Due to privacy and time management concerns, I have decided to take the jump and get rid of my smart phone. Unsurprisingly, there are very few of resources online about which dumb phones are the best. Those of you who use a non-smart phones, which model is it and how do you like it?
You will be in a tough spot if you're in the USA. All the nice Nokias and decent low-tech phones are rapidly becoming useless as carriers phase out 2g (and even 3g) coverage to free up bands for LTE and now 5g.<p>If your "dumbphone" doesn't support VoLTE you'll be frustrated with dropped calls and spotty service everywhere. I know this from experience.<p>I settled on T-Mobile's only "dumbphone" - the Alcatel GoFlip [1]. It supports LTE, the battery lasts for days and it even has a rudimentary IMAP and CalDAV client.<p>I tried turning my smartphone into a "dumbphone" and using it less, but I honestly lacked the self-control to put the stupid thing down. Having a kid made me realize how many moments I was pissing away just scrolling.<p>These things are designed to be addictive, and some people (like myself) can't compete with the entire teams of "engagement engineers" many tech companies employ to exploit your dopamine-reward cycles.<p>I had forgotten what it was like to be alone with my thoughts. I feel as though I am rediscovering a part of my brain that was suppressed by having a boredom-prevention device at my fingertips all these years. Also other humans now look like phone-zombies everywhere I look. It's kind of dystopian honestly.<p>[1] <a href="https://us.alcatelmobile.com/alcatel-go-flip/" rel="nofollow">https://us.alcatelmobile.com/alcatel-go-flip/</a>
Nothing compares to the Punkt MP01 and MP02 IMO. I've had the MP01 for years and it's fantastic, the only issue has been with service and I imagine that would be resolved with the MP02 and 4g. <a href="https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp02-4g-mobile-phone/" rel="nofollow">https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp02-4g-mobile-phone/</a><p>There's also the Lightphone and forthcoming Lightphone II.<p>That being said, these won't really address privacy concerns per se. They don't support signal or other encrypted messaging (the lightphone II may in the future???). So the only way they would be more 'private' would be due to the fact that you'll use your phone for less and in so doing, share less data. Your texts and calls will still be pretty visible if that's a concern.
Ultraorthodox Jews buy dumbphones only because of religious considerations. These are known as Kosher phones. Here is a shop that sells them <a href="https://www.zipy.co.il/s/אליאקספרס/-/-/טלפון/?aspect=:::200000563:200000563_200005437:Not+Touch+Screen/&gclid=Cj0KCQjwg73kBRDVARIsAF-kEH-CCwlrFTBvvW3jpvwk6FdC3WAj0RfzSwDxjKpQ9EXAb6-1IqKNYpYaAqteEALw_wcB#coil&data1=PhoneHe&data2=HE_PHO" rel="nofollow">https://www.zipy.co.il/s/אליאקספרס/-/-/טלפון/?aspect=:::2000...</a>
Dumbphones effectively no longer exist.<p>Anything with LTE (aside from iDevices) seems to run a Linux kernel with a stripped down Android or FirefoxOS on top. They have simplified UIs if that's what you're looking for, but they also have security holes out the wazoo (you can frequently get a root adb shell via usb with a stock config), and will never see updates.<p>To top that off, the available "dumb" phones with LTE often don't support US LTE bands. (<i>glares at useless nokis 8810 4g</i>)<p>You might get away with a pre-LTE device that's a legit dumbphone, but those networks are rapidly dying. :-(
IMO a dumb phone is usually not what you want, unless you care about battery life that much. Most dumb phones are worse for privacy than a properly configured iDevice without location services and all those other gimmicks you don't probably want. They're not encrypted, easier to hack after being stolen and you're forced into normal calls and sms messages which are notoriously insecure. You'd be better off with an iPhone and iMessage/Signal or even Matrix on your own home server if you care that much. That setup gives you much, much more privacy than anything else could.
Consider taking this a step further and trying no phone at all. But instead of doing something extreme like dumping your smartphone, just turn your current phone off unless you're OK with being reached and at home or at work. Anything in between, the phone stays off.<p>This makes your smartphone a de facto land line for all practical intents, and you get to keep the potential to make exceptions and use it for e.g. GPS and maps or a restaurant lookup when you need to.
