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low-tech cellphone recs for someone in the US? (slrpnk.net)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by fae@slrpnk.net to c/buyitforlife@slrpnk.net
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housemate and I are sick of smartphone AI and spyware!! looking for cheap, refurbished cellphones from the 00s

  • the problem: all models we have found run on 2G, which is rapidly being phased out by all US carriers
  • desired features: basic call and text functionality, durability, physical buttons, fits in pocket
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[-] BenchpressMuyDebil@szmer.info 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I have the HMD variant of Nokia 110 and it calls ambulance on it's own if I put it into the backpack because the keyboard lock is dogshit (you can still press numbers which are part of emergency numbers like 112, 911 etc. even if the keyboard lock is enganged, this is their way of letting anyone call emergency services without unlocking like on smartphones). It did it twice now, so I switched to HMD 2660 which is a flip phone, so it can't have its buttons be pressed if it's folded closed. Literally the emergency team called me back saying they're about to block my number.

S30+ is a good OS (just buy flip phones, not candy bar form factor due to the kb lock xddd), I'm impressed by the features it has, even though it didn't strictly need to. I guess it's because it's been around forever Nokia could polish it. For example:

  • You can pick up a call with 3.5mm jack headphones center button (if your headphones have media controls).
  • You can add your own words to the T9 dictionary.
  • You can have two separate languages for the T9 dict (one comes from the phone UI language, second from keyboard language).
  • You can put the call into the background and use the phone as you speak - this is useful if you call your bank and they ask you for a code send to your phone for verification.

I wish HMD would start selling the charging cradle for HMD 2660 I think almost a a year after release...

HMD will never update your phone after you buy it. HMD 110 4G still has the Facebook app, which when you open it it says "This page is no longer supported" or something. The newer HMD 2660 doesn't have the app anymore. It just goes to show that they update the software only when releasing a new phone, they don't provide non-critical updates to previous models.

HMD also dropped the ball with HMD 110 4G because the Unisoc T127 cpu supports hotspot, but they just decided not to implement it.

this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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