6 ms·

I appreciate these basic phones but what I need is something different. I would prefer 2 phones: a regular smartphone and a basic feature phone. Then I’d take t

I appreciate these basic phones but what I need is something different. I would prefer 2 phones: a regular smartphone and a basic feature phone. Then I’d take the one I need when I leave the house. The problem is you either need two lines with your carrier or swap physical sims. Swapping physical sims is inconvenient and means you cant use an esim.

mrbombastic 3y ago
Not exactly what you want but how about this setup: keep your minimal phone as your default phone with cell service. Whenever you head out use that. Your second distracting regular smartphone has no cell service. If you want to use that one either use wifi or bring both along and tether to your minimal phone.
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  The reality is that most people do not want to carry multiple devices around. Carrying some kind of minimalist phone for text and voice, and a tablet or other device for "apps" isn't really a great experience.
  - daxfohl 3y ago
    Yeah, or charge every night, or look for when you're in a hurry to get out the door, etc. Or buy, for that matter. Probably what I'd rather have is a phone that has a low power low function mode, that I can configure what apps are available, and then a regular mode where everything is available. But to get to it, I need to convince a LLM equivalent of Seinfeld's soup nazi why I need it.
    - SoftTalker 3y ago
      Yeah a phone with an easy toggle between "dumb" and "smart" would be handy, especially if "dumb" mode had greatly increased battery life, but I don't think it would appeal to enough people to motivate making one.
      - daxfohl 3y ago
        I mean, it could just be built into android, or maybe even an app with enough permissions. But agreed, even at that minimal level of friction, I'd probably turn it off most of the time, and deal with it via old fashioned self control. And for the times I'm out of control, just turn the phone off.
        filleduchaos 3y ago
        > I mean, it could just be built into android Isn't this literally already built into Android? Extreme Battery Saver effectively turns your phone into a feature phone, disabling every app except Clock, Phone, Messages, Settings, the Play Store, and your camera. And you can add other essential apps to the whitelist (e.g. I have my note taking, ride sharing, banking/wallet, calendar and TOTP apps enabled, and my music player if I'm on the go). It even degrades the phone's performance to match lol, and the added battery life you get from it is fantastic. Might be a Pixel-only thing now that I think of it...then again I'm pretty sure other OEMs like Samsung would have their own versions
        daxfohl 3y ago
        Probably. So given I haven't bothered to look up this feature yet, and I've established for myself I'd rather have this than a dumbphone, I don't think it makes real world sense to buy a dumbphone, even though it sounds pretty nice in principle, which aligns with what OP is saying.
      - mackrevinack 3y ago
        or something like the yotaphone where it has an eink screen on the back. the specs were always pretty awful though
- johnchristopher 3y ago
  I was under the impression most minimal phones don't have wifi hotspot feature/capability ?
  - rjsw 3y ago
    Some KaiOS ones do. I got a Nokia 6300 4G a week ago, not tested the hotspot functionality yet but am happy with the other features of it.
fragmede 3y ago
Use a service like Google voice to multiplex across phone numbers. Configure it so hitting the Google voice number hits both of your devices, so it rings whichever you have with you at the time.
jcul 3y ago
This is what I do. I have a agm m8 flip that I have at all times for calls and text. And I have a pixel running grapheneos that I use more like a laptop / when needed. Living without a smartphone isn't possible. But not using one for two or three days is. Most banking apps require a smartphone. If I'm out an about I will generally not have a smart phone unless I'm making an unfamiliar journey or something like that. I've got through quite a few dumbphones, including the nokie 8110 (banana phone, but rooted with app store removed), Nokia 2660, cat s22 flip, agm m6 But all were sub par in some way. The m8 is the first that has ticked all the boxes for me. I love it.
volemo 3y ago
I suggest taking a look at https://palm.com/pages/product https://palm.com/pages/product.
prmoustache 3y ago
you can have 2 sims with same carrier afaik (but you have to pay for it).
pcchristie 3y ago
I've always thought this was a good solution too. I'm not sure how difficult it is to have a cloned eSIM and have your carrier call/msg both devices at once for a small extra fee?
MBCook 3y ago
Cellular watch + earbuds would do that for the basic phone part, and it shares the number with your full smartphone.
dredmorbius 3y ago
One option that tends toward this is to have a cellular modem which tethers to the device of your choice. SIM is assigned to that device. Voice comms go over a VOIP service such as Jitsi or whatevs. Carry the VOIP device you want to use, whether a minimal comms-only device, or a more capable tablet or laptop which you can talk to. A device which talks to a headset or transport-based option (e.g., your car's Bluetooth system) might also be convenient. The idea that you need a full-compute device with a high-res screen just to make voice calls is ... somewhat silly. The main concern I have with this is the level of phone spam either now present or in the likely future. You'll want a comms system which filters out unknown and/or suspect calls. PSTN, of any stripe (POTS, mobile, VOIP) isn't cutting it any more.

mrbombastic 3y ago

Not exactly what you want but how about this setup: keep your minimal phone as your default phone with cell service. Whenever you head out use that. Your second distracting regular smartphone has no cell service. If you want to use that one either use wifi or bring both along and tether to your minimal phone.

