From flip-phone, to smartphone, to finally, a dumbphone

Flip-phones

Born in 90s and got my first flip-phone on the early 2000s.

I went through three of them, all flip-phones and not candy bar style phones. All three was Samsung as well, never had a Nokia even though they were huge in the market. We all know the famous indestructible brick phone from Nokia. I never even had the chance to get the famous Motorola Razr phone but one of my family members did, it's impressive how thin that phone is.

How is my experience with these phones? I mean they work as intended. Thankfully my parents demand I only use these phones for emergency and that's what I did.

I did buy mobile games behind my parents back but thankfully I only went with one-time purchase but I know someone else in the family using pay-per-month instead which can obviously hurt the family bill. I remember seeing the bill before I had to recycle the papers. It was around 220 to 200 dollars. So going with just 200 and divide it by four, that's 50 dollars per line.

Thing is, to me 50 dollars is a lot for certain users like me and others out there. Why? Because I hardly use the phone. I don't make a lot of phone calls, texting, and mobile data.

Fun story, I did accidentally drop my flip-phone into the toilet. It's done, it will not turn on. Thankfully my parents aren't too angry because they knew I was already due for a "free-upgrade." If I understand correctly, after two year contract is passed, I am eligible for a "free upgrade." Still, I think my parents are paying too much.

Smartphones

When I was in high school, I finally had the chance to see a few class mates of mine using an iPhone. I was not impressed. I remember when I was young, I really wanted a PDA instead of a smartphone. Because I thought it would be cool to use a device like that to keep track of my tasks at school.

It was the time I really lost interest in Apple products in general, they are too expensive and the moment I learned about GNU/Linux, I can't be bother to support anything Apple related.

So after my 3rd flip-phone reached two years, the family demanded that the other member and I pick our new phone but this time it's a smartphone. Two choices, iPhone or Android. Obviously I picked Android.

Right when I got my first smartphone, which is a Samsung Galaxy Stellar, it was a wonderful experience. First thing I remembered is having to listen to music and podcasts. The ability to web browse is nice too. Mobile games? I mean I've tired some, but really, emulation was far better experience.

One thing I absolutely dislike was having a popup for me to pay extra for a "caller ID" feature. It would pop up twice and I actually, by accident, hit it when it popped up the second time. I was furious because that is the most predatory thing they have ever done so far.

Exiting family's expensive phone plans

I think I was the first to really jump ship. I just knew how much they were paying was indeed absurd. To some 50 dollars isn't a big deal, but to me it was.

Once the two year contract ended for my Galaxy Stellar, it was time to switch to a different provider. This time it was Ting Mobile.

Switching to Ting Mobile was very easy. I just bought a first month service and they provide me a free sim card. Once I put the card into a new phone, Samsung Galaxy Note 2. First Ting Mobile was using Sprint network but later on they ended up with T-mobile. Sprint network coverage was weak but it was worth the trade-off.

Later on I would buy a BLU phone, returned it because it was awful using it on day 1, music player couldn't function properly. Later on I got ASUS Zenphone 2 Laser, I didn't get the model with a Intel CPU even though that is interesting choice. I feel as if a mobile CPU was a better choice for battery longevity.

Finally I got the LG V20, one of the last high end smartphones during the the late 2010s to have the three important features: User-removable battery, headphone jack, and a SD card slot. These three features would end up being removed as time passes on.

Giving a new life onto the smartphone

Awhile I enjoy using the LG V20 as is, I knew as time passes on the security will be out-dated and I need to do something about it.

I've bought the phone used for around 200 dollars after two years it was released. And that's the thing I find hilarious, pretty much almost every high-end smartphone devalues so quick after two years or later, the definition of e-waste right there.

Anyway, the phone is already two years old, after two more years, the battery would quickly die after 5 hours of usage. It was time I replace the battery, easy-said easy-done.

But the problem is still there, the more I delay using the outdated OS, the more worse it'll get.

Installing LineageOS is a pain. Throughout the many years I've tried to install LineageOS on several different devices and I couldn't get it done.

So on the end of 2021, I did it. I had to use an unofficial method for the bootloader to work. I saw the purple screen, everything worked. This was all done late night and I got to work late, totally worth it.

It's like what almost everyone would speak about having a custom rom on the phone. It's blazing fast, customization, and most importantly secure.

I don't know why I keep thinking to this day that if I keep using an outdated Android with old security patches, bad things will happen later on. I think there are loads of users who would want to turn the internet on for old devices and old operating systems ... just to see what would happen.

The unexpected move

This was massive for me ...

I didn't think what I've done would change the course of my life.

Once LineageOS is installed and ready. I've learned that the phone has no apps, just the absolute basics. I didn't think the negative side effects of having pre-installed Google apps was bad along with other social media apps too.

I got unofficial app store and kept installing apps until I stopped at Twitter ... my finger was close to the "install." I pulled back and wanted to test myself to see what would happen if I don't use it for a week. Not only that, I also didn't install Discord on the phone too. Because why do I constantly need to be connected to my gaming buddies?

Well, for the first two days I very happy. The third day, I was confused on what I'm so happy. I looked into the dangers of social media and was shocked.

