The Best Dumbphones (for Smarter Phone Use)

You know the opposite of the smartphone, that device that’s a calculator and a text messenger and a camera and a navigation system and 200 more things? It’s a dumbphone. Not a phone that’s dumb, but one that’s certainly not a know-it-all with all the answers.As cheekily as some manufacturers own the term “dumbphones,” others avoid or shun it.

Maybe the better term would be “self-assured phones.” These phones aren’t attention-hungry and insecure like other phones, demanding your eyeballs at every second with the easy-access promise of TikToks and Reels and Pokémon GO.They just work as phones plus a few other tools – a basic text messaging, calculator, notes, a clock, an alarm, and perhaps a camera.



No web browser or unbridled app store or social media apps to tempt you.App developers have refined the formula for addictive software well enough to make any Las Vegas casino proud. The most addictive of them—typically social media and video games—are designed to surge dopamine throughout your brain over and over to the point that your brain begins to change itself.

It keeps you anticipating, it keeps you clicking. And like any addictive behavior, it’s hard to go cold turkey when a high-powered portal to every addicting app—a smartphone—is right there on your desk or in your pocket.If you find your phone taking up too much of your life and simply ignoring your smartphone’s more addictive qualities isn’t working for you, try dumbing down your life with a dumbphone.

quick look at our favorite dumbphonesThe best touchscreen – Light Phone IIIFor button lovers – Punkt MP02So you can keep your smartphone – Unpluq TagFor impressive specs – Sn3ll Ghost Phone 4 The touchscreen Punkt option – Punkt MC02‘The smartest dumb phone’ – Wisephone IIIf you can’t wait for the Light Phone 3 – Light Phone IIBest dumb-ish phone – Unihertz Jelly StarMid-range flip phone – Nokia 2780how we evaluatedDesign is awfully subjective, but not everything has to look like a Jitterbug just because it’s a dumbphone. Those who drool over the sleek designs branded with major names like Apple iPhone and Google Pixel aren’t necessarily the only ones who care if the device in their pockets or pocketbooks looks and feels like a premium device.Ease of use extends beyond the physical form.

Each dumbphone’s user interface had to be easy to navigate and intuitive to use. That meant speedy, responsive software, too. Good dumbphones don’t make you feel like you’re using a subpar product.

That’s a misconception I have to fight off from people who think people only use dumbphones to save money. As you’ll see from some of our featured phones, some of them aren’t cheap (or cheaply made) at all.Lastly, I evaluated features and tools.

If it sounds vague, it’s because it’s a bit of a catch-all term for all the bonus, non-phone capabilities that companies wedge into their phones. These phones may not be set up to browse the web or download from Google’s and Apple’s app stores, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t take pictures, connect through Bluetooth, send text messages, or navigate you across town. Some of them are pretty smart, little dummies.

The Best Touchscreen – Light Phone III(opens in a new window)The Light PhoneLight Phone III(opens in a new window)Available at Light PhoneBuy Now(opens in a new window)Hoot, hoot. Upon starting up the Light Phone III for the first time, an owl coos out of the phone’s speaker. Is it because the owl is associated with nighttime, and thus associated with the quieting down of life’s distractions? Is it because the company just likes owls?Whatever the reason, it brought a smile to my face.

The entirely black phone with its all-black screen, save for “Go Light” scrawled in vibrant white as it starts up, just fits with the owl’s peaceful hooting.As far as design goes, the Light Phone III holds its own against any smartphone I’ve let come into my grasp lately. Its aluminum frame’s edges are straighter than most smartphones.

The corners are rounded slightly, but the sides of the Light Phone III meet the screen and back of the phone are 90-degree angles. It looks sharp and feels, well, not quite sharp but it is a phone made of edges.credit: Matt JancerIt wasn’t particularly comfortable in my medium-sized man paws, not in the same way that cradling my iPhone 15 Pro in one hand while carrying it is comfortable.

But I don’t really use a phone that way. When holding the Light Phone III in one hand and using it with that hand’s same finger, or when holding in my other hand and swiping along its touchscreen with my other hand, it was comfortable enough.Not as much as the slightly more rounded edges of a smartphone, but it wasn’t much of a problem during usage.

