• 07 Dec, 2025 *

When I first realized that I was tired of using my smartphone, especially when it got to the point where simply holding it made me feel physically and mentally sick, my first thought was to chuck it out of my bedroom window and become some sort of hermit living in the mountains.

But then, once reality came crashing back to me, I realized that just because I needed a phone, it didn’t mean it needed to be smart.

And so, with a few Google searches, I quickly discovered the world of dumbphones, especially a hybrid type I’d never considered before: transition phones.

If you’ve ever spent a substantial amount of time on r/dumbphones, you most likely have heard that term before.

Essentially, it’s a hybrid phone wherein the form factor is similar to your typical dumbphone, such as flip phones and candy bar phones.

However, what makes them stand out the most is that although they have this old-style form, they’re still smart enough to download apps.

The smartness of these transition phones varies greatly, with some running apps through KaiOS instead of the usual Android, while others that do run Android either run the most basic Android 6 or can even run up to Android 14, which essentially makes it a smartphone but with physical buttons.

It doesn’t even stop there: transition phones, called such because they were made for those who needed apps but not the full capabilities of a smartphone, can also look completely unlike any regular old dumbphone.

There were options such as the Light Phone, which evolved from being a tiny, credit card–sized e-ink phone to being made with a sleek AMOLED display, a tactile button to scroll through text, and a good-quality camera.

It looked so clean and minimalistic, despite only being able to do what a basic phone would do: call, text, take pictures, write down notes, and use navigation systems. It can even do podcasts and store music.

Then there was the Punkt MP02, a phone that looked more like a scientific calculator than your typical Nokia-style dumbphone or flip phone.

It had Signal, calling, texting, and… that was basically its main functionality. Made for the more tech-security-minded people, it was definitely niche, but it looked amazing, and I could see why it was popular.

The niche types of transition phones didn’t stop there, as e-ink phones such as the Mudita Kompakt and the Boox Palma devices were just as popular.

There was even the “OG” of the e-ink dumbphones, the Minimal Phone, with a highly useful QWERTY keyboard despite the many quirks of e-ink.

I could go on and on about more of the popular transition phones—from popular flip phones like the Cat S22 and the Alt Mive Style Folder, to the tiny Unihertz Jelly Star and Blackberry-esque Titan 2 (can you tell that I’ve spent a lot of time researching the subreddit?).

But there was something about all of these phones that intrigued me more than their unique form factors and what made each one stand out against the others.

It was the question of whether it was “morally” correct, or perhaps even practical, to buy another phone that could do what a regular smartphone could, but with physical limitations.

It wasn’t just transition phones, or even regular dumbphones that could only call and text, that made me wonder about this.

Often, a key part of digital minimalism is to decentralize your phone and use single-purpose or analog tools.

The idea of this is to “de-evolve” your smartphone, turning this Swiss Army knife of a device into what it really started as: a tool that helped you call and text people on the go.

Personally, I’ve started on this journey of decentralizing my phone, and it has led me down a whole new rabbit hole of analog devices to use.

Some digital minimalists promote e-ink tablets, while others promote mid-range DAPs or music players to get away from streaming sites. Some take it even further, buying physical alarm clocks, tons of pocket notebooks, digital cameras, high-quality earphones, and often one of the popular phones I listed above.

And if you’re someone like me who is often very money-conscious, the biggest hurdle to all of this is the costly price of wanting “less.”

I’d often catch myself wondering about this and even fought with myself when I first considered buying my flip phone. Though I could afford it, I wondered if it was even necessary to buy a second phone when my smartphone still worked fine.

I realized that although my time spent on social media had greatly decreased, my time spent on online shopping apps increased instead.

I’d see a video or a post swearing that this one analog device or dumbphone cured someone’s phone addiction, and I would immediately start researching its cost and where to get it.

I’d see another video claiming that no, this dumbphone was worth the high price, and then I’d start reading reviews and thinking that it might actually be worth it.

It was only when I got slapped with an unusually long screen-time report that I realized I was right back where I started.

I let the internet, and the never-ending cycle of consumerism, fool me into thinking that I needed what others had in order to fix my own problem.

Often, a common debate on digital minimalism forums is the irony of spending so much money to simply use those devices less. Of course, a regular person wouldn’t use the costly Light Phone every day when the point is not to use it unless necessary. While not as niche, e-ink devices are still expensive, and the experience of using one that still runs Android is less than stellar.

So why is this paradox not necessarily a bad thing?

The reality is, buying a dumbphone—-whether it’s a transition device or a full-on dumbphone—-is still a luxury. Not many people see the need for a second phone, similar to how most would not buy the latest iPhone every year.

But the beauty of digital minimalism as a whole is the fact that whether you decide to go the dumbphone route or stick to a minimalist smartphone setup, the idea and end goal are still the same:

To disconnect from the online world and live in the real one.

In the past, I often felt jealous of those who could afford these expensive transition phones. My heart (and my wallet) would ache and twinge at the sight of videos reviewing the beautiful Alt Mive Style Folder 2, or I would watch in awe as someone showed off the Light Phone’s capabilities.

Now, I’ve realized that the reasoning behind every purchase of these devices—-from transition phones to analog tools—-is the same regardless of what people are buying.

Whether you choose to stick to your smartphone or go the analog route, we all just want to feel alive again.

We want to be bored. We want to see these devices as tools, not drugs. We want to live in the moment, take our time, and be disconnected and detached from the constant online noise.

And whether you’re experiencing all of this with a $700 dumbphone or an entry-level minimalist smartphone, the real reward is the same: reclaiming your attention, your presence, and your life.

Slowly, deliberately, and on your own terms.

[#digital minimalism](https://keetokatto.bearblog.dev/blog/?q=digital minimalism) #journal #tech #thoughts #writing