I have been buying dumb phones from china for a few months (mostly using ebay and banggood.com) and since most cost between $15-$35, I've bought six and plan to buy a few more. I might throw up a Medium blog reviewing them because they are hilarious and sometimes really innovative.<p>My favorites have been:<p>- Fidget Spinner Phone [0] | It's a fidget spinner and basically a classic Nokia clone with video, mp3, and bluetooth. It is comfy to carry in the pocket, has dual SIMs and SD card storage. Also an FM radio (that doesn't use hadphones as an antenna). The best part is that is has "HORSE RACE LIGHTS" that run to the beat so you can fidget spin to the radio.<p>- Super Tiny Phone [2] | Can be a bluetooth earpiece, is super tiny, and has a voice changer option that is just hilarious. Call with autotune! Also it's clearly made for crime, but I like to call my mom as a robot.<p>- Pen Phone [3] | It's a pen!<p>[0] <a href="https://www.banggood.com/Servo-S08-1-3-300mAh-Christmas-Gift-Bluetooth-Dual-SIM-Fidget-Spinner-Finger-Gyro-Reduce-Stress-Phone-p-1216799.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.banggood.com/Servo-S08-1-3-300mAh-Christmas-Gift...</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.banggood.com/V2-0_66-OLED-260mAh-Smallest-Bluetooth-Dialer-BT-Music-Voice-Changer-Single-SIM-Mini-Card-Phone-p-1295837.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.banggood.com/V2-0_66-OLED-260mAh-Smallest-Blueto...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.banggood.com/SERVO-K07-0_96inch-300mAh-bluetooth-Dialer-Recording-Pen-Handwriting-Pen-Flashlight-Camera-Dual-SIM-Mini-Card-phone-p-1417825.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.banggood.com/SERVO-K07-0_96inch-300mAh-bluetooth...</a>
I was looking into this exact problem last year. I couldn't find a reasonable solution, so I had to take extraordinary steps instead -- I'm building my own phone.<p>There is literally no phone on the market (that I can find) that is acceptable to me anymore.
In my mind, the best "dumb" phone is something like the iPhone SE.<p>Aside from the issue of limited options, traditional dumb phones contain junk like seriously insecure baseband processors, shadow SMS commands, carrier bloatware that does god knows what, BREW, and J2ME. They're often slow and cheaply-made.<p>If you're concerned about time management, then you have a few options:<p>- Improve your self-discipline and impulse control, eliminate FOMO. This will pay dividends in your life.<p>- Uninstall any app you absolutely do not require. In the latest versions of iOS you can uninstall many of the apps the device comes with.<p>- Configure Screen Time(tm) and Downtime(tm) under Settings->Screen Time.<p>- Configure Restrictions under the Settings app. Make them as draconian as you want and set up a complicated passcode.<p>The problem isn't the phone, it's you.
<a href="https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/" rel="nofollow">https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/</a><p>This might count as a dumb phone for your intended purposes, given how it separates the baseband from the CPU and has killswitches.
Oh great question! I have tried asking almost the same thing here[1] with no luck. 8 upvotes, 0 replies.
Very curious to see if this thread will get any traction.<p>Personally, I was eyeing Nokia 3310 (relaunched version)[2].<p>[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15261955" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15261955</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-3310" rel="nofollow">https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-3310</a>
Not strictly a dumbphone, but KaiOS phones (<a href="https://www.kaiostech.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.kaiostech.com/</a>) are sort of smart-ish. They're forked from FxOS, are easily hackable, are compatible with modern telephony standards (so the death of 2G won't kill them), and come from multiple suppliers.<p>They hit the "just enough" functionality for me: phone calls, access to smart-ish messaging, a music player, and the ability to act as a hotspot for a more dedicated device.<p>I haven't got one myself (there's a particular model I was waiting on 6 months ago when I last sniffed around), but I intend to this year.
