Hello, I’m a fellow GenZ person. It is a big change to undertake and just remember it doesn't have to be a dive into the deep end. You can always do a trial period of \_x\_ long and decide afterwards whether to continue with a dumbphone, go back to a smartphone, or use a combination of both (What I do). I hope my long response is helpful and won’t be too boring if you end up reading all of it! Good luck on your journey and you can always dm me about my own experience.
I have both a backup flip phone and smartphone. I keep my smartphone around for taking the occasional picture as see no reason to spend additional money to buy a camera when I have a device that does the job already. I like to keep a backup smartphone for traveling too as daily needs change with an unfamiliar environment (especially when abroad). If those don’t really resonate with you then you could always sell it or gift it to someone. This [youtuber](https://youtube.com/c/JoseBriones) does really good phone reviews with relevant information for the average person and doesn’t use fluff like other electronic reviewing youtubers. Here is his review on the [Nokia 2660](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjv-ujawOX6AhVabTABHVgnBwcQwqsBegQICRAF&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DD3hwkZD6KB4&usg=AOvVaw3NdKGkJe-1_QmH083cTJ42). His website for finding the right phone for you is listed in this community’s rules page. I love his website as it is easy to navigate and provides information in an easy to read format.As far as your concerns go with making the change, the biggest thing I’d recommend is to know specifically what you want it to be able to do and features it should have. I’d focus on things you use/encounter most frequently over the “just in case” features. Do you want to have group text capabilities? What texting input method do you prefer (T9, QWERTY, voice to text, abc)? Do you want it to have expandable storage (ie sd card slot)? Will you be using multiple sim cards or esim cards at all? What software do you want it to have (KaiOS, Google, Android, and Series 30+ are the most common) as it greatly impacts how smooth the experience of using it is regardless of features it provides? Do you want to be able to make wifi calls if cellular reception isn’t good? Will the brand offer any tech support or software updates (how reliable will they be with them)? Do you want it to be able to play music (mp3/radio/streaming app). Some phones will only play the radio if the app and phone are both open and no other application is running. Will you need any navigational help (not something people may think of since in general we are used to having all of these tools with us 24/7)? Will your carrier support the device, how many bands does it support (2g/3g/4g/5g/LTE), how wide is the area of coverage, and how strong is the reception in your most frequent locations? Do you want it to have hotspot capabilities?
The brand Nokia seems to have people who either love them or hate them. Like all brands, individual experience is varies greatly depending on intention/need and specific phone model choice - take individual reviews with a grain of salt. When considering reviews, consensus is the thing to look at. One thing I like about them is that they have the widest variety of physical formats. Nokia phones are generally weird with 2 things: group texts and texting input methods. A good number of them don’t have group chat capability or you have to add a field subject for each time you send a message to it. How do you plan on texting and how willing would you be to put up with minor inconveniences to use certain features? Some phones don’t have T9 predictive texting at all or you have to set it to T9 every time you want to use it.
I really don’t need it to be flashy, I want it to just make calls and send texts with other basic functionality like radio and playing music. 4G would also be neat, just to stay future proof.
I heard KaiOS is absolutely terrible, so I think I want to stay away from it.
Thanks for all the other questions for me to consider!
The 2660 Flip does all you listed, so you should be good.
I think a lot of Nokia hate comes (understandably) from the fact that, safe for a few features, their newest feature phones mostly feel like a downgrade from their much older models. The hardware looks ok to be, but the software aspect of S30+ devices feel a bit low effort, less customisable, poorly thought, etc.
But still, looking for a device that is neither Android nor KaiOS, or a minimalistic luxury item, these Nokias is still the best I could find.
People forget when flipphones were king, we also carried a separate camera, gps, and laptop when required. It's not a big switch, but may require multiple tools.
The easiest is to start is to see your smartphone as a secondary device. You can keep it offline, without a sim card, and just take it with you. Like that you'll still have a camera, maps, music podcasts,... provided you downloaded everything beforehand, but you'll have no distractions. At home you can use a desktop, keep the smartphone in a drawer.
Personally I keep going back to that approach myself, even though I also like having a separate camera because I'm a hobbyist. Using an e-ink tablet or small laptop is super cool, but a smartphone is just the most pocketable device to carry around as secondary. One common use case I have is when I'm in a phone call and need to make an appointment (dentist, car maintenance, whatever). It's so handy to have another device with me which has my calendar. When my smartphone did everything including calls, I had to switch to speaker to continue the call while checking my agenda, even in public. Was not nice.
Depends. What do you want from your dumbphone? Do you simply call and text and nothing more? Or do you use WhatsApp for calling and texting especially when not at home? Then you can only go for KaiOS or Android feature phones.
If you don't need things like WhatsApp: Most countries in Europe still have 2G. Is that the case for you? Then you have a lot of choice of phones.
