11–20 of 140 posts
The experiment was DOA, since there was no way of transferring my contacts from the iPhone to the Nokia. Furthermore, Sweden runs on BankID (an electronic id service) and it wasn’t available for the Nokia.
What did work on the other hand, was buying an Apple Watch with cellular. Now my phone is often in my bag/car/house and I’m still reachable via the Apple Watch, but have no way of doom scrolling.
I switched from an iPhone to Nokia 515 two years ago and vowed never to go back. If I wrote a blog post like this it would probably just be, "Living smartphone-free in the 2020's is like having a superpower, it's utter joy and freedom and and everyone still with a smartphone is a total sucker." Then a couple of weeks ago I felt the social pressure and lack of a good camera so I bought an iPhone 12 mini. It was awful.…
Does your phone still actually work? You must not be in the US... that is a 3G phone and the 3G networks here are either shut off or in the process of being shut off. https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_515-5663.php
In fact, much of the review centers around "smart" features -- things you'd probably need an Internet connection for -- rather than phone features.
For reference, here's a video that shows how KaiOS works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFMu6a7jL54 . I'd say that's pretty smart for a phone! Low resolution non-touch screen, sure. But it has modern website support in case you need it + plenty of communication and SNS apps...
If anything, I'd guess most people are more comfortable ditching the "phone" part of a smartphone (no calls or SMS support) so long as it has Internet. Limiting yourself to no more than WAP-level Internet support (no CSS or JS support at all)? That's the true dumb phone experience.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, this thing supports all popular apps, has Google Assistant, email, cloud sync.. I'd personally define "dumb phone" as one that doesn't use the internet at all, period.
I agree. I guess if you have all those apps, but can't install any further apps, it's a "feature phone".
I switched from an iPhone to Nokia 515 two years ago and vowed never to go back. If I wrote a blog post like this it would probably just be, "Living smartphone-free in the 2020's is like having a superpower, it's utter joy and freedom and and everyone still with a smartphone is a total sucker." Then a couple of weeks ago I felt the social pressure and lack of a good camera so I bought an iPhone 12 mini. It was awful.…
I switched from an iPhone to Nokia 515 two years ago and vowed never to go back. If I wrote a blog post like this it would probably just be, "Living smartphone-free in the 2020's is like having a superpower, it's utter joy and freedom and and everyone still with a smartphone is a total sucker." Then a couple of weeks ago I felt the social pressure and lack of a good camera so I bought an iPhone 12 mini. It was awful.…
Out of curiosity, what was awful about the recent iPhone experience?
For the gadget tweakers, this device can be "hacked" a little and have alternative apps loaded (and bloatware removed) so that is a plus. Its sister device, the Nokia 800 Tough, is also tweakable and can be set up so the batter lasts 4 to 5 days (getting rid of all bloatware and making it an SMS/Telephone will do that to most phones though).
I too tried to ditch my smartphone, buying one of the re-released Nokias. The experiment was DOA, since there was no way of transferring my contacts from the iPhone to the Nokia. Furthermore, Sweden runs on BankID (an electronic id service) and it wasn’t available for the Nokia. What did work on the other hand, was buying an Apple Watch with cellular. Now my phone is often in my bag/car/house and I’m still reachable…
When I first got BankID it was not tied to my phone and it was a lot of hassle to figure out how to make that the case with Handelsbanken (my bank at the time).
Much easier with Nordea, nordea having greater English support (though not amazing) and a much better web interface (bordering amazing when compared with Handelsbanken).
I switched from an iPhone to Nokia 515 two years ago and vowed never to go back. If I wrote a blog post like this it would probably just be, "Living smartphone-free in the 2020's is like having a superpower, it's utter joy and freedom and and everyone still with a smartphone is a total sucker." Then a couple of weeks ago I felt the social pressure and lack of a good camera so I bought an iPhone 12 mini. It was awful.…
How do you deal with getting around (public transit timing, driving directions/traffic, uber/lyft) without a smartphone?
Buses and trains have their times at the stops/stations, or for less trafficked routes I just check on my computer and remember when I need to go.
Uber/Lyft are vile and I don't use them.