My smart phone has died,I have a love hate relationship with these things and as I grow older the hate side is winning, I don’t think I want another smart phone.
Has any gone back to a dumber phone and have any recommendations for a good handset huge battery life small enough for jeans pocket with a legible screen and simple interface?

Any of the small nokias (yes they are still going!) Mine cost £10, battery last two weeks lol 🙂

Just get a cheap sim-free Nokia candybar phone (£30-ish on Amazon).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Nokia-UK-Sim-Mobile-Phone/dp/B0127NEQHA/ref=sr_1_4?s=telephone&ie=UTF8&qid=1482058082&sr=1-4&keywords=nokia+222

I’ve been using these for years. Never fancied a smartphone, primarily because the battery life is poor and I prefer to read a book when commuting rather than waste time on social media.

You can read books on a smartphone. Battery life on my work Windows phone is about a week (which TBH is about the only good thing I can say about it).

He knows he can read books on a smartphone. To be honest we should all be encouraging everyone to drop these things. The smartphone society is turning us all into drones.

We done Wicki get yourself a dumb phone and a good book.

I saw an advert for a device like the gorilla camera stand that wraps around a human body to hold the smart phone in front of the face while you do other things, one clip shows someone holding a baby that they are ignoring in order to engage with the phone …..OMFG are we this sad!

Cougar – Moderator
You can read books on a smartphone. Battery life on my work Windows phone is about a week (which TBH is about the only good thing I can say about it).

Yes but If you read books on your smartphone then it doesn’t make you a superior being. Not having a smartphone will become more and more prevalent over the next few years as it replaces “I don’t have a Facebook account” as the new “I’m really into French Cinema”.

I was a smartphone sceptic for a long time but I’m now a complete convert and I’d find it hard to do without.

However, if you do want a “hard phexit” then Caterpillar do a range of hard-wearing feature phones which would be good for putting in your pocket when cycling.

ot having a smartphone will become more and more prevalent over the next few years as it replaces “I don’t have a Facebook account” as the new “I’m really into French Cinema”.

This is actually quite funny 🙂

You can read books on a smartphone.

But other people don’t know you’re reading a book, and probably assume you’re playing Candy Crush Saga.

But seriously, it’s harder on my poor ageing eyes reading from backlit screen – I find reading a paper book more relaxing.

Watch day time ITV. Last week they were advertising a phone for old people which did the basics. If you find the name let me know as I feel like you!

Yes but If you read books on your smartphone then it doesn’t make you a superior being.

No, but it stops you deforesting half the planet and saves you needing a wallful of shelves.

Watch day time ITV. Last week they were advertising a phone for old people which did the basics. If you find the name let me know as I feel like you!

Doro https://www.doro.co.uk/mobile-devices/easy-phones.html

But other people don’t know you’re reading a book, and probably assume you’re playing Candy Crush Saga.

It works the other way too though…

Bellend on train with “serious work face” looking like they’re using their tablet to clinch a multi-million pound deal?

Have a look over their shoulder – they’re on Farmville 😀

Love the fact I can visit somewhere, read up about the places I’ve seen and not end up in the only awful pub in town or in terrible accommodation.

I can listen to thousands of radio stations for free, take quality photos (great for local touristy maps) and get accurate short term weather forecasts.

All whist sat in a cafe.

Don’t use any other social media and usually read on a Kindle these days.

Should come with a minimum age limit though.
I’d suggest 35?

…or in the classroom I can take a picture of a kid’s work then log in to Google Drive and display it on the smartboard for everyone to see.

Or listen to any song ever recorded, wherever and whenever I like.

Or stand in the middle of Amsterdam and tell my phone “navigate me to Vondel Park”… and it does.

No, but it stops you deforesting half the planet

I wonder where all this stuff comes from?

Gotta grow trees to cut ’em down so in some respects a profligate use of paper can be deemed more environmentally friendly than an industry that doesn’t need us to grow trees in the first place.

Yuck.

I have a smartphone, which I find very useful – though I do try to use it as a tool rather than letting it take over my life. I’ve also embraced technology for reading and have a Kindle, though quite like paper still – but reading a book on a smartphone seems a horrible idea.

Anyway in an age of global warming, all those books on my shelves are locking up carbon.

“I’m really into French Cinema”.
I check the show times on my ‘too clever for it’s own good’ phone.

I wonder where all this stuff comes from?

Even if a Kindle is in itself environmentally unfriendly, one Kindle is surely better than a load of books. My OH has read 90 books this year, if they were all in paper format I’d have to turn a bedroom into a library. (And I know we were talking about phones – I’ve had the same phone for five years.)

surely thats is what the local library is for? Reserve. read and take it back 🙂

Considering the fact you can dumb-down a “smart” phone (turn off wifi, data, don’t install extra apps, don’t set up email etc), but you can’t “smarten-up” a dumb phone, I’d stick with a basic smart phone (they can be pretty cheap these days).

If battery life is a big concern then turning off wifi, data etc will play a big part in extending that. My Motorola G3 (3rd Gen) has excellent battery life, even with wifi and data used throughout the day, leaving 50-70% left at the end of the day.

Smart phones can also be used as excellent music players, cameras, and storage devices, so you don’t have to double-up on gadgets, which is better for the environment.

Though as already pointed out, that is rubbish compared to an old fashioned Nokia you don’t have to bother charging for a week.

I’ve tried a couple of times but to be honest I always give up and go back to a smartphone.

Just too convenient. As others have said-get lost in an unfamiliar place-sorted. In a shop and quickly want to check reviews of a potential purchase, done etc. Even spoke things like texting are that much easier.

