this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2025
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What would stop you from switching to a flip phone (or dumbphone) in 2025? (tim.kicker.dev)
submitted 20 hours ago by tim@feddit.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
116 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I’ve been using a flip phone as my daily driver for a while now. The smartphone is still around, but it mostly sits in a drawer until bureaucracy or banking apps force me to use it.

For me, the benefits are clear: less distraction, more focus, better sleep. But I know for many people it’s not so easy. Essential apps, social pressure, work requirements… these are real blockers.

I’d like to start a discussion (almost like an informal poll):

  • If you thought about switching, what’s the single biggest thing that holds you back?

  • Is it banking? Messaging? Maps? Something else?

I’m genuinely curious because if we can identify the main pain points, maybe it’s possible to work on solutions or even start a small project around it.

So: what would need to change for you to actually give a flip phone a try?

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[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 6 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Camera is probably the first obstacle. I've got a kid, and I really want to have good documentation of her growing up. If there were a dumbphone with a legit camera, that'd be a big deal for me.

After that, probably maps is the next most important thing that I want an actual smart phone for. I remember getting my first smart phone, and probably the main thing I was excited about was always being able to navigate directly to where I wanted to go.

Almost everything else is tertiary to my needs.

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I highly recommend just getting a real camera. The pictures I took with my camera 11 years ago are still better quality than an iPhone can manage today. Modern cameras are far far better.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

But then I start to feel like

this guy, with the "real" camera and the phone camera, but the phone camera is the one I've most consistently got on me, because I can't lug a whole additional piece of hardware around in a camera bag, meanwhile the phone camera pictures are grainy and shitty, and I'd just as soon have a Pixel in my pocket at all times that can take fairly good pictures at all times.

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 3 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Fair enough, though modern cameras are much smaller:

Dimensions of a recent Sony mirrorless camera, shown without lens.

[–] kazzz7420@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

this won't fit into a pocket though.

maybe you can reasonably throw into a handbag. but it quickly became a logistical nightmare, with how you're essentially stuck with cheap/kit lens (to make it small enough) and humidity is also a deal breaker.

also, would you want to abuse a not-cheap APS-C camera that way? I wouldn't lol

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Without the lens, exactly.

Realistically, cameras can be put into two categories - they either effortlessly fit in your pocket, or don't, and any that don't tend to get left home unless you intend to specifically go take photos. Doesn't really matter how much bigger it is at that point.
And if you have a high end smartphone, you probably can't get a camera that fits in your pocket that would be significantly better.

As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you.