I used a Motorola FONE for a few years. E-ink display, the most basic basics (single-case text messages, twelve characters at a time). Pretty good battery life, nice form factor. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Fone" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Fone</a>
I have an antique samsung flip-phone from sometime in the 2006-08 years. My carrier is T-mobile.<p>I had one that I used until it was really dying a couple years ago (growing blob of dead pixels in the middle of the screen, declining battery life), which I commented on during a visit home, to which my mom replied, "wait! i have the exact same phone in a drawer somewhere" ... so now i'm still using it, just, the one that she held onto for some reason.<p>The comments about dropped calls are true -- my phone has gotten progressively worse at being a phone in the last couple years. I wasn't sure whether it was hardware degradation or what, but I trust folks on this thread are more knowledgeable than I am and are correct that it's due to networks being phased out. To be honest I have no idea which 'G' my phone uses.<p>Pros:
- battery lasts for most of a week between charges
- is not distracting at all
- I don't feel bad when I drop it
- the alarm-clock feature works
- most people are very kind about giving me directions if i get lost and ask them for help, after they hesitate and say "... can't you look it up on your phone?"<p>Cons:
- not all text messages reach me
- I have to manually delete texts as the phone only wants to store 30 texts at a time.
- some phone conversations include redialing a few times
- I don't have a camera in my pocket
- I don't have a GPS in my pocket
- My current employer had to buy me a cheap (no sim card / no linked google account) smartphone anyhow for 2FA apps!
- distraction is more of a general habit -- i still waste plenty of my own time browsing the internet on a laptop.
I bought Alcatel Go Flip for $25, works fine. If you need to read web from 2.8" display via 4G or Wifi one-two times per year, this is good choice.
I own a YotaPhone 2 since a little more than a year now, and I am very satisfied with it.<p>It's a dual screen from 2015 made in Russia: it has an e-ink screen on the back that can display both dedicated widgets and the android OS, like the normal screen.<p>The OS (Android 4 up to 6) has been adapted for the screen and special care has been taken to make the system consume as few energy as possible if configured so. Think of it as the phone you dumb down when you go on a week-long trek in the Siberian Taiga.<p>I love it because of the extreme readability of the screen under full sunlight. I don't need to find a shadow or make some with my hands in order to select a song in a playlist, check my position on a map or reply to a text while walking.<p>There are also some cool features, like mirroring the camera's view on the back screen so that people who are photographed can have a preview of the final result.<p>The phone can also flash your contact info on the e-ink screen before shutting down (since it's e-ink, the image gets persisted even though the battery is flat), just in case some good samaritan finds your phone.<p>And now that the YotaPhone 3 is out, you can find it for 150$.
Not a dumb phone, but I would recommend the Unihertz Atom[1]. It packs Android into the same form factor as a flip phone. The advantage is that it supports most carrier bands, including Verizon, and modern standards like VoLTE, Wifi calling (dumb phones are generally carrier specific and rely on 2G/CDMA bands for calling).<p>The great thing about this form factor is that browsing and extended typing are very difficult, so you end up using your phone to get notified and for utilities like navigation, music playing.<p>Privacy-wise it does not solve your concern because it runs Android and it does not track the latest security updates as well as the Google branded phones.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unihertz-Smallest-Smartphone-Android-Unlocked/dp/B07KP8J8YN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8#customerReviews" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Unihertz-Smallest-Smartphone-Android-...</a>
I haven't used it but the "new" (remake) of the Nokia 8110 seems to fit your requirements [1].<p>[1] <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/24/nokia-8110-4g/" rel="nofollow">https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/24/nokia-8110-4g/</a>
If you care about privacy and have about $100 + 4 hours you can get a Galaxy S5 running LineageOs without GApps (use F-Droid store) .<p>Almost completely OSS besides a few manufacturer blobs you can't really work around.<p>I have a "normal" Android phone I use for work but my S5 is my daily driver for everything else. Works great, hardest part is setting up stuff to replace FAANG.<p>I use ProtonMail, Open Camera, Matrix/Riot for family chat.<p>Haven't found a good calendar yet but overall way more usable than a dumbphone and privacy concious<p>There's some "nicer" options like One plus for LineageOs but you will probably find the S5 fairly snappy since its based on Android 8.0 . IMO the last few versions of Android make a much larger performance difference than a few CPU generations
I've used a Nokia 208.1 for 5 years, it's not very big, it has not features worth mentioning, it lasts for ages (usually at least 1 weak depending on usage)... The interface is not horrible to use and doesn't get in the way - which is all I really care about with this kinda phone (cheaper dumb phones will really piss you off getting in the way).<p>RE privacy, phones aren't private, not even dumb phones, use a dumb phone for privacy in terms of doing less on it (i.e internet), cell networks voice calls are wide open of course. My main reason is lack of distraction though.<p>RE network compat: I've taken this phone to China, Thailand, Laos, Mexico, France, Germany - it always worked - Never been to US though.