The good news is it costs very little to try a dumb phone and see if you get on with it…

Though as already pointed out, that is rubbish compared to an old fashioned Nokia you don’t have to bother charging for a week.

Maybe so, but are you ever really away from a charging point for more than 2 days? Is it really that much of an inconvenience to put a phone on charge over night? I have a Phillips speaker phone dock that also turns the phone into an alarm clock and charges it at the same time. Where’s the hassle in that? [Of course, you don’t need the dock to charge it, I’m just demonstrating my own usage]

As I said, that is with wifi and/or data permanently on and regular surfing/checking emails etc. If I turned wifi and data off, i bet the battery would last most of the week.

I also use mine as a sat nav, so that’s another gadget you can rid off (or not buy).

If you turn off mobile data then a smart phone will last weeks. Try it overnight, see how many percentage points it drops. My Moto G3 would last a week even with work email on it, with limited use.

If you turn off mobile data then a smart phone will last weeks. My Moto G3 would last a week even with work email on it, with limited use.

Therefore turning it into an expensive and oversized dumb phone lol 😉

Biggest battery drain on a modern smartphone is usually the screen.

Cougar – Moderator
No, but it stops you deforesting half the planet and saves you needing a wallful of shelves.

I’m guessing you saw the irony in my post anyway but speaking as someone who has a massive amount of books down the corridor in my house on shelves from a Victorian kitchen and works for a printers I still think a kindle/tablet with kindle app is the best thing going. Especially when reading lengthy books that are blinking heavy when reading in bed. I’m currently thinking of upgrading my original kindle keyboard as the new ones are so much easier to read when your other half is asleep. I’m actually tempted by the really expensive super duper one as I spend so much time reading one then why not.

Therefore turning it into an expensive and oversized dumb phone lol

Well, you can still turn it back on if you need it. You can also do stuff like Here maps GPS offline and so on. And you can use it as a decent camera without mobile data.

If you don’t install any social media apps, stop all notifications or updates and turn off Google location services, that would get rid of most of the battery drain, you’d still get a week from a simple phone I bet.

Or just do as they said above and buy a dumb phone. They are cheap and easy to get.

Therefore turning it into an expensive and oversized dumb phone lol

True, but you always retain the ability to turn on the “smart” features if and when you actually need them. With a “dumb” phone, you lose that completely.

I’m currently thinking of upgrading my original kindle keyboard as the new ones are so much easier to read when your other half is asleep

I treated my wife to a Kindle upgrade this year. She much prefers the new (non-keyboard) version

chakaping – Member
You can read books on a smartphone.
But other people don’t know you’re reading a book, and probably assume you’re playing Candy Crush Saga.

If anyone is wondering what I’m doing with my phone in a cafe or pub, if I’m on my own, I could quite easily be looking for the shit I couldn’t give about what they think.

But seriously, it’s harder on my poor ageing eyes reading from backlit screen – I find reading a paper book more relaxing.

I read loads of books on my phone, my pad, and actual printed dead tree, and I’ve yet to find any substantial difference, other than the fact that I can easily change the size of the text with an ebook, and I can equally easily change the brightness of the screen, and be able to read easily when it’s dark or dimly lit, without supplementary lighting.
There is no way I could go back to a dumb phone, a smartphone is just far too useful and convenient in my daily life, particularly with my job as a car delivery driver, where I need satnav, the ability to double check addresses on Google when instructions are confused, being able to take photos of damage or documentation when/if necessary, having books available when there’s a long unexpected delay, having music in a car if the radio’s shonky…

It’s not so much the trees themselves, it’s the energy cost of cutting them down, processing them and shipping the results around the world to be printed on then shipping them to your shops.

A couple of small devices have replaced all books (novels, reference and technical books) newspapers and magazines that I buy. So I’m not sure which is more eco friendly tbh but it probably isn’t cut and dried.

I have dug up an old samsung slide phone Ill try this for a few days and see how it goes…talking of books I have a kindle and love it the other half buys second hand books and swaps books with friends. books are expensive here (France) the one thing I like about traditional books is that long life they have going from home to home they have a history that my kindle can never have.

Cougar – Moderator
Yes but If you read books on your smartphone then it doesn’t make you a superior being.
No, but it stops you deforesting half the planet and saves you needing a wallful of shelves.

Oh, it must be the production of all those novels causing global warming 🙂

I still think a kindle/tablet with kindle app is the best thing going. Especially when reading lengthy books that are blinking heavy when reading in bed

The reason I bought my OH a Kindle in the first place is because I got tired of being brained in the middle of the night when she fell asleep with a book in her hand.

I want to dioptre smart phone, too. I’d like a device that had no actual Internet browser on it but music, bus tracker and banking in particular are too useful. I know I could uninstall it but… Actually let’s try that.

I don’t like the “what ever , when ever” attitude that is so prevalent in our society. “I want it NOW!”
Smart phones are just part of it.
Why want endless music on demand? Why not just entertain yourself? Think?
Wanders off bemused that people so shallow. 🙄

I’m coming from this dilemma from the other side, my Nokia brick’s battery dies within hours of being on charge, having been perfectly good to send and receive calls and texts for seven years.

I’ve loved having a Nexus 7 2013 for the last year, but there are times when free BT WiFi hotspots give me rubbish reception when I’m out.

So I’m left wondering do I buy another brick and accept there will be times I cannot get on the interweb, or do I buy something like a Motorola G4 and a Three pre-paid 24GB 4G SIM card from Amazon for <£30 for a fix in those tricky BT spots (or any other free wi-fi).