10 Great Reasons To Go Back To A Basic Flip Phone

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I often just want to go back to a basic flip phone!

To what? Yes, you heard me right, to a BASIC FLIP PHONE.

For those who were born in the 80s, the word flip phone will hopefully put a smile on your faces.

I mean, how cool were they? You had a compact phone that you’d flip open to make a call or text your friends.

And?

Well, that’s it! There’s nothing more you could do with those phones. The functions were limited compared to our smartphones.

No internet, not apps, not many distractions, but a lot of free time used otherwise.

Plus, I am convinced that without all those features, we’ll all be using our brains a little more again.

That’s why I like to call older phones the minimalist smartphones.

I think most of us should switch back to primitive phones again to battle against one of today’s biggest psychological problems: the smartphone addiction.

And that’s my topic for today. I’m very excited to address my 10 great reasons why you should consider going back to primitive flip phone.

IN THIS POST

What the heck is a flip phone?
10 great reasons switch to a basic flip phone
1. A basic flip phone is dirt cheap
2. A basic flip phone is compact
3. A basic flip phone is indestructible
4. A basic flip phone battery lasts longer
5. A basic flip phone has no data usage costs
6. A basic flip phone brings freedom
7. A basic flip phone increases your productivity
8. A basic flip phone lets you be more present
9. A basic flip phone reduces the fear of missing out (FOMO)
10. A basic flip phone allows you to go slow
Final Thoughts

WHAT THE HECK IS A FLIP PHONE?

Ok, my bad! The smartphone generation probably still has no clue what I’m talking about.

A flip phone, or “clamshell telephone”, is a hinged simple cell phone that you can open and close to activate and deactivate its functions.

In short, it’s an old phone that has no internet and other fancy features that are considered necessary features with our smartphones.

Wow! And why the heck would I want to switch to that? Why are more and more people switching to flip phones?

Good question! I’m thrilled to tell you why.

10 GREAT REASONS TO SWITCH TO A BASIC FLIP PHONE

A while ago, I wrote an article about smartphone addiction, and since then,

I’ve been thinking of digging up my flip phone Motorola V60 from the year 2002 out of my basement and using it instead of my iPhone.

Although smartphones have brought us tons of interesting and convenient features, they have become highly addictive and continually steal our valuable time.

The combination of smartphones with social media causes plentiful damages to all of us, especially to our kids.

Look around when you sit on a bus or walk through a busy street. You’ll find tons of phone zombies trapped in front of their screens.

Amongst the things you can do to manage your phone usage and get rid of your addiction, I thought it would be fun to point out a few perfect reasons for changing to an older but really cult phone.

So let me present to you my 10 best reasons why you should consider switching back to a flip phone.

1. A BASIC FLIP PHONE IS DIRT-CHEAP

An immense advantage of having a primitive phone like the flip phone is that they are very inexpensive. You can get this for under 20 bucks.

Smartphones cost at least 10 times more.

So if you need a phone just to call and text, and you’re somewhere near broke, this might be a great option to consider.

2. A BASIC FLIP PHONE IS COMPACT

Thanks to its mechanism, a flip phone is tiny when it is closed and fits in everywhere. No more bothering with a device as large as a brick that cramps up our pockets.

Plus, because of its robustness and its small screen, it doesn’t require any cover.

3. A BASIC FLIP PHONE IS INDESTRUCTIBLE

My primitive flip phone hit the ground several times, and it still worked fine.

Do that with an iPhone twice, and something will definitely break, mostly the screen. Not even a cover can protect it fully. And the repair costs can be huge.

4. A BASIC FLIP PHONE BATTERY LASTS LONGER

It’s almost annoying that we have to charge our phone nearly every day.

Not so with the flip phone. No apps or sophisticated features also means it has a long battery life and can go days, sometimes even more than a week, between charges.

No more scarcity of finding your phone dead the other day. Plus, you can leave your charging cable at home during a short vacation.

