8 ms·
The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone
- nubinetwork 3mo agoCommodore died in the 80-90s, this is the husk of a dead horse being beaten by some YouTuber.
- diydsp 3mo ago[dead]
- radicalbyte 3mo agoIt has the same core spec as a $120 (delivered) Samsung phone and will cost between $500-$600 (delivered). The C64U is an amazing achievement but it seems too early to go for the smart phone. Hopefully there is a niche and their business plan is viable for a small number of sales.
- kmoser 3mo agoThey're betting that the target demographic will pay a premium for the form factor, not so much the tech specs.
- eloisant 3mo agoThey are completely ignoring the market of parents who want a non-Smartphone for their kids. And I'm pretty sure this market is going to grow, much more than adults who want to limit themselves.
- SwellJoe 3mo agoThose parents can choose from the many dumb phones already on the market that cost under $100. Why on earth would someone who isn't specifically nostalgic about Commodore products spend $500 for this specific dumb phone? https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/best-dumbphones-b2717333.html https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/b...
- gapan 3mo agoYou can't do video calls on those sub $100 phones though. Don't let the form factor fool you, this is not a dumb phone.
- radicalbyte 3mo agoThe Samsung with parental control does the same thing as this phone only you don't have to beg Commodore to install the apps your kid's school requires them to install. It's at most a $200 smart phone (doubling the prices for the DAC + IEMs) being sold at > $500 with a funky design, interesting OS and their own app store. I hope that they sell millions of these things, enough so that they can afford to buy the Amiga IP... just don't see it happening.
- SwellJoe 3mo agoExactly that. The idea that Commodore can decide which apps go on the device, and I'm supposed to pay a premium for that, is crazy to me. Parental controls solves the problem for kids, without preventing them from having apps the parents want them to have. People in this thread are trying really hard to invent a customer base for this phone that was seemingly designed for exactly one person.
- dotcoma 3mo agoIt’s as overpriced as the SpaceX IPO.
- Leonard_of_Q 3mo agoThat'd mean they sell for more than the advertised price given how the stock went up after launch.
- dotcoma 3mo agoWell, somehow the laws of gravity don’t apply to SpaceX, nor to Tesla.
- Leonard_of_Q 3mo ago> the laws of gravity don’t apply to SpaceX If and when that happens the stock will really take off.
- ranger_danger 3mo agoOverpriced relative to what? Phones that are produced at scale by the millions and so can have much lower prices due to economy of scale? That's going to be the case with anything produced in low volumes, but that doesn't mean they are overcharging for it. Most tech products are sold at somewhere around 3-4x what it costs the company to make them.
- dotcoma 3mo agoI have no idea how much it costs to produce this phone, but if you asked me how much it should cost, I'd say about 200 USD.
- pocksuppet 3mo agoThat's the hardware. How much do you have to add on to cover the designer and software people's salaries and the CEO's profit, if you're only going to be able to sell 5 phones?
- DennisL123 3mo agonot so sure about this one.
- ageedizzle 3mo agoThis is a similar idea to the lightphone. I would be curious to see a more detailed comparison of the twos features.
- recursivedoubts 3mo agoRegarding the price: the reality with all these alternative phones (e.g. the clicks communicator) is that you are going to have to pay a premium to make them worthwhile for the manufacturers. Scale (and the spyware economy) are what allow the larger companies to produce cheaper "better" phones, so comparing a phone like this with them on price isn't super productive. If you want something different than what the masses consume you are gonna have to pay for it. The only ones that I've seen beat this dynamic to an extent are the unihertz phones.
- HarHarVeryFunny 3mo agoThat unihertz "Jelly Star" with it's small size and rounded corners looks like a good prison phone choice, but still a bit of a "stretch".
- decimalenough 3mo agoThree inches! Even the greenest punk should be able to bend over and take it. https://www.unihertz.com/products/jelly-star https://www.unihertz.com/products/jelly-star
- recursivedoubts 3mo agonothing funnier than male rape, is there?
- sitkack 3mo agoif this ran graphene, i'd buy one today.
- decimalenough 3mo agoWe're discussing the entirely voluntary insertion of mobile phones into your "prison pocket", not rape.
- 3mo ago
- azretd 3mo agoFolks have a hard time reclaiming their attention from the never ending distractions of a smart phone. If commodore can make a device and ecosystem to make that happen, I’m sure folks will spend the money. The reality though is, most folks don’t even think how much time they spend on phones, so I hope they can become profitable with devices sold in the thousands.