I got the cheapest phone available at MediaMarkt (German electronics store).<p>It's a SwissOne (don't know which model exactly) for about 30€. The battery life is great (runs more than a week) and it even has dual SIM support.<p>Interestingly, I could not find (in that shop) any phone without a color screen and camera. Really, I just want a phone for calls and SMS.<p>The one downside of that phone is that the audio volume on calls is really low, even when set to the maximum. That makes it difficult to have conversations on busy streets.
In the future, I would pick one of those phones targeting senior citizens (with the huge buttons).
I'm using the new nokia 8810. The keyboard is annoying, but otherwise with this phone you have a hotspot turned phone in a classic shape with you. KaiOS isn't too bad either (no google stuff on my phone too).
I'm a huge fan the The Light phone if you are trying to embrace minimalism. The second version is adding some features that hit the balance better for people who want to use their phone more consciously but still need to use an Uber every once in a while. But the first version is still for sale at Macy's I think.<p><a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2</a><p>It's not as cheap as most "dumb" phones (~$300), but I for me its exactly what I wanted to reclaim my attention.
My suggestion is for a Blackberry Q10. It has 4G (so it'll last a long time), swappable batteries (very cheap), a great UI, useful functionality (calendar, notes), and a completely worthless app store.
Being frivolous, not answering the question, but for my money, the best dumb phone is the analog one we used to have, plugged into a socket in the wall.<p>It was often noisy, sound was crummy, it was unwieldy, and it cost a small fortune to run, but it was without perceptible delay, it was fully duplex, and it far better approximated real face to face conversation than the weird false starts and constant stuttering interrupts we have learned to take for granted these days.<p>Also, you could walk out the door and ignore it.
have you considered going phoneless?<p>The perspective it will give you on modern life will likely make you want to stay phoneless.<p>Remember when everyone smoked? I mean everyone. The experience of being phoneless today reminds me of what it was like to be a non smoker 25 years ago. Nauseating.
I’m in Tokyo for work and it is surprising how many flip phones there still are here. Not sure if they work in the US but might be worth looking into shipping from Japan.
I've been using the same Nokia 301 since 2013, and I've been content with it, but it's not sold any more so I don't know how much it's worth recommending it. Some notable problems I've had—and there might be similar problems with other non-smart-phones, which is why I think it's worth mentioning them—are:<p>· It has some size limit (I'm not sure what) on the attachments it can feasibly receive from other phones, and the default photo size for iPhones is larger than that, which means if a family member texts me a photo, I often can't download it. This isn't a big problem for me, because I tell them to email me instead, but it's still present.<p>· It lacks many newer emoji characters, which is only a problem if I'm texting people who use a lot of emoji, in which case their messages will have a bunch of mysterious blank boxes at the end.<p>· It has some kind of problem validating newer SSL certs, so the handful of services that do talk to the internet are at this point broken. I don't use any of them, so it's not a problem for me, but if I did, I'd have been out of luck.<p>I should also add that dumbphones are a real mixed bag when it comes to security. If I wanted to communicate with someone without eavesdropping, then I'm out of luck with a dumbphone: everything is just not-particularly-secure texting and calling. In my own case, I simply don't think of my phone as being a trusted device: that's what my laptop is for. However, if you really want to be security-conscious with your phone, I think the right thing might be to get an Android phone, install LineageOS on it, don't install any of the Google services, and be very limited in what apps you add.
