
- shampoo 15y agoI second that. I have a Nexus One. I never turn it on. Several days ago I turned it off after charging it. I went to turn it on, 0 battery. I give up. I'm looking at getting one of these: http://www.spareonephone.com/ http://www.spareonephone.com/
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- jasomill 15y agoIt's only "all about the contract" if you sign one. I, for one, am perfectly happy to pay $649 for an iPod, a GPS, a portable video game console, a PDA, and a phone, but wouldn't pay a $5 premium for what passes for "unlimited high-speed data service" in the US unless it includes Wi-Fi tethering. Similarly, the ability to "browse the Web" on a low-resolution screen with a "ten-key" keyboard is, to me at least, worse than useless, but too many so-called "dumb phones" are truly dumb: the last one I had accepted Bluetooth contacts, iff phone numbers had no punctuation, and the one before that blocked "international calls" to all numbers of the form "+1 nnn-nnn-nnnn" from the US, and reliably _powered off_ when connected to a charger overnight (support actually claimed this to be a "feature designed to extend battery life"). The phone book issues, at least, weren't anything that 10 minutes with Python couldn't fix, but still, it's annoying that "dumb phone" vendors still, in 2011, saw software as an afterthought. Apple should really consider making a $150 contract-free, high-quality, 4GB "iPod smart dumb phone" with iCloud and Siri but no user-installed apps, for people with iPads who really just want an iPod and a decent phone.
- zdw 15y agoIf you want a form factor other than candybar, or candybar with slideout keyboard, you don't have many smartphone choices - the only one I'm aware of is this blackberry, but I'm sure there are others: http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberrystyle/ http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberrystyle/ I know a lot of people who, out of preference for the form factor, overall size, or protection for the keyboard/display, only buy flip phones.
- tytso 15y agoPersonally, what I'm starting to converge on is a smartphone plus a Macbook Air / Ultrabook / Chromebook, with the smartphone providing the tethering capability, and where I'm always carrying the smartphone, and carrying the light weight MBA / Ultrabook / Chromebook air with me 80% of the time. What I need out of the lightweight notebook is a keyboard, larger screen, fast browser (which one of the tablets or smartphones provide today) and minimal off-line capabilities (i.e., off-line GMail, Google Docs, and eBook reading). Anything else is a bonus. Today I'm doing this with a MBA, but I can easily see a next-gen Ultrabook or Chromebook meeting my needs. Ultimately, the problem with a tablet is that its weight / capability just isn't favorable enough. Anything I can do with a tablet, I can do with a smartphone (although perhaps with a bit more scrolling), and a tablet's browser rendering speed and lack of keyboard makes it reach for a lightweight notebook every single time (and the MBA / Ultrabook / Chromebook isn't that much heavier than a tablet).
- naner 15y agoI think this is actually a hint towards the future of computing. I imagine that your smartphone will be your sole computer and then everywhere else (home, work, library, friend's house, etc) there will be something like dumb terminals that will associate with your phone to give you access to a bigger screen and keyboard and even extend the processing, memory, and graphics capabilities of your phone.
- rapind 15y agoI would agree that the client's will get thinner (dumb terminals like chrome books), however I still think your own portable dumb terminal will be far more popular than a community / shared dumb terminal. I use a MPB, but I'm envious of the MBAs and will no doubt eventually spring for one. I have absolutely no interest in a shared dumb terminal with a different feeling inputs / outputs (keyboard, mice / touch, screen). Maybe if we're all using touch screens eventually, but I'm not convinced the keyboard will go away anytime soon, and I prefer my own setup. If anything laptops have become a very personal item, sometimes even a fashion statement (not my thing but it's there).
- michaelmior 15y agoI've never had a smart phone. My 5 year old dumb phone has kept me reasonably happy. I'm typically either in the office at a computer, or at home with a computer nearby. My phone does have a simple WAP browser that I can use to check email in a pinch.
- bwarp 15y agoMy dumbphone is a 3 year old nokia s40 device. I wouldn't trade it for a smartphone - there is just no point. Battery life is good - at least 2 weeks on the original battery. It still works when i drop it which i do regularly. I've got an ssh client. I've got offline gmail if i want. I've made 6000 hours of calls and sent 45000 text messages. To replace it costs about 60GBP. The best thing is I'm posting from it now using Opera mini. Why would you need anything more?
- dfox 15y agoThis is pretty interesting sentence: "Series 40 even supports tethering". Before this wave of smartphones for everybody started by iPhone, ability to use cell phone as an modem was so standard that nobody even cared to make up fancy marketing names ("tethering", seriously?) for that.
- orbitingpluto 15y agoOne of the best things about dumbphone data usage is that it is a lot easier to control. On Android an inconsiderate app can decide that it really needs to update 250MB of resources. There goes your data plan for that month... I regret switching to a standard data plan as it was 'unlimited'. With the good old trusty dumbphone, a Nokia N95, I was able to connect by BT and then tunnel with SSH to VNC and RDP to my hearts content by laptop or Nokia tablet. An odd quirk was that the SSH data usage never even showed up on my plan.
- johncoltrane 15y agoA few weeks ago some bloggers posted photos of the phone they had in 2007, when the iPhone was introduced. The message seemed to be something like "look at the kind of shit we used before Apple reinvented the mobile". I have no idea what model it is, but I've paid 9 € for my current Nokia in 2005 as part of a contract prolongation. Its original battery lasts one week and a half and I can't count how many times it fell to the ground. It works just as well as it did 7 years ago. I don't know if "The dumbphone strikes back". Hell, I didn't even noticed it was ever defeated.
- joshuahedlund 15y agoThe article only really talks about demand for dumbphones by way of their relatively low prices, but there's a huge demographic factor as well. I've heard so many people from pre-cellular generations say they "just want a phone that makes phone calls" over the last few years that I'm not at all surprised to see articles like this. With the coming demographic shifts in the United States, I expect a very healthy market for dumbphones for a long time.
- whatajoke 15y agoIf only Nokia hadn't buried N900 and N9, more people would have experienced what a true mini laptop feels like.
- daliusd 15y agoI own N950 - I wouldn't die if I hadn't it. I use it up to full power, I love it, but I can replace any part* in it with something else either by delegating that to dumbphone or laptop. * - problem with Nokia Maps for car navigation while from other side I love to be lost a little bit.
- rubashov 15y agoWhat is the smallest, thinnest dumbphone on the market? I want a very, very small phone for voice and SMS and that's it.