SoftTalker 3y ago
The reality is that most people do not want to carry multiple devices around. Carrying some kind of minimalist phone for text and voice, and a tablet or other device for "apps" isn't really a great experience.
- daxfohl 3y ago
  Yeah, or charge every night, or look for when you're in a hurry to get out the door, etc. Or buy, for that matter. Probably what I'd rather have is a phone that has a low power low function mode, that I can configure what apps are available, and then a regular mode where everything is available. But to get to it, I need to convince a LLM equivalent of Seinfeld's soup nazi why I need it.
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    Yeah a phone with an easy toggle between "dumb" and "smart" would be handy, especially if "dumb" mode had greatly increased battery life, but I don't think it would appeal to enough people to motivate making one.
    - daxfohl 3y ago
      I mean, it could just be built into android, or maybe even an app with enough permissions. But agreed, even at that minimal level of friction, I'd probably turn it off most of the time, and deal with it via old fashioned self control. And for the times I'm out of control, just turn the phone off.
      - filleduchaos 3y ago
        > I mean, it could just be built into android Isn't this literally already built into Android? Extreme Battery Saver effectively turns your phone into a feature phone, disabling every app except Clock, Phone, Messages, Settings, the Play Store, and your camera. And you can add other essential apps to the whitelist (e.g. I have my note taking, ride sharing, banking/wallet, calendar and TOTP apps enabled, and my music player if I'm on the go). It even degrades the phone's performance to match lol, and the added battery life you get from it is fantastic. Might be a Pixel-only thing now that I think of it...then again I'm pretty sure other OEMs like Samsung would have their own versions
        daxfohl 3y ago
        Probably. So given I haven't bothered to look up this feature yet, and I've established for myself I'd rather have this than a dumbphone, I don't think it makes real world sense to buy a dumbphone, even though it sounds pretty nice in principle, which aligns with what OP is saying.
    - mackrevinack 3y ago
      or something like the yotaphone where it has an eink screen on the back. the specs were always pretty awful though
johnchristopher 3y ago
I was under the impression most minimal phones don't have wifi hotspot feature/capability ?
- rjsw 3y ago
  Some KaiOS ones do. I got a Nokia 6300 4G a week ago, not tested the hotspot functionality yet but am happy with the other features of it.

fragmede 3y ago

Use a service like Google voice to multiplex across phone numbers. Configure it so hitting the Google voice number hits both of your devices, so it rings whichever you have with you at the time.

jcul 3y ago

This is what I do. I have a agm m8 flip that I have at all times for calls and text. And I have a pixel running grapheneos that I use more like a laptop / when needed. Living without a smartphone isn't possible. But not using one for two or three days is. Most banking apps require a smartphone. If I'm out an about I will generally not have a smart phone unless I'm making an unfamiliar journey or something like that. I've got through quite a few dumbphones, including the nokie 8110 (banana phone, but rooted with app store removed), Nokia 2660, cat s22 flip, agm m6 But all were sub par in some way. The m8 is the first that has ticked all the boxes for me. I love it.

volemo 3y ago

I suggest taking a look at https://palm.com/pages/product https://palm.com/pages/product.

prmoustache 3y ago

you can have 2 sims with same carrier afaik (but you have to pay for it).

pcchristie 3y ago

I've always thought this was a good solution too. I'm not sure how difficult it is to have a cloned eSIM and have your carrier call/msg both devices at once for a small extra fee?

MBCook 3y ago

Cellular watch + earbuds would do that for the basic phone part, and it shares the number with your full smartphone.

dredmorbius 3y ago

One option that tends toward this is to have a cellular modem which tethers to the device of your choice. SIM is assigned to that device. Voice comms go over a VOIP service such as Jitsi or whatevs. Carry the VOIP device you want to use, whether a minimal comms-only device, or a more capable tablet or laptop which you can talk to. A device which talks to a headset or transport-based option (e.g., your car's Bluetooth system) might also be convenient. The idea that you need a full-compute device with a high-res screen just to make voice calls is ... somewhat silly. The main concern I have with this is the level of phone spam either now present or in the likely future. You'll want a comms system which filters out unknown and/or suspect calls. PSTN, of any stripe (POTS, mobile, VOIP) isn't cutting it any more.