You might consider a WiPhone a few months from now once we're shipping them:
(project preview link) <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/338898127?ref=761478&token=f27f373c" rel="nofollow">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/338898127?re...</a><p>It's intended to be hackable. The base phone is pure WiFi, but there will probably be an LTE add-on.
A discussion worth mentioning: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16912679" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16912679</a><p>Of the blogpost on how to make a <i></i>dumber phone<i></i> <a href="https://nomasters.io/posts/dumber-phone/" rel="nofollow">https://nomasters.io/posts/dumber-phone/</a>
I'm in Australia, so if you're not then we might have a completely different range to choose from. (Hopefully your dumbphone market is better than ours!) But for what it's worth:<p>- My previous phone was a Nokia 3310. It was terrible, but that was partly because I (presumably) got a dud unit -- the sound output was intermittently (but frequently) badly garbled. Setting that aside, I would still not recommend it. When it ran out of memory it had the delightful habit of allowing me to obliviously (and laboriously) type out a long text message and hit send, only then notifying me that was too full to do that, and dumping me back to the menu (or a newly-blank message window, I forget) with the message lost. The interface was generally a bit annoying, and the retro styling was just a gimmick -- I don't think it had much in common with the original aside from being a dumbphone. From memory the battery life was pretty good though.<p>- My current phone is a Nokia 8110, aka the bananaphone. (And no, I really didn't want to get another Nokia, but there were very few alternatives and the ones I wanted to try had too many worrying reviews.) It's been fine so far. It's pretty big, but fits comfortably in my pocket. It's not a flip phone, and the screen is always visible (so you can check the time just by tapping the power button on the side), but it has a cover that slides back to reveal the keypad. I haven't used it for much, just very occasional calls and texts, but I haven't had any serious annoyances yet. It runs KaiOS, which is significantly less annoying than the 3310 firmware (and probably makes using the 8110 as a semi-smart phone feasible -- the 8110 has Wi-Fi, which worked fine when I tested it), though it does take a frustratingly long time to start up. Battery life seems good, though I haven't tested it aside from leaving it on standby for longish periods.
I have the original Nokia 3310, which is not being used right now. Daily driver is the reissue 3310 that came out a couple years ago. It's still a little too "modern" for my tastes but something I can live with. The great thing is that the battery lasts forever. Probably close to a few weeks. Well, I don't use it at all, so there's that.
I have greatly enjoyed my Nokia 3310 3g. I have had intermittent sergice outages, but for the most part it works well. I live in a major metropolitan area though... so if you are more rural you may not have the same experience. I only use it for the following: calls, alarm clock, and the occasional text (but I hate it when people text me and usually just call them back - yes, I know it is frowned upon). While an LTE version of the 3310 exists in europe, I do not believe it opperates on American bands. Which is a bummer and I really wish they would release it here. Having buttons again is so much better than the touch screen plague that has grabbed everyone.<p>If the WiPhone (<a href="http://a.wiphone.io/" rel="nofollow">http://a.wiphone.io/</a>) manages to see market, I may move in that direction as I am almost never outside of wifi (plus the promise of writing apps in either MicroPython or Wiring or the like sounds great).
Why not like a cheap ($40) BLU phone and just not use the "smart" features?<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/BLU-Advance-Unlocked-Smartphone-Black/dp/B072N6BD9V/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/BLU-Advance-Unlocked-Smartphone-Black...</a>
I still primarily use an iPhone SE, but every couple of months I'll "disconnect" by using a dumbphone for a week or two at a time. I use the Nokia 106: <a href="https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-106/" rel="nofollow">https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-106/</a><p>I like it a lot. It's cheap, simple, and has great battery life; I charge it perhaps once during the week or so I'm using it. I paid £18 for mine unlocked.<p>My favourite antifeature is that <i>it has no camera</i>. Most dumbphones have a camera in them that's so poor it's not worth having. This one doesn't bother with one at all, which means there's no camera option cluttering up the menus.