- fc417fc802 3mo ago> Folks have a hard time reclaiming their attention from the never ending distractions of a smart phone. It's actually surprisingly easy. Flash LineageOS and don't install any nonessential apps which includes no play services. At that point all you have is SMS and the browser. (If you find even just the browser too difficult to resist then configure parental controls I guess.) Alternatively a less drastic action is to permanently set it to silent. You (and your contacts) get used to it after a few weeks.
- mapontosevenths 3mo ago> Flash LineageOS and don't install any nonessential apps which includes no play services. I did this with GrapheneOS and a simple launcher. That said, it's not something the average person will ever want to, or maybe even be capable to, do. They want to just pay someone money and get a product that respects them. If this does that, then it will be well received by the people who care enough to spend money on it. I'll actually be buying one when it launches. My custom solution is "fine"... It's also a pain in my behind. The entire point of a "dumb" phone like this is to reduce the amount of attention it requires from me. Managing some custom ROM and keeping it up to date actually requires MORE attention in some ways. I kind of hate it even after a year or two of constant tinkering to make it fit me "just right". I'd rather have something that respects me out of the box and spend a little time adapting to it.
- wincy 3mo agoI just parental lock my wife’s phone and she parental locks mine. This has worked for us for nearly a decade now. Solutions that actually work often sound weird (because otherwise it wouldn’t be a problem in the first place), but yeah “ask my wife” and vice versa keeps us from installing Facebook and other apps that are rabbit holes while making it easy to remedy if I actually need it. To be clear, this is totally voluntary and we both choose our own blocks then say “hey add a password” or “hey I need to adjust, punch in the password”. I see it as similar to having a bank teller vs the ATM. Easy peasy and that little bit of friction has made our quality of life better.
- chuckadams 3mo agoSpeaking as someone who loved the hell out of the dysfunctional mess that was Commodore, and read every Compute's Gazette front to back as soon as it came out: FFS, just let them stay dead. I'm really sick of seeing my generation being strip-mined nonstop for nostalgia.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- bethekidyouwant 3mo agoI need car play, eg maps + YouTube music. And fb and texto + messenger + whatsapp. Price is irrelevant if i can get a “fully functional” phone without a browser. Oh i guess I could live without discord. But seems fine to have..
- tcrenshaw 3mo agoI'm interested in the form factor and excited about the inclusion of a headphone jack but SailfishOS is the real selling point for me. I'll buy this if there is a way to remove the app restrictions they have. Ideally, I should be able to flash the default SailfishOS
- Retr0id 3mo agoTheir FAQ says there's no way to disable the restrictions, but they also say you can sideload APKs.
- itomato 3mo agoMight as well get an Android flip phone? Cheaper with a more powerful SOC and better feature set? Disable your own features, don’t let Perifractic own you.
- Jolter 3mo agoThat’s the whole selling point of this phone, though. If they had made it easy to sideload Twitter, they might as well not make a phone.
- msephton 3mo agoThe phone may not be dumb (we'll see) but the idea for new Commodore to release one is. Sorry to be so blunt.
- gtowey 3mo agoI bought one of their C64 repros, it was exactly what I want, I was searching ebay for original Apple ][e at the time anyway. Why? It's going to be my kids first computer. Computers today are so absolutely hostile as they are simply attention-sucking sale-terminals. They spend all their time popping up unwanted notifications which are just advertising. And the interface of modern devices is actually horrible for learning. Some stuff may be intuitive, but the biggest issue is that every slight movement, accidental tap or gesture is linked to something so for kids it's too easy to do something that exits the current program or bring up some sidebar. It's impossible even for me to connect "what did I just do?" with the sudden change in context. It makes it really hard to connect cause and effect. And don't even get me started on how dangerous apps like YouTube are for kids. The recommendation algo seems to surface click-farm scam content in no time. Or weird dopamine traps. So my kids will start with a device that isn't constantly trying to sell things, they will learn to understand simple systems which has deterministic behavior.
- msephton 3mo agoGood luck, I mean that. Times have changed, my kids simply aren't interested in the things I was growing up, so as parents we decided not to force them but rather to positively reinforce whatever it is they want to do. That's not to say they can do whatever they want, of course, but they lead the direction.