5. A BASIC FLIP PHONE HAS NO DATA USAGE COSTS

A phone without internet means no extra data usage costs. While you can get cheap rates today, costs still add up.

So if you are thrifty, you can save on this one.

6. A BASIC FLIP PHONE BRINGS FREEDOM

As a minimalist, one of my highest priorities is gaining freedom.

And one of my favorite arguments for switching back to a primitive phone is the free time it can bring back our lives.

Modern phones come with multiple functions that keep us using them. In my self-experiment, I found out that my average smartphone screen time was over 2 hours a day.

That’s a full day in a week! And no, not for work, but solely for entertainment I got from Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and other social media platforms.

Of course, you can reduce your screen time by setting boundaries and with small hacks that include:

Turning off notifications
Deleting apps
Checking emails maximum 3 times a day
Switching on your wireless connection only when needed
Hiding your phone

I tried all of them, and luckily I am disciplined enough to apply those hacks most of the time.

But if they don’t help you either, then consider applying more radical treatments like saying no to a smartphone and yes to an essential phone such as my old Motorola V60.

7. A BASIC FLIP PHONE INCREASES YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

It is proven that the presence of a smartphone alone harms our focus and productivity.

Now add all the other distractions like app notifications, games, photos, and videos that pull our attention toward the glooming screen.

Those make it very difficult for us to focus on important daily tasks, causing a dramatic decrease in our retention rate and concentration.

Imagine how much quality work you could do instead of wasting your time in front of the same screen.

8. A BASIC FLIP PHONE LETS YOU BE MORE PRESENT

Imagine back the world where we used our phone to just call and text. We’d have a ton of time to socialize more and enjoy the presence.

Our thoughts would rotate around the action that was happening around us.

A primitive phone allows you to be more present, play with your kids, enjoy nature without distractions, and chit chat in coffee shops without annoying notification sounds and sparking screens every few minutes.

9. A BASIC FLIP PHONE REDUCES THE FEAR OF MISSING OUT

The fear of missing out is a feeling of social anxiety that lets you believe that others might be having fun, and you not.

It amplifies your desire to continually stay connected with what others are experiencing, making you feel inferior or envious of not experiencing the same.

This so-called FOMO is a real thing that damages numerous lives through social media feeds, where almost every single person tends to show their lives from the very best angle possible to make others feel envious.

And we are the ones to blame because we let FOMO into our lives, although we could just avoid it by cleansing ourselves from social media.

A simple phone doesn’t even have the internet, so this could be a lifesaver for you.

10. A BASIC FLIP PHONE ALLOWS YOU TO GO SLOW

Lastly, a world without a smartphone allows us to live life slower.

We can’t conveniently order stuff from amazon within seconds, nor can we write useless long emails to keep us busy, although we could solve problems by simply calling.

Life goes slower without being steadily connected to the internet. It’s a life with fewer distractions and hectic. And I can still remember the times when we used to fill our calendars with fewer tasks.

Our days were less stressful, and our enjoyment significantly higher.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As you may have seen, I really miss the old days with a simple phone. Don’t we all, at least a bit?

Not everything is necessarily negative with a smartphone. Technology has enabled us to do numerous things much faster and more efficiently.

Plus, today, all of us are photo- and videographers thanks to the continually improving cameras.

Thus, we get easily influenced, and our minds and thoughts get negatively impacted.

Have I gone back to my basic flip phone? No, but I manage to stick to my boundaries, and it works perfectly fine for me.

I love the fact that I can work on my smartphone almost from anywhere, but I limit my time as much as I can.

Still, I consider the flip phone thing as a great tool to make a significant change in your media usage. Especially when you are highly addicted and find yourself helpless.

In this case, I would definitely give it a try and reap the benefits of living a simpler and freer life.

Ray Arya

Ray is a frugal minimalist who loves to travel and live in his self-converted camper van. He writes about the benefits of downsizing, decluttering, saving money, building wealth, and the freedom that results from the power of less. Minimalray.com is for everyone who seeks a meaningful life and is committed to contentment.