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Posted on 03/07/2026 6:10:00 PM PST by Jamestown1630
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with 'dumb' flip phones, the kind they suggest for seniors.
My husband recently bought us fancy new 'smart' phones, and it's the first one I've had in ten years. It's huge and much more complicated than anything I've used before.
As I've been figuring it out, I've thought I'd like to supplement it with something smaller, simpler and faster when I'm out-and-about, something that just does phone calls, texts, and maybe has a radio, and fits in my pocket.
We've been looking at Jitterbug, Iris and some others; does anyone have experience with these and can share their opinions?
Thanks!
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Not true. I’ve had little devices that pick up radio since before I ever had a cell phone. I even had them as a kid in the 60s.
(The world didn’t begin with the Internet...)
I’ll take that as a recommendation. I’m sure you know your stuff.
You don’t need a phone to do all of that. We managed very well before cell phones.
It’s kind of scary that people have become so dependent on their phones...
They won’t fit into your pocket and are clumsy to operate.
LOL.
I have one the size of a Reeses Peanut Butter Egg, bought at a kiosk in a shopping mall in the 1990s.
(How much do you know about radio, anyway?)
The average samsung or LG flip phone goes for about $25 now. I think they’re gouging the elderly with some of the phones marketed to them. Of course, now I’m old enough to be on the cusp of elderly and I love my smartphone. But I’m the leading edge of GenX and we’ve gone from rotary dial wall phones to what’s out there now. Technology has changed so fast that we adapted to it quickly or got left behind. I think there isn’t as much flexibility among boomers.
CC
“I don’t allow my phone to conduct money transactions.”
I don’t even use apps that required a password except FR and Kroger. FR I’m logged in 24/7 so don’t have to re-enter. And Kroger just to make a shopping list, but no payments. I’d never do anything financial on my cell.
I wish I still had my basic no frills flip phone. Can’t stand all the features (?) on the high tech phone I’m stuck with.
I had a flip phone until they did away with 3G, then I got the simplest, cheapest & dumbest phone my plan offered. It’s a Nokia G10 and I only use to to make/receive calls and texts. It will do more; just not very well. It stays off in the bottom of my backpack until I need it. I wasn’t aware flip phones were still available. The texting on the Nokia is easier that the phone I had before, so I’m content.
I had one and it was fine as a phone. Wasn’t a small computer, but a perfectly good phone. Had a slider I liked even better.
Thanks.
I’ve read that the flip phones seem to be enjoying a resurgence, even among young people who seem to like the ‘retro’ aspect.
But I can understand why lots of people might be tiring of the ‘busy-ness’ of the smart phones. Mine is always making noises at me...
I would suggest you find a flip phone that is compatible with the SIM card and the service provider you have for the smart phone. Then you can keep both options, and just switch the SIM card to the one you feel like carrying.
I have a flip phone. I only use it in case of emergency or to call home when out. I don’t text at all and tell people that. I don’t have a smart phone. Unnecessary for me.
Maybe for you. But for me and my wife (both 80 years old btw), and billions of others, phones today are used to do hundreds of different tasks, effortlessly.
If you want to feel out of step with the rest of the universe, use a flip phone. I have a NUU. It does calls, but there is no speed dial. Texting is a real chore and predictive text is a joke. The screen is about the size of a postage stamp, so pictures are pretty unimpressive.
at work I use a smart phone
but my personal phone is a dumb flip phone and it is durable and dependable
I have a TCL flip phone on a $20 dollar a month plan from T Mobile with unlimited talk and text. Does everything I need and then some. For music I download(or transfer) the music I want to it and play when I want. I don’t listen to radio.
AT&T has a virtual monopoly. While ATT was my provider my phone’s hotspot function worked great and I could use my laptop for most of my posts. When I switched providers using the exact same phone the hotspot stopped working. I’ve since learned how to do most of my posts using my phone itself. You can’t just jailbreak the phone and fix the software issue. AT&T has special software to detect that sort of thing. I also know that because I use to troubleshoot customer problems for AT&T.
Smart phones:
A) They are too damn big.
B) They break too easily.
In my family’s case, we only have 3 users, but, the 4 line plan was cheaper than 3 lines, so, phone #4 is a smart phone I use occasionally almost as a mini-pc indoors and as an emergency / alert / if all else fails device.
For carrying around when I am working on something, which is almost all the time, or hiking or fishing, I much prefer a small flip phone, and even then it often gets ditched because I usually have small tools, parts, etc., in my pockets anyway.
An implant with thought control - mine over it, not the other way around!
?? That I could see being useful as heck.
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