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I would legitimately purchase a 'smart' phone that's just basically a 15-year old flip phone with maps and a modern battery + software stack. Awaiting the inevi

I would legitimately purchase a 'smart' phone that's just basically a 15-year old flip phone with maps and a modern battery + software stack. Awaiting the inevitable analog trend to kick back up so there are solid options here.

alooPotato 7d ago
honestly an apple watch + airpods is basically that.
- deleted 7d ago
  [deleted]
- realty_geek 7d ago
  Can you just use the 2 without a phone?
  - Dardalus 7d ago
    Yes, if you get cellular on the watch.
    - kgwgk 7d ago
      For some values of "use". You cannot do without an iPhone (with a recent enough version of iOS): https://support.apple.com/en-us/109015 https://support.apple.com/en-us/109015
4lx87 7d ago
Have you considered an Apple Watch Ultra? That way you can send/receive messages, calls, do maps and directions, listen to music, etc. but you can't mindlessly scroll media.
zachlatta 7d ago
I just got one of these (https://aiphor.com/products/bluefox-nx1-4-0-android-smartphone https://aiphor.com/products/bluefox-nx1-4-0-android-smartpho...) that I'm hoping to try and make my weekend phone. It's a small Android phone. It runs WhatsApp / Google Maps. I am going to set it up to forward my calls to it on the weekends. It just arrived, so I'm excited to try it out.
- mooreds 7d ago
  Please let us know how this works. It sounds like it might be a fit for my needs.
- amelius 7d ago
  Wow, that's exactly the kind of form factor I'm looking for. Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lMelOWpQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lMelOWpQo
- Bolwin 7d ago
  This and their newer Aura A1 I've wanted to get cause of the compact size, but they seem to lack support for US 5g bands
pjmlp 7d ago
There are plenty Symbian phones around on 2nd hand shops.
xethos 7d ago
12 years, not 15, but there are currently BlackBerry Classic shipping with modern internals. I love mine, though I've flashed LineageOS for Android 16 https://zinwa.com/ https://zinwa.com/
bpev 7d ago
Commodore Callback, maybe?
a34729t 7d ago
Just put your iWatch (with LTE) into a 3D printed case; that gets you most of the way there minus battery life. What I'd love to see is a modern Sidekick. The form factor was basically perfect.
ghshephard 7d ago
I've been rocking out a Casio F-91W (Retails new for $23) for about 3 months now - And all the annoyance I had with with my Apple Watch Ultra (16 hour battery, constant annoyance to upgrade, endless and useless notifications) - is gone. The CR2016 battery last 5+ YEARS , replacements are < $2. Watch has everything I ever cared about - Date, Time, Alarms, Light, Stopwatch, water resistance. And, I don't think I've once missed having the big annoying clunker of a watch.
- altmanaltman 7d ago
  If that's all you cared for, why would you buy an Apple Watch Ultra in the first place? Like a Casio F-91W is a great watch but it is a fundamentally different category than an Apple Watch Ultra even though they're both "watches". It's a bit like saying, " Hey, my calculator has a battery life that lasts years, while my super powerful laptop has a battery life that only lasts 12 hours and has to be updated constantly. Like yeah.
  - GlacierFox 7d ago
    I think he's highlighting the all the bullshit the Apple Watch comes with has ended up meaningless crap after initially buying in to the Apple Watch hype for this guy. A laptop is a fundamentally different category than a calculator in both utility and capability.
    - altmanaltman 7d ago
      I mean if almost everyone buys the product for the "meaningless crap" then you might have a subjective opinion on it and thats okay but its not meaningless for everyone clearly otherwise no one would buy it. And yes, given the actual devices, i would say the casio watch is basically a calculator compared to an apple watch which is like a laptop. The fact that you can wear both on your wrists and they both tell time can make them the same utility catgeory, but in terms of device and engineering, it is absolutely a different category of device. Some might even call it a "smart watch" as opposed to a "diigtal watch" to make the difference in categories clearer
MetaWhirledPeas 7d ago
Well there are options. https://commodore.net/callback/ https://commodore.net/callback/

alooPotato 7d ago

honestly an apple watch + airpods is basically that.