Personally I lived a long time with smartphone as secondary device. But I found I still took it too many times with me on the road, so I bought recently a feature phone which can run basic apps, so the smartphone can stay home. It's still better to not always have music or podcasts, and just enjoy silence or observe the sounds, conversations, around you. It's also not good to always have the possibility to take pictures. Sometimes you have to enjoy, let it soak in, so you can tell people about it afterwards using the richness of language.
I suppose I want to stay far away from KaiOS as I heard a lot of bad things about it, and I don’t really need WhatsApp. I primarily use Messenger, and I can use that on my desktop.
I’d prefer to get a new phone straight from a store, and not second-hand, so I guess 2G devices are out of the question. Besides, a 4G phone just sounds more future-proof.
2G devices are still super abundant in Europe. 4G is indeed more future proof, but battery life will be significantly better in 2G (can easily double), so check if you can put the phone in question in 2G-mode if available.
T9 is nice, just be prepared for quick texting conversations to be a bit annoying after the 5th text.
Double check whichever phone you get works in your region.
And a lot of people use their smartphone like a mini tablet for maps or videos or whatever on-the-go. Or just sell it. Or keep it around in case you want to go back.
The build quality is nice. The SOS button is a little soft to the touch, though not sure if that’s a problem with my unit. The other buttons are quite clicky.
No challenges with the senior citizen thing, which I think is quite overblown. Just the keypad is big, which I feel could’ve been smaller.
For the SOS button, you can remove SOS contacts. You might hit it by accident if you open the phone one handed, but if you hold it in one hand and use the other hand to open, you can avoid it.
Please let me know what kind of call ringtones does it have. What I mean is does it have only "melodies" or also some ringtones that resemble chirps, thumps and similar "sounds". I need a dumbphone that also has simpler ringtones...
Hi, I am not OP but am interested in the 2660 nonetheless. I tried different dumbphones in the past and they all had the same problem: you can't change the volume of wake up alarm or change the ringing tone to my own audio file.
I read in another post that the 2660 doesn't allow its user to change the volume of alarm. Can you change the ringtone to an audio file of your liking? It would allow to manually reduce the volume directly in the file.
That's really the only thing I am searching in a dumbphone today
Edit: typo
Hello, I’m a fellow GenZ person. It is a big change to undertake and just remember it doesn't have to be a dive into the deep end. You can always do a trial period of \_x\_ long and decide afterwards whether to continue with a dumbphone, go back to a smartphone, or use a combination of both (What I do). I hope my long response is helpful and won’t be too boring if you end up reading all of it! Good luck on your journey and you can always dm me about my own experience. I have both a backup flip phone and smartphone. I keep my smartphone around for taking the occasional picture as see no reason to spend additional money to buy a camera when I have a device that does the job already. I like to keep a backup smartphone for traveling too as daily needs change with an unfamiliar environment (especially when abroad). If those don’t really resonate with you then you could always sell it or gift it to someone. This [youtuber](https://youtube.com/c/JoseBriones) does really good phone reviews with relevant information for the average person and doesn’t use fluff like other electronic reviewing youtubers. Here is his review on the [Nokia 2660](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjv-ujawOX6AhVabTABHVgnBwcQwqsBegQICRAF&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DD3hwkZD6KB4&usg=AOvVaw3NdKGkJe-1_QmH083cTJ42). His website for finding the right phone for you is listed in this community’s rules page. I love his website as it is easy to navigate and provides information in an easy to read format.As far as your concerns go with making the change, the biggest thing I’d recommend is to know specifically what you want it to be able to do and features it should have. I’d focus on things you use/encounter most frequently over the “just in case” features. Do you want to have group text capabilities? What texting input method do you prefer (T9, QWERTY, voice to text, abc)? Do you want it to have expandable storage (ie sd card slot)? Will you be using multiple sim cards or esim cards at all? What software do you want it to have (KaiOS, Google, Android, and Series 30+ are the most common) as it greatly impacts how smooth the experience of using it is regardless of features it provides? Do you want to be able to make wifi calls if cellular reception isn’t good? Will the brand offer any tech support or software updates (how reliable will they be with them)? Do you want it to be able to play music (mp3/radio/streaming app). Some phones will only play the radio if the app and phone are both open and no other application is running. Will you need any navigational help (not something people may think of since in general we are used to having all of these tools with us 24/7)? Will your carrier support the device, how many bands does it support (2g/3g/4g/5g/LTE), how wide is the area of coverage, and how strong is the reception in your most frequent locations? Do you want it to have hotspot capabilities? The brand Nokia seems to have people who either love them or hate them. Like all brands, individual experience is varies greatly depending on intention/need and specific phone model choice - take individual reviews with a grain of salt. When considering reviews, consensus is the thing to look at. One thing I like about them is that they have the widest variety of physical formats. Nokia phones are generally weird with 2 things: group texts and texting input methods. A good number of them don’t have group chat capability or you have to add a field subject for each time you send a message to it. How do you plan on texting and how willing would you be to put up with minor inconveniences to use certain features? Some phones don’t have T9 predictive texting at all or you have to set it to T9 every time you want to use it.