And if you end up slipping it into one of Light Phone’s $15 cases, you’ll get rounded edges, anyway.It’d be a shame to hide the phone underneath a case, though. It’s one of the best looking phones on the market, smart or dumb, and it feels very well made.

At $799 retail ($599 for preorders), it’s not a budget phone, so it damn well had better look and feel this handsome.Connecting to Wi-Fi isn’t required to use the phone, but sooner or later, though (mostly sooner), you’ll need the Wi-Fi so that you can install software updates. With built-in GPS, you can use the Light Phone III for directions.

That’s been arguably the biggest stumbling block for me with smartphones. Screw social media; I like road trips and exploring cities on foot, and I like being able to find out where I’m going.credit: Matt JancerThrough its Bluetooth 5.

0, you can also use the Light Phone III as a Wi-Fi hotspot for other devices and connect to speakers to play music through your phone. Taken altogether, the Light Phone III proves that committing oneself to a dumbphone doesn’t mean abstaining from the still-enjoyable, less-addictive features of listening to music and snapping photos of friends. Fun, with less of a chance of relapse.

on aSpeaking of those cameras, there’s a 50-megapixel rear-facing camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera (for selfies). Through the rear-facing camera, you can also shoot video at 1080p resolution and 30 frames per second.Image quality is decent, damned with faint praise.

I don’t see it knocking off the Google Pixel as a street photographer’s best friend, but it does the job.With an internal storage of 128GB—there are no options for storage—there’s plenty of room for photos and videos until you wish to transfer them to a connected device, such as a tablet or computer, via the included USB-C-to-USB-C cable.It may be a “dumb” phone, but its 6GB of RAM provides for a very snappy and responsive experience swiping through the menus.

Without a ton of apps bloating up its operating system, too, it’s a pleasant, stripped-down experience to wind through the various tools and settings menus. There are tools for taking notes, receiving directions, setting alarms, listening to music, and viewing your calendar.credit: Matt JancerThe matte-finish glass touchscreen measures 3.

92′′ diagonally. Its AMOLED display comprises 1080×1240 pixels, with plenty of brightness. Of course it’s a color display, which you’ll notice when shooting photos or video, but aside from those purposes everything on-screen is in black and white.

You can send text messages, fill out a book of contacts, and even use voice-to-text through the two built-in microphones, but you can’t use apps such as Signal or WhatsApp. You can listen to music that you download to the phone, but not through a streaming music app such as Spotify, either. And ride share apps such as Uber and Lyft aren’t functional on the Light Phone III, although Light Phone said all these features may be possible in future updates.

I preferred the default of white text on a black background, although you can invert it through the settings menu if you like. Touchscreen notwithstanding, there are buttons for key functions on the edges of the device.Button presses are a tiny bit on the mushier side, but in a way that each button bottoms out with a satisfying clack.

There’s one button in the middle of a knob on the upper left corner of the phone that controls screen brightness (and when you press it, the flashlight). It seems like a waste of a button. How often do you need to adjust your screen brightness? I didn’t touch it much.

Ringer volume buttons sit on the opposite side, along with a button to bring you quickly into and out of the menu for the various built-in features and tools. There’s a camera button, too, that both brings up the camera function swiftly and conveniently and operates both the autofocus (shallow push) and takes the picture (deeper push).There’s a fingerprint ID sensor built into the power button the top edge of the phone, and vibrations for haptic feedback that felt just right.

I normally disable haptic feedback on my phones, but I left it on for the Light Phone III. Somehow, they nailed it.“We’ve also added some hardware to support future features that will not be available when they begin to ship.

.. such as a potential digital wallet with the NFC chip or video calls/accessibility features with a front-facing camera,” Light Phone writes on its order page.

And then it goes on with a measure of reassurance that it won’t suffer from feature creep that may one day turn it into the very thing it was meant not to be: “The Light Phone III will never have social media, internet browsing, email, news, or ads. There are simply no infinite feeds.”credit: Matt JancerLight Phone IIIs are currently available on preorder, down $200 from their normal $799 price.

Phones will be delivered in the order in which they come in, according to Light Phone, with units on preorder right now currently pegged to ship out in July.As an unlocked device, it should work with the vast majority of carriers, including on 4G LTE and 5G networks. You can use the compatibility checker to verify that it’ll work with your carrier before you make a decision on whether or not to buy.