- ChristopherDrum 3mo agoCommodore's CEO said in the press release about this phone that he wanted it because he, himself, had become addicted to his smartphone, so he switched to a dumbphone "And my two year-old daughter doesn’t see me staring at something she doesn’t understand for half of the day." Not to sound overly flippant about it, but that sounds like a "him" problem, not a phone problem? He clearly doesn't see it that way. Instead he's decided that his inability to personally cultivate a healthy relationship to current technology represents a flaw in the technology itself, so we should regress it. Kind of, "Am I so out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong." vibes. I'm not a father, so I can't speak with authority, but it seems to me the appropriate approach (given technology's advances will not stop) is to nurture the skills in children that help them navigate the waters, not to drain the sea.
- DigiEggz 3mo agoKeeping my eye on this. I really like the general form factor and aesthetic here. The candy-like wired audio and chiptune ringtones are a fun bonus.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- pjmlp 3mo agoWe had smart phones already before iOS and Android came to be, so the headline is a bit duh.
- clickety_clack 3mo agoIt looks awesome but I’d need to be able to swap an eSIM easily to switch back and forth from an iPhone.
- pocksuppet 3mo agoeSIMs can't be swapped by design to increase lock-in. That's why I never buy a phone that requires an eSIM or use a carrier that only issues an eSIM.
- pocksuppet 3mo agoWhy downvote this?
- rationalist 3mo ago> eSIMs ... design[ed] to increase lock-in. Probably because you're assuming facts not in evidence. I'm not doubting you, but please provide a source for such an assertion.
- Retr0id 3mo agoFor some reason the diagram under the "Not Your Granny's Flip" heading has been AI-generated
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- dpcan 3mo agoI'd go this direction as long as it had a real keyboard... Maybe it's time for the blackberry to reemerge.
- hoppyhoppy2 3mo agohttps://clicks.tech/communicator https://clicks.tech/communicator
- sudokatsu 3mo agoI’m surprised they’re able to offer the Dimensity 8300 at that price point. Curious to see how much RAM it comes with.
- andrewstuart 3mo agoHere you go: https://lilygo.cc/collections/t-deck-series https://lilygo.cc/collections/t-deck-series
- SwellJoe 3mo agoIf I were going to be nostalgic about a phone, it'd be the Sidekick II (Danger Hiptop outside the US). That was a banger. Physical keyboard, very comfortable form factor for double thumb typing. A modern take on that would be my ideal phone. The first Android Google Dev Phone 1 was also a great device, sharing lineage with the Sidekick.
- sombragris 3mo agoMore than the Blackberry... I'd say, the N900 form factor, complete with camera lens lid.
- dredmorbius 3mo agoLook at the Keyphone ($399), Minimal Phone ($399), Zinwa Q25 ($420), Unnecto Snap ($69), and HIT K1 ($349), all via Jose Briones's dumbphone finder. <https://www.dumbphones.org/ https://www.dumbphones.org/> The other way to go is with an ultra-small laptop (typically 12--13"), a tablet with integrated keyboard, or a (usually DIY) cyberdeck.
- busymom0 3mo agoAm I able to use the Transit app? That's one thing I'd really like to have.
- ediamondscience 3mo agoI'm all for something dumber than the average little black skinner box. The price doesn't really bother me as much as the side loading restrictions. If I'm going to pay $600 for a novelty phone I better be allowed to do whatever I want with it. Locking that behavior behind some fuzzy logic yes/no algorithm based on God only knows what LLM seems pretty tone deaf to what a lot of people have been saying about owning their own hardware over the last decade or so.
- specproc 3mo agoI'm not sure about these new dumb phones. Just not having social media in the first place has worked alright for me. I hate my phone, and my relationship with it, but sometimes you just need to use one. My preferred strategy is having a normal phone, minimal apps, and just keeping it switched off most of the time, particularly round the house. Thing is, I've got a worse problem with my laptop and desk. Between HN, lichess, and a handful of favoured blogs, I can easily blow a day doing nothing, without the help of a phone. Honestly, I think something deeper than a different form factor is required. If anyone has found it, let me know.
- itomato 3mo agoIt’s not even a dumb phone. It’s a WhatsApp flip phone.
