The rise of the dumbphone

Unplugging with a brick - 25th April 2022

If you thought you just had to have the latest smartphone, then think again! A surprising number of people are rejecting addictive smartphones in favour of so-called 'dumbphones'. These basic handsets have limited functionality, restricted to calling, texting and taking photos. With no internet access or apps, these devices resemble phones from the 1990s.

17 year old Robin West decided to get rid of her smartphone two years ago, on the spur of the moment. While hunting for a replacement handset in a second-hand shop, she was tempted by a cheap 'brick phone'. The device, from French firm MobiWire, cost just £8, and since it lacks any smartphone functionality, there are no pricey data bills to worry about.

"I didn't notice until I bought a brick phone how much a smartphone had taken over my life," she says. "I had a lot of social media apps on it, and I wasn't getting as much work done." The Londoner believes she's hooked. "I'm happy with my brick - I don't think it limits me. I'm definitely more proactive."

Google searches for dumbphones grew by 89 percent between 2018 and 2021 according to a report by software firm Light Phone. Their 'feature phones' are slightly more clever than the norm, allowing users to listen to music and podcasts and link by Bluetooth to headphones. Yet the New York based firm assures us its phones "will never have social media, clickbait news, email, an internet browser, or any other anxiety-inducing infinite feed".

Although Light Phone co-founder Kaiwei Tang reports the device was initially created as a secondary phone for people who feel they need a break from their smartphone, half their customers now choose it as their primary device. So, it seems the word on the street is that old-school is best!