There’s a SIM card tray for physical SIM cards. It also supports eSIM for carriers that use virtual SIM cards, too. Battery life is enough to last about a day on a full charge.

Given that I used it less than my smartphone throughout the day (hey, the dumbphone is working!) I scrambled around less often for a power outlet midday than I’m used to with my iPhone.As a midway point between a button-bedecked flip one and a smartphone, the Light Phone III retains enough of the tools and features most crucial to a phone without dangling the tempting carrot of unfettered internet access the lures you in. It may be a dumbphone, but it’s pretty damn smart at the way it goes about it.

For Button Lovers – Punkt MP02(opens in a new window)PunktMP02(opens in a new window)Available at PunktBuy Now(opens in a new window)Available at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)What a little chunk. You know, in an adorable way. Immediately after unboxing it and letting it settle into my hand, I was brought way, way back to the late ’90s when my dad carried around a Motorola StarTAC.

The Punkt isn’t a flip phone, duh, but it’s made of the same ultra-thick, pebbled plastic that feels like it could survive being run over by the truck from Duel.Until the 2000s, everyone was in a race to make a smaller cell phone. With physical buttons, who needed them to be all that big? It was touchscreens that reignited a move toward ever-larger phones.

credit: Matt JancerThe Punkt does away with touchscreens. The thing is all buttons, with a 2′′ screen in grayscale. Behind that Corning Gorilla Glass 3 display, the screen is easy to read both indoors and in sunlight, and it’s plenty large enough to do the job.

Button presses are crisp, if a bit shallow, and quite satisfying. Even as I write this, I’ve got the Punkt in my other hand, absent-mindedly clicking the buttons for the sheer tactile pleasure of it. Modern life needs more buttons.

All the Punkt’s buttons are on the front of the phone, and they’re as clearly labeled and intuitive to decipher as could be.You can text via Signal, an encrypted and secure third-party messaging system. You’ve gotta text the old-fashioned way, though, with three selectable letters per number button (four on the 9 button).

Remember, there’s no keyboard, neither physical nor on-screen.Texting features an autocorrect feature that works pretty well, even though I generally hate autocorrect as a rule. Given that you’re using the number buttons to open a panel of three letters (per button) and then the arrow buttons to select the correct letter, the autocorrect feature is welcome.

Although with two-handed usage, bypassing autocorrect and spelling everything out letter by letter is a lot easier and quicker than it sounds when I describe it. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much better it worked than my old T9 flip phones of the Dark Ages. It’s those arrow buttons that make it work better.

credit: Matt JancerAlong with the contact book for saving the details of favored contacts, you can create notes, set reminders, set alarms, use a stopwatch or a countdown timer (handy when I was doing laundry in the apartment’s communal laundry room), and use the calendar.It comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the USB-C end meant to plug into the phone itself for recharging its internal, non-removable battery. Maybe that says something about the target market for the MP02: those who aren’t rocking the latest tech and are more likely to be using a computer that has USB-A ports, which have been on their way out for years.

I dug out my USB hub adapter to plug it into my laptop when I didn’t have a free USB-C charger handy, but since so many devices have begun to rely upon USB-C, I’m betting you’ve got a least one around the house that you can repurpose and charge directly from a wall outlet like I often did the Punkt, bypassing the need to charge it through a computer. Punkt says not to use chargers exceeding 5V or else it’ll degrade the battery, meaning no fast chargers.Let’s focus on what the MP02 doesn’t have, though.

That’s what it’s made for. Aside from not having internet browser capabilities or access to third-party app stores where one can download all sorts of attention-sucking apps, such as social media, there’s no camera, either.There’s no 5G support, although the Punkt will connect to 4G LTE, 3G, and even 2G networks.

Updates come over-the-air and not through the built-in Wi-Fi, which is used for texting through Signal.credit: Matt JancerWith only 2GB of RAM, shoppers in 2025 may screw up their noses and cast a skeptical glance at the MP02’s specs sheet. You can unscrew your nose; it’s plenty of RAM to run the lightweight operating system.

None of the Punkt’s features are performance-intensive enough to demand more.Screen navigation and software tool usage was fast and crisp enough that I never wished for more speed. Its 16GB of internal storage might also raise a chuckle, but there’s no camera, so what would I need more storage for, anyway? It did the job.