- SwellJoe 3mo agoHaving WhatsApp but no email is the weirdest part about this thing (and there are many weird choices here). This is the most "built specifically for one person" product I've ever seen. I've never used WhatsApp. Never known anyone who suggested we talk via WhatsApp. I know it's popular, but, it's not more popular than email. And, it's certainly more distracting than email, if you're trying to build a device free of things that distract and demand immediate attention.
- wvenable 3mo agoIn many countries, Whatsapp is texting. You wouldn't expect a dumb phone to do email but you would expect it to do minimal texting.
- recursive-call 3mo agoWhat wouldn’t you consider “doing nothing” if even chess and blogs don’t count?
- specproc 3mo ago
- notnullorvoid 3mo agoMy biggest problem with dumb phones and similar concepts like this digital detox phone is the comparitively crappy cameras. I don't take photos often, but when I do I want them to be good.
- gapan 3mo agoThey say that it has a 48MP camera so that shouldn't be a problem. I think I saw them comparing it to the iphone's camera even. Remains to be seen of course.
- Jolter 3mo agoThe reason the iPhone takes great photos is probably 95% because of the software. It’s 0% because of the number of pixels, and never was even since their early models. I think the kind of user who gets a detox phone will also get an Instax or a second hand old Ixus.
- gapan 3mo agoIs there a reason to think that this might not have equally good software for taking pictures? Almost, at least. There are a lot of phones in the market with good cameras (yes, + software). We won't know until someone tries it.
- dredmorbius 3mo agoYou can buy a standalone camera, some for under $100, many for < $600. These are at least as pocketable as a smartphone, you can hand one to someone without giving them your digital life, and they'll outlast any current smartphone, often by decades. For examples of current offerings, PC Mag 2026 reviews: <https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-point-and-shoot-cameras https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-point-and-shoot-cameras>.
- diydsp 3mo agoThe cool thing is running two phones w same number. One big market phone and one minimal. Take the minimal out most of the time and the big one when you need to. Tmobile used to let me do that but it was pricey.
- Someone 3mo agoIt still is pricey, but you can already buy such a minimal one; it’s a smartwatch.
- aspect0545 3mo agoI would use that phone if I had the ability to customise it to my needs. I don’t want meta apps nor Spotify preinstalled, but I would take the ability to install signal.
- PrimeOS32 3mo agoThis is a pocket Linux terminal with loads of untapped potential out of the box. Combining voice navigation with an ssh linked home AI server may make this a true privacy-first successor to the prying smartphone for the AI era. And there is the audio quality, with a battery that lasts a week. The Bluetooth tethering has a standby feature so any non-cellular wifi device you carry is effectively always connected as well. It won't drop like most smartphones. There is way more utility in this combo than the brick in your pocket we have to contend with now. I hope Commodore can see past the detox only and see what they have really created here. Meanwhile hackers can have a field day!!
- itomato 3mo agoNot really, it’s a 5 year old SOC that runs Sailfish. You want a Linux box in your pocket? Why does a flip phone factor excite you?
- abc42 3mo agoIt's genuinely small. You can put it in your pocket and forget that it's there. I'm continually amazed that people don't seem to want that.
- itomato 3mo agoWe have had that in various forms for a while now without the grandiose visions and gatekeeping. The exact same module in fact has been around for a while. Battery is ancient. T9 is ancient. I have a $70 Linux box in my pocket already. It runs a Buildroot distro and the only real difference is an LTE PHY. I have lived through the Nokia internet tablet and I’m surprised this isn’t what people aspire to.
- abc42 3mo agoThing is, we also need stuff like Signal to actually use phones for their original purpose these days. Most flip phones that we've had so far are dumb phones, mostly unable to run 3rd party software. It sounds like this Commodore phone might be able to fill that gap. I'll wait for the first few reviews though.
- sedatk 3mo agoNot Commodore-looking. Not nostalgic. Not novel. It unchecks all the boxes. I’m saying that as a very happy C64U owner.
- andrewstuart 3mo agoBut it IS “digital detox” and Christian Simpson has said many times that’s what Commodore is. Despite Christian’s YouTube channel being all about retro and nostalgia, that not what Commodore is about.
- sedatk 3mo ago> Christian Simpson has said many times that’s what Commodore is Well he’s wrong. Commodore’s original spirit was all about entering the new digital era, not running away from it. We learned programming, games, demoscene, BBSes, and even Internet on our C64s and Amigas. C64U makes this even better thanks to USB ports and Wifi support, so it’s trivial to keep it connected to the new material while experiencing the nostalgia closest to its authentic form. This phone is nowhere near it.
