Non Smartphone

SinDinero

Hi All.


It is long past time to ditch the evil "smartphone" (I really miss the old Nokia Days).

So just looking for a simple (and cheap) phone for sms and calls like the good old days. 

Any recommendations? The only "features" I really need are removable battery (do they still do these these days) and a speakerphone option (and of course payg unlokced for any sim - though as I recall there used to be a way around that regardless).

Did I miss anything? Maybe 4g signal support? - as I did hear that the 3g signal will be tuned off at some stage. . . .

Who else is going to join us (2 other family members are making the switch) so will probably end up buying 3. 

Thanks.

Cornucopia

There are a wide variety of more or less dumb phones out there, but you will need to work out what you're looking for in terms of features.

The Nokia 225 4G could be a compromise between fully smart and fully dumb.

Neil_Jones

They definitely exist, though you have to check the specification as a lot of them will only support 2G.  Which is no good (for example) on Three which doesn't have a 2G network.  2G (and 3G for that matter) are being phased out by (I think?) 2033.

But that being said, just because you have a smartphone doens't mean you have to use the smart features.  Just treat it as a dumb phone for the most part.

outtatune

I got my mum a 4th edition Nokia 105 for less than £20. It's basic personified. It can make and receive calls, send and receive sms messages, and has an alarm. Yes it has a speakerphone option and removeable battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081DDN2LY/

Farway

Argos have loads,even with compulsory £10 top ups many still under £20

flaneurs_lobster

outtatune said:

I got my mum a 4th edition Nokia 105 for less than £20. It's basic personified. It can make and receive calls, send and receive sms messages, and has an alarm. Yes it has a speakerphone option and removeable battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081DDN2LY/

That Amazon listing is a tad misleading, describes the phone as 3G, it isn't. There is a Nokia 105 4G.

RumRat

You can make any smartphone into a basic phone....I don't think the problems are with the phone as much as those using them.
Anyway.....Go Retro.... Nokia 3310
At least it's 3G....

outtatune

flaneurs_lobster said:

outtatune said:

I got my mum a 4th edition Nokia 105 for less than £20. It's basic personified. It can make and receive calls, send and receive sms messages, and has an alarm. Yes it has a speakerphone option and removeable battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081DDN2LY/

That Amazon listing is a tad misleading, describes the phone as 3G, it isn't. There is a Nokia 105 4G.

You're right, it's 2G only. Nokia doesn't help themselves by having a number of different phones called '105'. I really don't understand why they do that. For the avoidance of doubt, it's this one:

https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_gb/nokia-105-2019?sku=16KIGL01A14

SinDinero

outtatune said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

outtatune said:

I got my mum a 4th edition Nokia 105 for less than £20. It's basic personified. It can make and receive calls, send and receive sms messages, and has an alarm. Yes it has a speakerphone option and removeable battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081DDN2LY/

That Amazon listing is a tad misleading, describes the phone as 3G, it isn't. There is a Nokia 105 4G.

You're right, it's 2G only. Nokia doesn't help themselves by having a number of different phones called '105'. I really don't understand why they do that. For the avoidance of doubt, it's this one:

https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_gb/nokia-105-2019?sku=16KIGL01A14

Indeed. It is rather confusing. When I clicked on a different coloured phone on the original link you gave, the whole spec description changed - yet it was supposedly the same model.

Also the questions and answers remain the same even when you switch model so it is pretty impossible to know which model people are talking about.

Thinking about it I may have to try for a 4g model. I am not sure when 2 and 3g will be getting switched off. I did read some networks may be closing them down as early as next year (2023).

SinDinero

flaneurs_lobster said:

outtatune said:

I got my mum a 4th edition Nokia 105 for less than £20. It's basic personified. It can make and receive calls, send and receive sms messages, and has an alarm. Yes it has a speakerphone option and removeable battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081DDN2LY/

That Amazon listing is a tad misleading, describes the phone as 3G, it isn't. There is a Nokia 105 4G.

How can they get away with saying its 3g if it isn't?

Where are trading standards?

Woolsery

RumRat said:

You can make any smartphone into a basic phone....I don't think the problems are with the phone as much as those using them.

Some people are choosing to go dumb phone because of the push towards doing away with cash. Maintaining cash means keeping a proportion of transactions private from those who might wish to monitor them. Governments would love to get everyone with a full digital identity for reasons that might not always be in their personal interest. Once there's no cash the door is open to programming money and determining what it may be spent on.

Of course we all know democratic governments would never interfere with people's right to spend their money as they please as the state does in China.....although there were those in Canada who contributed digitally to the Truckers' Fund and had their bank accounts frozen at the behest of the wonderful Mr Trudeau.