What is a dumb phone?
You’ll have heard these simple handsets referred to as dumb phones, simple phones, or feature phones. While the models aren’t all the same, the one thing that they all share is a basic approach and limited functions.
Today’s smartphones aim to do it all, while feature phone manufacturers make models for calls and texts. Sometimes they will also have a radio, a camera and some classic late ‘90s mobile games like Snake.
Generally, they have smaller screens (no bigger than about three inches across diagonally), physical buttons rather than touchscreens, and a low-quality rear camera for the occasional photo. Some may have an internet browser, but they’re not designed for visiting websites.
Are dumb phones coming back?
Simpler phones are surging in popularity as more of us shun the expectation of constant connectivity. Global sales of feature phones are rising faster than smartphones, and the search experts over at SEMrush recently found that Google searches for dumb phones rose by 89% between 2018 and 2021.
Nokia relaunched its popular and iconic 3310 model in 2017, and younger users are trying out basic phones like this one for the affordability and the longer battery life, with dumb phones gaining popularity through appearances in TikTok videos, ironically.
Are dumb phones better than smartphones?
Whether you’ll prefer a simpler phone over a smartphone will depend on what you need a phone for. If you care about the camera, for instance, you’re going to be a bit disappointed with one of these models.
But, as mentioned above, two major benefits of dumb phones are longer battery life and lower cost. Prices are often under £100, and they’re also easier to maintain, with many having replaceable batteries.
How to pick the best dumb phone
Type
There are two main types to choose from. You’ll be getting either a traditional rectangular handset with a screen and buttons beneath it (these are known as “candy bar” phones) or a flip phone where the screen folds over the keypad in a clamshell design.
Screen
While smartphones are all screen, these basic phones need space for the keyboard and the display is much smaller.
You’ll want it to be large enough to type your messages and see who you’re calling, and the options on our list range from a smaller 1.7 inches diagonally to just under 3 inches across.
Most are in colour, but we have included one with a monochrome interface in our list.
Storage space
Dumb phones don’t have much storage space – think megabytes rather than gigabytes.
To store photos and music on the phone, you’ll need to buy a MicroSD memory card. We’ve noted which options have a storage card slot in our roundup.
Network connectivity
Before you buy, check the network you plan to use. The government has announced plans to switch off all 2G and 3G mobile networks by 2033. But, some basic phones don’t work on 4G and, according to BT, there are between 2 and 3 million people using 3G networks in the UK.
O2, Vodafone and EE all offer a 2G service for calls and text messages, but Three doesn’t. Three is also switching off its 3G network in 2024 and Vodafone has retired 3G too.
A basic 2G signal that works for voice calls but not data is still available across much of the UK, though. We’ve specified the maximum network speeds in our roundup.
For a future-proof option, we think it’ll be best to go with 4G, which is why every model on our list is capable of 4G connectivity.
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