- rootsudo 3mo agoThe Samsung android flips are great but all this patent pending tech is just configurations on a non basic build of google. Like the idea, commodore never had me in its nostalgia, too young, idea is cute, t9 keyboard is workable but I disagree that it’s viable. I want to be wrong of course but Samsung and apple using their fold flip and discipline fixes the other side. People do not want to detox. Going back to a flip won’t fix it. Same as the glp1 drugs, people knew food was bad, didn’t stop eating. Started body shame movement. Now that movement seems to have gone silent, glp1s fixed obesity seemingly overnight. So the question is, what is the future glp1 equilivant for digital detox, a simpler phone or a phone that makes it more complicated to get digital services isn’t it. Then there’s the argument for price, photo quality and all. No one is going to take photos and edit on a desktop in photoshop or Lightroom. Same as for using two phones and transferring esims, their WhatsApp number, etc
- daneel_w 3mo agoIt runs Sailfish. That's something, I guess.
- SwellJoe 3mo agoI have no idea who the customer is for this product. I bought a C64U. I bought a MEGA65. I bought the T-shirt. I own nearly every original Commodore 8-bit. If anybody is the target market for Commodore products, I am the target market, and I am no more nostalgic about or interested in flip phones than I am about fax machines. It's just like the good old days: Commodore execs shipping absurdly misguided products for the wrong price at the wrong time.
- thaanpaa 3mo agoMe. I like the idea behind the product very much. I feel like my AI-saturated brain needs something like this very much at the moment.
- crazygringo 3mo agoI think it's quite obvious that the target market has almost zero overlap with interest in the Commodore products from the 80s. There's nothing wrong with a new company (new as of last year I think?) that owns the Commodore branding, and put out the C64U, to try putting out a new product for a different market. The glowing Commodore icon just gives it a suitably vintage/retro feel that is aligned with the values of the device. Nothing more, nothing less. In other words, is for a very specific group of people trying to digitally detox, who like a retro hardware aesthetic, that has nothing to do with C64 enthusiasts.
- SwellJoe 3mo agoI guess. But, I have a hard time believing that market is large enough, or wealthy enough, to support the custom manufacture of a luxury dumb phone. I've been wrong about products before. But, I've been right more often. I'm confident this product will be a flop. I'll be surprised if it breaks even. Shocked if it makes a profit. And, unsurprised if it proves to be the undoing of the new Commodore before it really ever even gets off the starting block.
- ChrisRR 3mo agoThe only target market is the nostalgic crowd. For everyone else there's already plenty of flip phones available The problem is that even among the commodore/amiga crowd, the reception has been pretty uninterested
- Animats 3mo ago> "You don’t need a Google account to operate the device." Now that's progress.
- dredmorbius 3mo agoIt's typical of de-Googled devices, which includes some tablets which ship without Google Play Services (the adtech tracking infrastructure) activated, as well as Android-derived OSes (GrapheneOS, LineageOS, /e/OS, iodeOS) and AOSP variants (KaiOS). There's Linux and Android bits in there (fairly complete for the first list, less so for AOSP/KaiOS), but at least by default no Google requirements or spyware.
- itomato 3mo agoBut you need a Meta account??
- Humorist2290 3mo agoSo I had a feature phone -- the Nokia 8110 4g. What sold me was that I could use it as a 4g hotspot and connect a smartphone to it, or not and be offline. The idea of "going online" is something I miss, in that it's not normal to be always attached to the internet. The connections I want to foster don't need to be mediated by an ISP, or a Telco, or a social media crime syndicate, or whatever else. The "flip" part of this phone is cute, but the point Commodore makes about using it to punctuate the experience of using the device is significant to me. The Nokia also has a little sliding cover (which I always preferred over the flips as a matter of taste) and indeed the tactile interaction adds something. If it's still always connected to the internet though, it's just a gimmick. Sadly my cell provider at the time gave me a SIM which just wouldn't work with it, and nowadays it seems like they aren't even available to buy anymore. I'd be interested in this, but not at a 600$ price level. I want a phone which (a) is a phone and (b) is a 5g wifi hotspot on demand and (c) nothing else. After years of casual searching, I have concluded that such a product is either too niche or too countercultural to be allowed.
