a month with this korean grandma flipphone
after a year of testing dumbphones (kyf37 & duo win f21 non-pro), i finally settled on this hidden gem, the alt style mive folder 2.
i won't talk about why i use a flip phone or if you should use 'dumbphones' as well, that's for another post. i'll talk about my experience and why i settled with this phone over others :)
huge?
huge. bigger than any phone i've ever owned or seen, i was comically stunned when i unboxed it. it feels almost like a toy with how absurd it can look. regardless, if that's not a con for you (it barley is for me), then we can move on! (to add: in all seriousness, it's not THAT big. yes it's bigger than most phones, but it's not like unreasonable.)
selling points
- works in canada, ontario via LTE w/ rogers
- has touchscreen
- runs modern android
- HEADPHONE JACK
some dumbphone-ers would say this is not a dumbphone for many reasons, and i would partially agree. it's a transition phone, having enough features to work but not enough to feel good.
being able to call & text reliably is necessary for anyone seriously trying to use a dumbphone like this. so make sure the bands are good in your area.
the touchscreen was a selling point for me. yes, that almost defeats the purpose of a dumbphone, but for me it's exactly what i needed. the screen is big enough to use, but small enough to feel.. meh to use. i'm not a huge fan of t9 typing (give me a QWERTY flip phone PLEASE), and that was the reason i didn't use the kyf37 as much. i personally needed a middle ground where the phone wasn't an absolute pain to use for my essentials, while also being not good enough for scrolling / social media / youtube.
modern android lets me download all apps i want (WhatsApp, habit tracker, music apps, etc), so that was a nice bonus. i can usually get by on the basic apps, so wasn't a necessary thing.
HEADPHONE JACK LETS GOOO more phones need this. this + koss porta pro w/ yaxi pads is godsend
the phone itself
starting with the performance, it's pretty good. i think it has 2gb of ram, so just enough to 'do' things.
my setup
- stripped bloat with ADB
- launcher is square home (works t9)
- via browser (very light browser)
- atennapod for podcasts (trash taste <3)
- anki & renshuu for japanese (nearing 100d streak woohoo)
- habitify for habit tracking
- macrofactor for calorie tracking (lets see how long i stick with this)
- alarmy for alarm (might del this for normal alarm?)
- waking up for meditation (can get 6months free via scholarship)
- google maps & whatsapp (essential)
it is quite a bit but it's what i need. you could probably do with 20% of this (maps, messaging and music) and be a true dumbphone-er.
moving on, the camera is alright. works for quick pics, but nothing fancy. can scan QR codes easily too, if you need that.
touchscreen works great, no complaints. though their keyboard doesn't have swipe typing and if you use gboard you lose t9 functionality, so gotta commit to one.
i loooove the front screen, you can't customize it but it adds SO much to the phone. it feels more unique and alive. it shows the music you're listening to, time & date, and pedometer (which works like 80% accuracy, feels like it adds or takes away a step or 2 every update). wish i could put album cover art on it or some pixel art animation, but won't complain.
the general quality is pretty good, it doesn't feel cheap but neither does it feel high quality like an iPhone. the keys are backlit but don't pop out, so it takes a little to get used to it.
lastly, price. it is a bit more expensive than most other dumbphones, but as an end-game phone to end all dumbphones, i love it and can justify it.
lastly lastly, it doesn't come with that charger stand. got it off amazon, it's USB-C so any generic one (that works with the width) will do.
if you read all this, thank you! if you want to eventually see more dumbphone stuff (i plan on doing a video-review of this phone in the near future), japanese language learning, and just my general life, watch out for my name :) i don't think you can subscribe or follow lol
thank you to the korean elderly. i'm 99% sure this is made for you, the target audience, but some 21 year old canadian has snagged it from one of your hands.
