Phones can still be Fun
There is a broad perception online that most technology is stale and boring these days and in many ways I would agree especially when it comes to commodity hardware that most tech is boring these days. iPhones Samsungs (apart from the folding phones which I'll come back to in a minute) have been the same glass rectangle for almost 20 years now.
But while the big companies are argubily stagnating, Apple I feel has struggled in recent years to find a good third member of the iPhone Family having made tiny iPhones, Giant iPhones and now super thin iPhones none of them perticularly selling that well, there is this new niche catagory that I like to call sicko phones.
Most people would classify a lot of these as 'dumb phones' but I dont like that term for two reasons. Firstly dumb phones are already a thing, you can still buy a commodity nokia phone like its 2004 that just does calls and sms messages and maaaybe has snake on there. But to me sicko phones are different, some of them do try to emulate the dumb phone but all of them have a lot of thought and put into them even if someof it isnt for everyone, for example the light phone 3.
Increasingly though this catagory is growing, most of them have one perpose. Stop scrolling tiktok. This is the case with the Light Phone, Punkt MP02, Minimal Phone ect ect
Left: Light Phone 3 Middle: Minimal Phone Right: Punkt MP02
But I think for a lot of people these phones just dont work for everyday life, like personally I dont use tiktok or instagram reels or youtube shorts so I dont have an aversion to limit myself in that way but still sometimes I would like to limit down my experiance in a way that works for me Like I still need whatsapp, maps, Bus timetable app, train timetable app, podcasts, mobile banking, home assistant, emails so while I like the idea of the lightphone 3 to me they feel like they where designed for a perticular mentality that quite frankly doesnt exist in modern life. Like how many times in this post covid world have you encountered a QR code for resterant ordering on your phone or an app to acess this or that or the other.
Instead I think for myself the answer is to go the other way. Still keep my iPhone but limit what I use it for and the times I need it, then have a main device that has a perticular purpopose for communicating with people. This is where these new devices like the clicks communicator and the Unihertz titan 2 elite come in.
Clicks Communicator
There are dedicated devices to be more productive at the times you use your phone so rather than plodding around to do something you can be in and out quickly and efficently. Pertictually the clicks device which (which I did preorder) is a great example for this combined with their collabriation with niagra launcher. On a normal android phone I am not a fan of Niagra personally and prefer smart launcher 6 instead due to the customisation and auto app catagories similar to the iOS app library.
But what clicks are doign to modify the stock niagara experiance with putting messaging notificaiton front and center is perfect for my usecase. I am also excited to use the clicks commiunicator for other things too like discord and of course writing longer form notes while on the go for example for this blog.
But wait, theres more! there are other sicko phones out there for other purposes for example the iko Mind one is a weird little square android phone with a flip up camera, personally I'm not too sure what the usecase for this one actually is but I do love that its a thing.
Iko Mind One
There is also the Side Phone which is a neat more retro style phone that has a hot swappable numpad, querty keyboard and a 'sun dial' iPod esc control pad (allegedly more to come) that lets you switch and swap depending on what youre doing with the device in that moment. While this one does run android unlike the Clicks, Iko or Unihertz it is sadly not going to come with Google play services out of the box therefore some apps just wont work like banking apps, but others will be temprimental in their functionality like whatsapp. However while the makers of the side phone are not looking to get google play services working it would not suprise me if once its into the communities hands shortly there will be community patches and workaround to add it in for those that want it. If I hadn't already pre ordered the clicks communicator I would definatly be intrested in this device and will still be keeping my eye on how the project goes in the future.
Side Phone plus its various interface modules
Finally we come on to the more mainstreem sicko phones, The foldables. currently we have 3 main types on the market. The Hamberger style, The Hotdog style and the Burrito style.
Hambergers are probably the most popular, espeically with women I find, With the leaders of the pack being the Moto Razr anf the Samsung Flip (currently on the 7th version) its not hard to see why they may be appealing you get the benifit of a nice big screen for watching video or messaging people that is for all intents and purposes a noraml phone when unfolder paired with a horizonal hinge along the middle that then folds down to give you an outside screen for quick replies, navigation, media controls ect. finished off with a neat small formfactor when in the pocket or bag.
Then we have the Hotdog style devices like the Samsung Fold 7 and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (what a terrible name) These are definatly more firmly in the sicko camp with the ability to have two trational aspect ratio app screens side by side so you can be typing in two group chats at once or playing candycrush with one hand and pokemon go with the other.
Then finally the new commer to the foldable scene the Burrito. In the west we only have one example of this the Samsung Tri Fold which isnt even for sale yet here in blighty currently only availble via having a friend in korea and or going to korea on holiday and buying one, but if you dont mind me saying its some real sicko shit. Not only does it fix the issue of hotdog foldables where the inside screen is essentually square meaning video does actually present any bigger on the inside screen than the outside screen just with more letterboxing it also means you can now run up to 3 full side phone apps side by side by side.
So in summary there are still phones out there that are doing fun things and trying new (or going back to old) ideas you just have to know where to look.
Last Edited: 1 month, 2 weeks ago.