- nehal3m 3mo agoI'd be the first to admit this alternative is less than ideal since it adds yet another device, but you could carry a battery powered MiFi router (even power it off to conserve it) to supply a mobile connection, and then a feature phone for calls. Plus of course whatever you'd want to use to go online. I used a TP-Link M7650 when I was cut off from fiber for a while and it worked great for me.
- dredmorbius 3mo agoYou certainly could. There are also pluggable modems which are powered directly off, say, your laptop or tablet. There are also many dumbphones which act as hotspots. Most carriers have low nominal charge for ~100 GB of 150--300 Mbps connectivity monthly.
- gapan 3mo agoI can see a niche (or two) for this. My wife hates every smartphone that is currently in the market. They are all too huge for her. She has an iphone SE which was the best compromise at the time, although she still finds it big. She doesn't want to get a new one, because there is nothing on the market of that size. She doesn't use most the smart features. She only uses it for chat with family and friends and getting email notifications (and reading them, but never replying on the phone). She also uses it as a camera. And calls, including video calls. This might be a solution, although for some reason they say "no email app". I'm hoping you can add one later. And then as a child's phone to keep them off social media, while also having a chat app to actually communicate with them. Even for me, it's been some years too that I've been thinking that I don't really need a smartphone. I mostly need a device that I can use to make calls and that I can use as a hotspot for connecting other devices such as a laptop when I need to. The keyboard will definitely not be an issue. I'm old enough to remember teens using those kind of keyboards typing blindly in astonishing speeds, even without T9. Lack of 5G might be an issue. The price is steep. I'm not sure if that is going to be a problem.
- _the_inflator 3mo agoThen the old Sony Ericssons would be her best option I think. They were the ultimate in to small for my fingers, couldn't stand it. Still the best form factor has the iPhone 4 in my opinion. And here comes the revelation: the iPhone 17 have grown again and the base models all start at 6.3" The pro max is now 6.9" - the iPad mini is 8.3" What a massive burden to carry around and still the iPhone aren't good enough for reading long time - a book for example - like the iPad Mini is. I guess that many "content creators" edit their TikTok stuff when they are on the move and that the iPhone tries to more and more fit for that market. Also larger device sizes allow for larger batteries - good for local AI and again video editing and consuming as well. I Own a iPhone 16 and couldn't handle the pro/max option. Too bulky - and the camera lens has sharp edges combined with a slippy surface. So size is one thing, form another. The max options are crazy large especially if you consider a case for protection. Two things
- gapan 3mo ago
- dredmorbius 3mo agoThere is a growing set of options outside the Android / iOS duopoly. Commodore is stepping into this space, but they're by no means the only option. I've been looking into this area for the past month or so and have some hopefully-useful knowledge to share. For informational resources, I strongly recommend Jose Briones's website <https://josebriones.org/ https://josebriones.org/>, Substack <https://josebriones.substack.com/ https://josebriones.substack.com/>, Dumbphone Finder <https://www.dumbphones.org/ https://www.dumbphones.org/>, YouTube channel <https://inv.nadeko.net/channel/UCFtVwG0NFd6gT3TXfMCU7oA https://inv.nadeko.net/channel/UCFtVwG0NFd6gT3TXfMCU7oA>, and /r/dumbphones on Reddit (which he co-moderates). There are others also sharing information in this space, you should be able to discover at least some especially through YT and Reddit. First question I'd pose is why do you want out of the Apple/Google phone duopoly? Typical answers would be: - Intentionality / focus. Avoiding digital distraction and social timesucks. I'd include phone/SMS/messaging spam here. - Privacy / tracking. Avoiding the pervasive adtech of modern smartphones. - Cost. Not wanting to throw a megabuck at a new flagship device. - Quality. Of calls, of hardware, of software, of support (next item). - Support. Both hardware and software. Is there a solid warranty, is the device repairable, will there be OS and app updates, and for how long? - Modularity. Whether hardware or software, the ability to add/remove from the standard feature set. - Specific features. Rugged devices, overall size, screen size, battery capacity, removable batteries, removable modules, flip phones, e-ink / monochrome, keyboard (T-9, QWERTY), headphone jack, etc. Neither Google nor Apple offer choice on most of these for current products. Second would be what other constraints exist on your options? Typical here would be mobile networking standards (4G and VoLTE are table stakes today, 5G may be soon), physical v. e-SIM, and your must-have capabilities (usually given as apps). Messaging (including group