Phones: dumb handsets outsmart high-tech alternatives

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Smartphones are blamed for sleep disruption, attention problems and a global epidemic of loneliness. Despite this, users cannot stop checking their devices. According to a study by data.ai, Americans spent 4.4 hours a day on average looking at their mobile phones in 2022, a 33 per cent jump from 2019. 

One path to freedom from cellular obsession is to delete apps and turn off notifications. But there may be an easier way to unplug. Enter dumb phones. 

Basic handsets only able to call and text, which come with limited to no internet access, were overtaken by smartphones more than a decade ago. But they refuse to disappear.

Apple and Samsung, which collectively control 40 per cent of the global mobile phone market, need not fear a full revolution. So-called “feature phones” with limited functions made up about 45 per cent of global mobile phones shipment in 2013 but account for just 16 per cent last year, according to research company IDC.

Yet rapid decline has slowed. Statista Market Insights notes that global revenue from feature phones will be flat this year and next.

HMD Global, which owns Nokia’s mobile phone business, is one beneficiary of the trend. The company, which has released an updated version of its classic 6310 “brick phone”, said its share of the “less smart” flip-phone market doubled between 2021 and 2022. It expects further growth in 2023.

Other companies have taken note. Swiss-based Punkt and New York-based Light both make sleek, upmarket, dumb phones that sell for about $300. Elsewhere, Gabb is a five-year-old company that sells phones specifically for children that do not allow for web or app browsing. Groups such as Bark or Pinwheel offer smartphones with multiple built-in parental controls, including the ability to monitor a child’s communications.

Newfound interest in dumb phones has been spurred by greater parental concern about the effect of online life on children. US surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy in May issued a new advisory warning of the mental health effects of social media on young people. In China, regulators are looking to limit children’s smartphone usage to no more than two hours a day. 

For smartphone refuseniks, dumb phones confer a number of advantages. They are sturdier and offer a far longer battery life than their high-tech peers. At a time when smartphones are becoming ever more complex and expensive, a long-lasting, inexpensive alternative is welcome.