On standby, Punkt says the MP02 will last for 180 hours. I played around with my test unit too much to see how long it’ll last on a full charge just sitting on my desk, but without a big touchscreen the battery life was spectacular. Once I charged it, I hardly had to plug it in again much after that.

The downside? It takes forever to charge to full. Punkt says it needs 2 1/2 hours to go from empty to a full charge, which is damn close to what I experienced myself during testing.At $299, the Punkt MP02 is a budget (but not cheap) dumbphone that makes a compelling case for somebody who wants very few of the smartphone’s features.

Social media apps and internet connection be damned, the MP02 buyer doesn’t even want navigation or music playback, but they do want a well-made, new phone that isn’t some millennial history museum relic.So You Can Keep Your Smartphone – Unpluq tag(opens in a new window)Unpluq Tag(opens in a new window)Available at UnpluqBuy Now(opens in a new window)Switching over your whole digital life to a dumbphone is a major move. One that many people benefit from, but one that could seem too drastic to others.

Could be that you find no real problem with your smartphone usage in general, but you need a bit of supplementary discipline during work hours or on vacation. It’d be pointless to ditch your smartphone entirely then, right?The Unpluq Tag lets you keep your current smartphone and choose which apps you want to block. Social media apps, video games, and internet browsers are the usual suspects when it comes to hard-to-resist apps that suck up our attention, but you can tailor whichever ones you want to include to your liking.

You set the blocked apps, and then you use the proximity of the physical Unplug Tag to unlock them. Say you’ve blocked all social media during work hours. Lock the apps through the Unpluq app, leave the Tag at home, and then go to work.

You won’t be able to unlock those blocked apps until you get home and wave the Tag close to your phone’s NFC sensor.The tag is about the size of half my thumb, and it comes with a tiny carabiner that I could clip to the rest of my keys. Leave it at home if having the power to unlock the phone is too tempting, or just carry it with you if you think you can withstand the allure of having the Unpluq within reach.

credit: Matt JancerI wondered what the Unpluq does that Apple’s Screen Time and Android’s Digital Wellbeing don’t do. These default tools in their respective operating systems set similar guidelines, but it’s too easy to change your mind midday and re-enable them.“We’ve tried all native solutions ourselves–and lots of other ones, too–but we found that Apple Screen Time and Android’s Digital Wellbeing are too easy to circumvent,” says Unpluq, attempting to head off objections that Unpluq just does what these tools do for free, but with Unpluq requiring a $62-per-year subscription to Unpluq+.

There are some drawbacks. Androids let you block as many apps as you want, but iOS limits you to 49. You can set up to seven digital barriers, whereby if you pass into a certain area that you specify, your blocked apps will unlock automatically.

Because it requires NFC, you’ll have to make sure your smartphone has NFC capabilities in order to use the Unpluq. But these days, almost all of them do. Make sure by using this compatibility checker.

alternatives That I didn’t get to personally test(opens in a new window)SnellGhost Phone 4(opens in a new window)Available at SnellBuy Now(opens in a new window)We weren’t able to get our hands on a Ghost Phone 4, but it’s still at the top of my list for a future review or update. Like the Light Phone III and Punkt MC02, it’s a not-that-budget touchscreen phone that retains the form and more basic features common to smartphones but carves out the unrestricted third-party app store and internet access.Its specs sheet looks impressive: a 4K rear camera with 8x digital zoom and 120-degree wide angle capabilities, 60Hz default (and optional 90Hz) display refresh rate, 128GB of internal storage, and 8GB of RAM.

If it sounds impressive, it’s because it’s based on the Google Pixel 7a’s hardware.Sn3ll has its own app store where you can load the usual tools to complement the text messaging, GPS navigation, music streaming, and other features.(opens in a new window)PunktMP02(opens in a new window)Available at PunktBuy Now(opens in a new window)Available at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)The MC02 is another phone I haven’t been able to use (yet).

It’s Punkt’s touchscreen alternative to the all-button MP02, and it comes with a correspondingly higher price at $599. Its 6.7” touchscreen features a 1080 x 2400 resolution and 60Hz refresh rate, with 128GB of internal storage and 6GB of RAM.