texts, WhatsApp, Signal, Teams, and/or Slack), mapping/navigation, music/podcast/entertainment, rideshare, and banking/finance are what I see come up most frequently. Most or all of these have viable workarounds, but that depends on where you care to compromise. Third is what OS option(s) fit your needs. Full integration with the Google/Apple worlds will require Android or iOS. Android alternatives will match most mainstream functionality, though Google's making this increasingly difficult. That's GrapheneOS, LineageOS, SailfishOS, /e/OS, and iodeOS generally. Android-lite options, typically based on AOSP (Android Open Source Project), notably including KaiOS are yet further restricted, though have some app support (calculators, FM radio, podcasts, minimal Web browser, sometimes mapping, Signal, etc.). Even "focus-oriented" devices typically permit sideloading apps, so ultimately you are your own gatekeeper. Fourth is to what extent you're willing to extend your "everyday carry" (EDC) with items to backfill smartphone features you've traded off. For example, an e-reader, camera, flashlight, laptop, MP3 player, or ultra-light laptop. Fifth is your price range. Options start well under $100, and can go well over $1000, though there's quite a choice in the $100--$%600 range (new), lower if you're willing to pick used/refurbished devices. I'd argue that intentionality is fairly well served by many options. Privacy is far harder to establish, and many characteristics of the phone ecosystem independent of smartphone features themselves put some pretty hard limits on what you can accomplish. Cell-tower tracking, call history, contacts, and the like will leave a pretty robust footprint regardless of your OS and app choices. Even secure comms systems leave valuable metadata. My own approach is to consider any phone tainted, and to seek instead to minimise the data on, and generated by, the device. This means relying on other tools for other online tasks ... or moving those tasks offline. The remaining factors (or others you might consider) tend to be reflected to some extent. There are flip phones, Android-alternative smartphones, feature / dumb phones, e-ink devices, modular phones, rugged phones, cheap phones, big and small phones, touchscreen or keyboarded phones. And lots and lots of headphone jacks. The options which seem to most often make a splash on HN tend to command price premiums: Light Phone, Punkt, and Commodore are all $300--$600 items, rivaling recent full-featured iOS/Android devices. These options have their strengths, particularly in design and possibly support. Fairphone is another option, starting around $750, with hardware modularity baked in. There are reasons prices tend to run high relative to spec for comparable iOS / Android devices, with fixed costs and lack of economies of scale being key, though upmarket-positioning (warranted or not) is also at play. You'll find discussion of this on Reddit and YouTube, e.g., <https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=Fj61cc3QFdM https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=Fj61cc3QFdM> and <https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=BurBSG0YSGk https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=BurBSG0YSGk>, from Briones and "My Name is Michael" (another informative YouTuber). That said, there are far less expensive options available, though you'll want to pay attention to your priority list and reviewed quality/experience. If spam avoidence fits into your intentionality/privacy considerations ... some of the options aren't great. KaiOS, a fairly popular feature-phone OS, lacks specific call-blocking settings, apps, or APIs entirely based on what I've seen. This is ... unfortunate. I'd consider white/grey/black listing to be table stakes in 2026. Most devices offer at best per-number call blocking, which is ridiculous. Ideally I'd have a VoIP call relay which was the only number permitted to directly reach my mobile, with logic on the VoIP system to process incoming calls based on white- / grey- / black list status and other rules (e.g., time of day, availability status). There's also the option of ditching PSTN (public switched telephone network) largely or entirely, whether through VoIP/SIP systems, alternative messaging platforms, or other options. That's something I'm continuing to explore (and am well behind the curve relative to many).
- QuantumNoodle 3mo agoI get a lot of nostalgia and initial interest in these types of phones. But I always talk myself out of it because, with self control, my current phone is just as good plus it's one I already have. Perhaps when my current phone loses support then I'll consider these alternatives. But for the price... Eek. Rather just buy a "real" flip phone that can give out a hotspot.
- TacticalCoder 3mo agoSo "Commodore" as in that YouTuber who bought Commodore although initially he was just asking for the right to make a new C64 case (and the company owning Commodore suggested he could maybe buy the whole thing, instead of just asking for the rights to produce a case)? Why not: at least it looks like Commodore is in the hand of people who appreciate the brand.