There is a growing set of options outside the Android / iOS duopoly. Commodore is stepping into this space, but they're by no means the only option.
I've been looking into this area for the past month or so and have some hopefully-useful knowledge to share.
For informational resources, I strongly recommend Jose Briones's website https://josebriones.org/>, Substack https://josebriones.substack.com/>, Dumbphone Finder https://www.dumbphones.org/>, YouTube channel https://inv.nadeko.net/channel/UCFtVwG0NFd6gT3TXfMCU7oA>, and /r/dumbphones on Reddit (which he co-moderates). There are others also sharing information in this space, you should be able to discover at least some especially through YT and Reddit.
First question I'd pose is why do you want out of the Apple/Google phone duopoly? Typical answers would be:
- Intentionality / focus. Avoiding digital distraction and social timesucks. I'd include phone/SMS/messaging spam here.
- Privacy / tracking. Avoiding the pervasive adtech of modern smartphones.
- Cost. Not wanting to throw a megabuck at a new flagship device.
- Quality. Of calls, of hardware, of software, of support (next item).
- Support. Both hardware and software. Is there a solid warranty, is the device repairable, will there be OS and app updates, and for how long?
- Modularity. Whether hardware or software, the ability to add/remove from the standard feature set.
- Specific features. Rugged devices, overall size, screen size, battery capacity, removable batteries, removable modules, flip phones, e-ink / monochrome, keyboard (T-9, QWERTY), headphone jack, etc. Neither Google nor Apple offer choice on most of these for current products.
Second would be what other constraints exist on your options? Typical here would be mobile networking standards (4G and VoLTE are table stakes today, 5G may be soon), physical v. e-SIM, and your must-have capabilities (usually given as apps). Messaging (including group texts, WhatsApp, Signal, Teams, and/or Slack), mapping/navigation, music/podcast/entertainment, rideshare, and banking/finance are what I see come up most frequently. Most or all of these have viable workarounds, but that depends on where you care to compromise.
Third is what OS option(s) fit your needs. Full integration with the Google/Apple worlds will require Android or iOS. Android alternatives will match most mainstream functionality, though Google's making this increasingly difficult. That's GrapheneOS, LineageOS, SailfishOS, /e/OS, and iodeOS generally. Android-lite options, typically based on AOSP (Android Open Source Project), notably including KaiOS are yet further restricted, though have some app support (calculators, FM radio, podcasts, minimal Web browser, sometimes mapping, Signal, etc.). Even "focus-oriented" devices typically permit sideloading apps, so ultimately you are your own gatekeeper.
Fourth is to what extent you're willing to extend your "everyday carry" (EDC) with items to backfill smartphone features you've traded off. For example, an e-reader, camera, flashlight, laptop, MP3 player, or ultra-light laptop.
Fifth is your price range. Options start well under $100, and can go well over $1000, though there's quite a choice in the $100--$%600 range (new), lower if you're willing to pick used/refurbished devices.
I'd argue that intentionality is fairly well served by many options.
Privacy is far harder to establish, and many characteristics of the phone ecosystem independent of smartphone features themselves put some pretty hard limits on what you can accomplish. Cell-tower tracking, call history, contacts, and the like will leave a pretty robust footprint regardless of your OS and app choices. Even secure comms systems leave valuable metadata. My own approach is to consider any phone tainted, and to seek instead to minimise the data on, and generated by, the device. This means relying on other tools for other online tasks ... or moving those tasks offline.
The remaining factors (or others you might consider) tend to be reflected to some extent. There are flip phones, Android-alternative smartphones, feature / dumb phones, e-ink devices, modular phones, rugged phones, cheap phones, big and small phones, touchscreen or keyboarded phones. And lots and lots of headphone jacks.
The options which seem to most often make a splash on HN tend to command price premiums: Light Phone, Punkt, and Commodore are all $300--$600 items, rivaling recent full-featured iOS/Android devices. These options have their strengths, particularly in design and possibly support. Fairphone is another option, starting around $750, with hardware modularity baked in. There are reasons prices tend to run high relative to spec for comparable iOS / Android devices, with fixed costs and lack of economies of scale being key, though upmarket-positioning (warranted or not) is also at play. You'll find discussion of this on Reddit and YouTube, e.g., https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=Fj61cc3QFdM> and https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=BurBSG0YSGk>, from Briones and "My Name is Michael" (another informative YouTuber).
That said, there are far less expensive options available, though you'll want to pay attention to your priority list and reviewed quality/experience.
If spam avoidence fits into your intentionality/privacy considerations ... some of the options aren't great. KaiOS, a fairly popular feature-phone OS, lacks specific call-blocking settings, apps, or APIs entirely based on what I've seen. This is ... unfortunate. I'd consider white/grey/black listing to be table stakes in 2026. Most devices offer at best per-number call blocking, which is ridiculous. Ideally I'd have a VoIP call relay which was the only number permitted to directly reach my mobile, with logic on the VoIP system to process incoming calls based on white- / grey- / black list status and other rules (e.g., time of day, availability status).
There's also the option of ditching PSTN (public switched telephone network) largely or entirely, whether through VoIP/SIP systems, alternative messaging platforms, or other options. That's something I'm continuing to explore (and am well behind the curve relative to many).