deleted 7d ago
[deleted]
realty_geek 7d ago
Can you just use the 2 without a phone?
- Dardalus 7d ago
  Yes, if you get cellular on the watch.
  - kgwgk 7d ago
    For some values of "use". You cannot do without an iPhone (with a recent enough version of iOS): https://support.apple.com/en-us/109015 https://support.apple.com/en-us/109015

4lx87 7d ago

Have you considered an Apple Watch Ultra? That way you can send/receive messages, calls, do maps and directions, listen to music, etc. but you can't mindlessly scroll media.

zachlatta 7d ago

I just got one of these (https://aiphor.com/products/bluefox-nx1-4-0-android-smartphone https://aiphor.com/products/bluefox-nx1-4-0-android-smartpho...) that I'm hoping to try and make my weekend phone. It's a small Android phone. It runs WhatsApp / Google Maps. I am going to set it up to forward my calls to it on the weekends. It just arrived, so I'm excited to try it out.

mooreds 7d ago
Please let us know how this works. It sounds like it might be a fit for my needs.
amelius 7d ago
Wow, that's exactly the kind of form factor I'm looking for. Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lMelOWpQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lMelOWpQo
Bolwin 7d ago
This and their newer Aura A1 I've wanted to get cause of the compact size, but they seem to lack support for US 5g bands

pjmlp 7d ago

There are plenty Symbian phones around on 2nd hand shops.

xethos 7d ago

12 years, not 15, but there are currently BlackBerry Classic shipping with modern internals. I love mine, though I've flashed LineageOS for Android 16 https://zinwa.com/ https://zinwa.com/

bpev 7d ago

Commodore Callback, maybe?

a34729t 7d ago

Just put your iWatch (with LTE) into a 3D printed case; that gets you most of the way there minus battery life. What I'd love to see is a modern Sidekick. The form factor was basically perfect.

ghshephard 7d ago

I've been rocking out a Casio F-91W (Retails new for $23) for about 3 months now - And all the annoyance I had with with my Apple Watch Ultra (16 hour battery, constant annoyance to upgrade, endless and useless notifications) - is gone. The CR2016 battery last 5+ YEARS , replacements are < $2. Watch has everything I ever cared about - Date, Time, Alarms, Light, Stopwatch, water resistance. And, I don't think I've once missed having the big annoying clunker of a watch.

altmanaltman 7d ago
If that's all you cared for, why would you buy an Apple Watch Ultra in the first place? Like a Casio F-91W is a great watch but it is a fundamentally different category than an Apple Watch Ultra even though they're both "watches". It's a bit like saying, " Hey, my calculator has a battery life that lasts years, while my super powerful laptop has a battery life that only lasts 12 hours and has to be updated constantly. Like yeah.
- GlacierFox 7d ago
  I think he's highlighting the all the bullshit the Apple Watch comes with has ended up meaningless crap after initially buying in to the Apple Watch hype for this guy. A laptop is a fundamentally different category than a calculator in both utility and capability.
  - altmanaltman 7d ago
    I mean if almost everyone buys the product for the "meaningless crap" then you might have a subjective opinion on it and thats okay but its not meaningless for everyone clearly otherwise no one would buy it. And yes, given the actual devices, i would say the casio watch is basically a calculator compared to an apple watch which is like a laptop. The fact that you can wear both on your wrists and they both tell time can make them the same utility catgeory, but in terms of device and engineering, it is absolutely a different category of device. Some might even call it a "smart watch" as opposed to a "diigtal watch" to make the difference in categories clearer

MetaWhirledPeas 7d ago

Well there are options. https://commodore.net/callback/ https://commodore.net/callback/