Well I might be coming from the opposite direction as most. I found myself really distracted with my iPhone when I was out of the house which prompted the move to a dumbphone in 2023. I still used an iPhone at home for web browsing and whatnot.

Over the years, I got frustrated by certain small features that some apps could bring me such as the ability to set my home alarm system or check the location of EV chargers with PlugShare. So I needed some kind of smarterphone and Minimal checked the box.

I'd say that the real benefit of the phone is that the e-paper screen makes it hard to do anything heavily interactive. Scrolling a feed is difficult and watching a video or playing a game is downright out. Yet the keyboard makes sending messages trivial. I was worried moving to a full featured phone that I'd need to remove the web browser to keep me from doom scrolling somewhere, but that's not really a temptation.

Also, if you turn the backlight off entirely, it becomes a really boring object to look at and I don't find myself reaching for it out of instinct. Even checking a message in a dark bar I find myself leaning towards the nearest light source rather than enabling the backlight. Reading books with KOReader in full sunlight is great too.

It has just enough capability to function as a communication or reading device without much else, and it's enabled me to completely stop using my iPhone at home. If I need a full web interface, I get out of bed/off the couch, and move to my PC.

tl;dr: The screen makes it hard to perform passive activities like doom scrolling while the keyboard makes messaging easy.