The rear-facing, 64-megapixel camera has a 4x digital zoom.The front-facing selfie camera beats the Light Phone III’s on megapixels (24 to 8), and through the rear-facing camera it also bests the Light Phone III by shooting up to 4K video at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60 frames per second.Like any good dumbphone, the familiar color touchscreen and swiping gestures bely the fact that the MC02 is cut off from unfettered app store access.

Create notes and check mail all you want; the boogymen social media apps are not welcome on the MC02.(opens in a new window)TechlessWisePhone II(opens in a new window)Available at TechlessBuy Now(opens in a new window)As our writer Adam Rothbarth wrote in a previous iteration of this round-up, “At first glance, the Wisephone II looks almost exactly like an iPhone. A slim, sleek build with a large screen, side-mounted buttons, and even the panoply of camera lenses you’d find on the back of an iPhone or Pixel.

But the difference becomes apparent as soon as you unlock the screen.Marketed as ‘The Smartest Dumb Phone’, this ‘intentionally boring phone’ features, well, boring versions of most essential tools you would find on a smartphone. ‘Techless’ maps, ad-free music player, hella advanced camera, group-chat capabilities, damn, this thing is awesome and I want one now.

I imagine owning one of these would be like when you delete your social media apps, and just keep picking up your phone, and kind of, you know, turning it over and over in your hand looking at it, expecting it to entertain you, and you’re not sure how or why it ever did.”(opens in a new window)The Light PhoneLight Phone II(opens in a new window)Available at Light PhoneBuy Now(opens in a new window)Even as the freshly baked and just-released Light Phone III has taken over the mantle as Light Phone’s flagship phone, its predecessor remains a good deal for people who dig the Light Phone III’s overall touchscreen form but not its $599/$799 price.For $299, the Light Phone II remains a solid choice.

Rothbarth shared my sentiments about Light Phone’s designed when he wrote, “The Light Phone is one of the higher-profile dumb phones out there—likely due to its design, as it’s very attractive.It’s small and sleek, and uses an electronic paper screen, not unlike an e-reader. The screen is only black and white, and it has extremely basic features, including a music and podcast player, a calendar, an alarm, and a calculator.

It does have a full screen for texting, which is a rarity among dumb phones, so that’s a huge plus if you love chatting with the gang.This one, like, is really minimalist, bruh: You can’t check email or social media (or anything online for that matter), and basically none of your fave apps will work here. That’s sort of the goal, though, right? It’s compatible with major networks such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as several smaller providers.

”(opens in a new window)UnihertzUnihertz Jelly Star(opens in a new window)Available at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)Available at dumbwirelessBuy Now(opens in a new window)Available at UnihertzBuy Now(opens in a new window)“When you go from the Jelly to the iPhone, it’s like going from a phone to a laptop,” Stults told VICE. “It’s awesome. It’s just a miniature smartphone.

”This mini-smartphone is perfect for those who are unable or unwilling to break away from the conveniences of life on the apps. The Jelly Star “runs super smooth—Spotify, everything runs great on it—it’s just tiny.”The Jelly Star can run all the apps you need to stay plugged in, but the 3-inch screen tends to dissuade even the most tech-addled among us from doom scrolling into a state of dissociation at the dinner table.

It’s also got an eye-popping transparent colored plastic chassis (it’s giving clear N64 controller and iMac G3–très Y2k) that’s available in red and blue. I only wish it had a belt clip for that ‘90s drug dealer beeper vibe. ‘Cause how sick would that be?(opens in a new window)NokiaNokia 2780(opens in a new window)Available at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)Available at NokiaBuy Now(opens in a new window)Trying to take some pics of your new NBA Jam high score (under the name ASS, obviously)? The Nokia 2780 flip phone (YES) actually has one of the better cameras for both photos and video at five megapixels (many phone cameras are only two) so if you spot an incredible vanity plate, you’ll still be able to snap it.

This bad boy is also fairly souped up compared to its peers—it has music and is very app-friendly, with capabilities for internet, YouTube, maps, and more. Still, you’re here for what it doesn’t do, and since it’s a flip phone, you’ll have to reacclimate to T9 texting and a small screen.The post The Best Dumbphones (for Smarter Phone Use) appeared first on VICE.

.