Either way, the following happened on 2022:

Too much happened on that year, it seemed like it was the "main character energy" meme or something. Or is it "Anime character?" I-uhh-don't-really-know. But the last month, I really wanted to have a haircut to finish off that year but that ended up being delayed to 2026. Hey! It's done at least! Really happy to have short hair now.

Why?

Why did such a move like that ended me up on a road to self-improvement? Honestly I think social media really hurt me in such a fashion that I could not stop comparing myself to others. I feel like there is a ghost right behind me judging me at all times. Taunting me. "You are useless!" "You have no skills!" "All you good at, is viewing these users on the platform!" "Keep going! You know you can't do anything productive!"

The moment that Twitter and Discord is no longer on my phone ... the ghost is gone. I no longer feel being judged anymore. I'm free.

However, now there is a trade-off ... now I am seeing all of my co-workers and the public addicted to their phones. And honestly, I can't do much about it. Sure I can get angry but I have to understand where I used to be in the past. I have to provide some level of compassion even though I feel society is falling behind. All because we are allowing big tech to win.

Back to my modified smartphone

So ... my LG V20 ... it's been a long ride. It still works now but not so much for the network bands on that phone.

For some reason, once the 2G towers shutdown, my phone became more and more useless. For some odd reason, the phone cannot use 4G anymore. So it must of been falling back to 2G for phone calls. At least I can still text for 3G network. It wasn't working out because some of my family members are getting upset with me because I couldn't answer the call. Once my car broke down and the mechanic couldn't call me anymore other than texting, it's over. I'm finally done with the phone.

You see I didn't want to switch to a feature/basic phone unless I have a valid reason. We already have too much e-waste to begin with and I don't want to contribute to that. I should mention the Asus phone is the only device I've bought brand new, the rest was bought used and/or refurbished.

I bought an open box Nokia 6300 4G. Finally get to try the brand and the phone has KaiOS installed. What could go wrong?

So much, that's the answer. This phone has given me so frustration. Here are list of nonsense I had to deal with:

It shocks me how such a company can sell faulty products to their consumers. This is Nokia we are talking about here. Well known for their feature phones and yet, they blew it. They take short-cuts and they keep gaining that money. Very sad.

So ... sigh ... back to research again.

"Dumbphone"

Dumbphone is an odd term that ended up becoming mainstream now. It's a way for a users to express themselves that they dislike the state of smartphones. They know it's bad, and they know it'll only get worse.

As of right now, there seems to be different kinds of dumbphones out there. The kind that is mass produced from a big company such as Nokia. And then we have companies that produce ... "lifestyle" kinds of devices.

These lifestyle dumbphones are usually expensive. They can cost around 200 dollars to even 800 or more. It's bonkers if you think about it.

After doing some research, I ended up getting the Light Phone II for 200 dollars, used condition. To this day, I still want to contact the previous owner and ask him why he stopped using it. Maybe it's for the best I don't.

The reason why I bought it is because I needed something that is lightweight and has an easy way to type. I may not do a lot of texting but wow, it's a whole lot easy to type rather than the other devices I see.

I'll make a separate blog post on my review for the Light Phone II and my impressions for Light Phone III and Light Phone Flip.

I gotta say though, this company is weird. They got that "hipster" vibes and the whole "minimalism" thing going. And if I understood them correctly, they don't care about sales, they want more and more users to stay away from smartphones.

Really ... I'll say it right now. This phone is perfect for me. I know that'll come as a shock to most people, but I mean it.

And I really do fit in to that "light" kind of lifestyle they are promoting. They want to promote the lifestyle where your life does not revolve you being near tech. They want your life to be more connected to other human beings, nature, and offline activities. Sounds cheesy, sure. But you get the idea.

What I mean is that I hardly use the phone now-a-days. I finally get to put in more quality time into the things I truly care about. Finally, I'm free.

Even cheaper plan? Really?

I've used Ting Mobile for more than a decade. That's enough for me to say "yeah, it's alright." I've been sold over the flexible plan long time ago from a podcast I used to listen to.

Ever since they've been bought by a bigger company, they haven't improved a single bit. It used to be a company that would advocate saving money by teaching tips and tricks in their blogs but now, it's just another soulless company.

Now I use Tello and oh boy, do I have something fun to share. I went with the 9 dollar plan only to be presented with the news later on that the plan is now discontinued. Meaning that I'll be "grandfather'd" into the plan unless I switch to a newer plan. But honestly, I hardly use more than a single Gig of data so ... I'm good, thanks.

So I went from a 15 dollars a month to 9 dollars a month. Unlimited talk and text with a Gig of data is perfect for me. And the phone is covered from the start meaning it's already paid. Unlike most people signing a two year contract for the latest phone plus fancy plan ... isn't that like 100 dollars per month? ... Dang.

Last thing to say

You know what? It's pretty messed up how we all grew up thinking that it's okay to have a portable device in our pockets almost 24/7. And the fact that all smartphones have pre-installed apps in the phones designed to keep you addicted. Of course, the insane price tags of the newly released phone and phone plans is peak greed.

If you are thinking about moving away from expensive phones and plans, you should totally do it. Unless your job depends on the device then that's a different story. Maybe have a dumbphone as a secondary device? Maybe?