I can't say there's a "best" since we're talking about dumb phones, but this is one that I bought a few years back and it works great. You'll need a pay-as-you-go plan, but other than that, it's been smooth sailing.<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/BLU-GSM-Unlocked-Dual-Black/dp/B07MZDNBDJ/ref=pd_sim_107_5/140-3315598-1741854?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07MZDNBDJ&pd_rd_r=5f45e91f-49c6-11e9-a75b-d90d22588c43&pd_rd_w=aVPgx&pd_rd_wg=3nKs4&pf_rd_p=90485860-83e9-4fd9-b838-b28a9b7fda30&pf_rd_r=CJ6JSY813KMT2N2ZNFYY&psc=1&refRID=CJ6JSY813KMT2N2ZNFYY" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/BLU-GSM-Unlocked-Dual-Black/dp/B07MZD...</a>
Nokia (the new, not the old) makes a neat little phone that has good standby time. I still use my old one but stocked up on the news ones 'just in case', as long as my old one is still working I'll stick to it.<p>The 3310 is the new one.
Anyone have suggestions for dumb phones that will work with Verizon? I'm still on a Samsung Intensity II from ~2011 because from what I can tell there aren't any non-flip-phone dumbphones that work with Verizon anymore.
It's a dumb phone. Pretty much all you need to to be able to make calls and maybe send texts. Walk into a Target or whatever store sells flip phones, pay for the cheapest phone + prepaid plan there, walk out.<p>For what it's worth, your location metadata probably uniquely identifies you (nearest cell tower to work + home), and Target probably knows who you are just from their security cameras, so this still isn't paranoid enough if "state actors are interested in me personally" is in your threat model. The "correct" thing to do in this case is to leave your phone at home and/or at work.
I used a Kyocera DuraXE for a bit while travelling. It's rugged, and supports LTE/tethering, but I abandoned that experiment due to how unpleasant I find T9 texting.<p>I was recently looking for a new phone for my father... he currently uses a Gingerbread-era LG slider phone with keyboard. He's <i>never</i> connected it to data or wifi, only uses it for calls and texting. Doesn't look like there's much available to serve his uses anymore. Maybe a (significantly more expensive than his slider) BlackBerry KeyOne or Key2 which he can also leave disconnected from data.
I've been using the LG Xpression C410 for years: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YRDCLIU" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YRDCLIU</a><p>But I'm not really sure what's out there now to compare it to. I never used anything else. This one deals with calls and texts fairly well and I charge it about twice a week with a low amount of texting and very few calls. I don't use it for anything else.<p>I also dropped it once from chest height and nothing bad came from it. It's built like a tank.
Stupid question: would that really be better (from a privacy perspective) than a smartphone, without using the "smart" part of it? Arguably by using a dumb phone you would avoid sharing data with either Apple or Google, but you will still share everything (location, phone numbers, who you are calling, etc) with your telco company.<p>Calling/texting with a dumbphone might actually be worse, from a privacy perspective, than using something like Whatsapp (until Whatsapp was acquired by Facebook).
I've been wondering if you could use a cellular Apple watch like a dumbphone, initially setting it up with a friend/family member's iPhone (restored to get a fresh account, swap SIM and set up watch, then restored back to their backup), and then only using time/alarms and phone. Anyone know if that's possible? Could you update the contacts via icloud.com? Install software updates without an iPhone or Mac/Windows?
Using an LTE Apple Watch exclusively will address all time management concerns while still allowing you to do things like order an uber and stream music.
in the Netherlands I discovered a very cheap one from the mark Kazam, allowing 2 SIM (useful since I have 2), no memory but a microSD slot. I first used it without the microSD but then I wanted to have at least an acceptable ringtone so I installed the microSD... and I discovered that the phone (can) record all the calls I made on the microSD. That came very handy about once a year, I love the concept.
I haven't used one myself, but perhaps The Light Phone would meet your needs? They recently launched an updated model - <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2#/" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2#/</a><p>Doesn't deliver until July 2019 though...
This might be of interest to you: <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/privo-mobile" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/privo-mobile</a><p>Looks like they are trying to make a dumb phone that has better UX like a smart phone.
I use a Nokia 1280 (EU/Italy):<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18255904#18262362" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18255904#18262362</a>
I have the Nokia 3310 and like it. Aside from not being great at receiving multimedia texts, it works pretty well. Also it has Snake, but sadly not the original version.