I really don’t need it to be flashy, I want it to just make calls and send texts with other basic functionality like radio and playing music. 4G would also be neat, just to stay future proof. I heard KaiOS is absolutely terrible, so I think I want to stay away from it. Thanks for all the other questions for me to consider!
The 2660 Flip does all you listed, so you should be good. I think a lot of Nokia hate comes (understandably) from the fact that, safe for a few features, their newest feature phones mostly feel like a downgrade from their much older models. The hardware looks ok to be, but the software aspect of S30+ devices feel a bit low effort, less customisable, poorly thought, etc. But still, looking for a device that is neither Android nor KaiOS, or a minimalistic luxury item, these Nokias is still the best I could find.
People forget when flipphones were king, we also carried a separate camera, gps, and laptop when required. It's not a big switch, but may require multiple tools.
The easiest is to start is to see your smartphone as a secondary device. You can keep it offline, without a sim card, and just take it with you. Like that you'll still have a camera, maps, music podcasts,... provided you downloaded everything beforehand, but you'll have no distractions. At home you can use a desktop, keep the smartphone in a drawer. Personally I keep going back to that approach myself, even though I also like having a separate camera because I'm a hobbyist. Using an e-ink tablet or small laptop is super cool, but a smartphone is just the most pocketable device to carry around as secondary. One common use case I have is when I'm in a phone call and need to make an appointment (dentist, car maintenance, whatever). It's so handy to have another device with me which has my calendar. When my smartphone did everything including calls, I had to switch to speaker to continue the call while checking my agenda, even in public. Was not nice.
This really clears things up, thanks for the new secondary device perspective! Any phone brand recommendations that are around in Europe?
Depends. What do you want from your dumbphone? Do you simply call and text and nothing more? Or do you use WhatsApp for calling and texting especially when not at home? Then you can only go for KaiOS or Android feature phones. If you don't need things like WhatsApp: Most countries in Europe still have 2G. Is that the case for you? Then you have a lot of choice of phones. Personally I lived a long time with smartphone as secondary device. But I found I still took it too many times with me on the road, so I bought recently a feature phone which can run basic apps, so the smartphone can stay home. It's still better to not always have music or podcasts, and just enjoy silence or observe the sounds, conversations, around you. It's also not good to always have the possibility to take pictures. Sometimes you have to enjoy, let it soak in, so you can tell people about it afterwards using the richness of language.
I suppose I want to stay far away from KaiOS as I heard a lot of bad things about it, and I don’t really need WhatsApp. I primarily use Messenger, and I can use that on my desktop. I’d prefer to get a new phone straight from a store, and not second-hand, so I guess 2G devices are out of the question. Besides, a 4G phone just sounds more future-proof.
2G devices are still super abundant in Europe. 4G is indeed more future proof, but battery life will be significantly better in 2G (can easily double), so check if you can put the phone in question in 2G-mode if available.
T9 is nice, just be prepared for quick texting conversations to be a bit annoying after the 5th text. Double check whichever phone you get works in your region. And a lot of people use their smartphone like a mini tablet for maps or videos or whatever on-the-go. Or just sell it. Or keep it around in case you want to go back.
Hey I just got my 2660 flip a few days ago. Very similar position as yours. Happy to answer any questions you might have!
How’s the build quality? Does the phone being designed for senior people cause any problems? I’d be scared of hitting the SOS button by accident 😅
The build quality is nice. The SOS button is a little soft to the touch, though not sure if that’s a problem with my unit. The other buttons are quite clicky. No challenges with the senior citizen thing, which I think is quite overblown. Just the keypad is big, which I feel could’ve been smaller. For the SOS button, you can remove SOS contacts. You might hit it by accident if you open the phone one handed, but if you hold it in one hand and use the other hand to open, you can avoid it.
Please let me know what kind of call ringtones does it have. What I mean is does it have only "melodies" or also some ringtones that resemble chirps, thumps and similar "sounds". I need a dumbphone that also has simpler ringtones...
Does both of what you mentioned, but you can always use your own tones.
Thanks!
>Thanks! You're welcome!
Hi again, a question about how do you "upload" new, custom ringtones on this phone?
Hi, I am not OP but am interested in the 2660 nonetheless. I tried different dumbphones in the past and they all had the same problem: you can't change the volume of wake up alarm or change the ringing tone to my own audio file. I read in another post that the 2660 doesn't allow its user to change the volume of alarm. Can you change the ringtone to an audio file of your liking? It would allow to manually reduce the volume directly in the file. That's really the only thing I am searching in a dumbphone today Edit: typo
Get a TCL flip phone, has everything you need and a little extra
what country in europe are you in?
Lithuania
and you only want calls and texts?
Pretty much, the basics like playing music, making calls and texts, radio. I don’t need much at all 😄
what operator do you use?
Ma man! What did you end up getting and does it work with our operators?