Not sure if I should switch to a dumbphone

[Chrishusk]

Recently I have been really considering buying a dumb phone. I don't really like using my smartphone anymore for some reason however I'm not addicted to it. Nowadays I only really use it for calls, text, gps and tracking which at most gets around 30ish mins per day. But the thing is even though I don't like my phone that much and really like the idea of getting a dumb phone I'm not actually sure wither or not to do it.

Part of me feels like it's a bit too far since I don't waste my time on it and use it for many good things like metronome and tuning for my instruments, slack messaging, discord, and mp3 music. I found how to use my phone in a good way however in spite of that another part of me really really feels that I should switch to a dumbphone.

I want some opioions on this. (please ask any questions that could help you answer better)

[zonk]

It's a choice for sure. I've been using mine for 2 months now, and I have had some minor inconveniences but really I didn't feel it much. I was in much the same camp as you: smartphone was basically under control already but I wanted to switch for symbolic reasons.

The real nice thing for me is that now I have an excuse not to look things up when I'm out with people.

[Mæstro]

Consider keeping your current mobile phone for now, but making your next mobile a feature phone whenever it breaks beyond repair. Meanwhile, you can shift remaining smartphone uses onto other devices, eg a physical metronome and satellite navigator. This will make it easier to leave smartphones behind whenever the day should come.

[zonk]

I should also say that the main reason I switched is because my phone was long out of software support, so I consider it a ticking time bomb from a security perspective. A great reason to switch to a dumb phone is to not have to worry about that. Regular calls and SMS are sent in the clear, so there's not really much to worry about revealing that you aren't already transmitting over the network.

[Chrishusk]

Maybe I can try to switch during the summer time since Iḿ at home most of the season and that will mean I won't use my phone much and so it will be easier to switch.

[CitricScion]

I feel like I use my smartphone to a similar degree as OP, and yet I go the other way. I see dumphones like the Light Phone 3 and think that it looks so cool. But then I think about everything I use my phone for that I wouldn't want to lose and it doesn't make sense. Even if I spend like 2 hours on my phone, it was intentional, so I don't worry about my phone use holding me back. Since it's so easy for me to use my phone for only 20-30 minutes a day, I just let myself enjoy having it.

One downside of switching a dumbphone, especially if you're fine with your current phone usage, is that price of the dumbphone. Depending on what you want to get, it can be pretty pricey, like $500 and up. There are cheaper phones too, so it just depends on what you're going for.

[Mæstro]

Where are feature phones that dear? In Germany, the Nokia 105 is only €20, while I could see many sound feature phones in the US for about $60. All are much cheaper than even the cheapest smartphones (€/$150), unless they are bundled with some telecom contract. The only feature phones I know to cost as much as you describe are satellite phones.

[Chrishusk]

After thinking it through some time I ended up deciding that I'm going order a Kyocera Dura XA Equip, a flip & feature phone for 125 usd. It has all the things I really wanted: 5mp camera, headphone jack, andriod asop so i can download apks.

I've already been using my current phone for about 3 or 4 years old and it's getting to the time of it's lifespan where repairs are going to be harder if not impossible to get for my speficic phone because of it's release date age. The phone served me well and it probably was going to start to have problems soon. Of course I will still keep it just in case I find that the dumbphone life isn't for me but I doubt that it's going to happen.
I will probably post about the Kyocera when I have used it for a couple of days.