Has the flip phone returned? Why some individuals are moving to dumbphones

Leigh Tynan didn’t want her daughter, who is 13 years old, to use her cellphone as a distraction, but she consented to get her one.

“When there’s a smartphone or screen, you don’t practise guitar, you don’t read a book, you don’t just be bored,” she stated. She ultimately opted for a TCL Flip phone over the widely-used iPhone, which had the important drawback of not having social media access.

“I just thought I really don’t feel comfortable with her being online all the time…. I’m trying to protect her from it for as long as possible.”

Dumbphones—also called featurephones or simplephones—are becoming more and more popular. The only things that mobile devices can do are send texts and make phone calls; they frequently cannot establish an internet connection. A technology market research company called Counterpoint reports that sales of feature phones in Canada reached over 98,600 in 2023, up 25% from 2022.

Although tradespeople and the elderly have long been fond of dumbphones, parents who wish to shield their kids from the distracting aspects of smartphones are now placing a renewed demand for them. Additionally intriguing are the price and durability: Most dumbphones are available for less than $100.

Tynan’s flip phone cost $80, in addition to the around $26 monthly cost of the talk and text plan.

A growing number of Gen Z and millennials are also switching to digital detox in an attempt to escape an always connected environment.

“The smartphone is no longer a source of enjoyment,” Montreal-based tech columnist Pascal Forget stated. “It used to be fun, but now they’re addicted to it, so they want to go back to simpler times using a simpler device.”

Users of dumbphones who have made the switch, like Kristen Campbell, feel the outcomes are worthwhile.

After trying out roughly fifteen different smartphones, the 33-year-old Calgary resident finally gave up on her smartphone last year. She is now using the Qin F22 model.

“When a friend wants to borrow one or try out dumbphone living, they just come to me,” she explained.