Want an analog life? Maybe start with a doomscroll-proof phone

A 38℃ fever? A missing household item? A broken friendship? “Kakaselpon mo ’yan.”  

Receiving this remark is peak Filipino experience. But it also feels like a long time ago.

Getting reprimanded by a well-meaning parent or a distant relative just because you’re glued to your screens “too much” implied that operating that way wasn’t the norm. It insinuated that we could easily switch to a life outside of tapping keys or opening apps, and picking up our phones was just like any other hobby we’d do in our free time. It was an active choice, not a reflex action. Now, our phones have become an extension of ourselves. The devices we hold now hold our lives. 

It’s our good morning and good night. We’ve replaced the art of listening to our thoughts with the noise of bite-sized videos we’ll never run out of. Multiple apps have permeated even our screen-free hobbies – like reading books or running – because of our aggressive urge to track minutes and hours. “Doomscroll” is now part of the Merriam-Webster universe. Do you feel proud of surviving lunchtime without the urge to play a 15-minute video as “background noise”? Congratulations.

In her Substack essay, New York-based culture writer Catherine Shannon mused about how our phones can strip away the important facets of our connections – desire and intuition included – due to the endless loop of things suddenly available to us. Thus, we “need to allow ourselves to be restless and bored.”

“Boredom” seems to be the newest essential, as people have declared “an analog lifestyle” their 2026 resolution, especially with the rise of AI slop. Think handwritten journal entries, physical media, hanging out with friends with card games in your arsenal, or gardening (IRL, not through your cozy games or Grow a Garden).

But despite this goal, it may be hard to ditch the phones completely – after all, we use them for our jobs, relationships, entertainment, and in one way or another, self-enrichment. Like any other obsession, going cold turkey may not be the most ideal solution. With this, I wonder: Can the recent resurgence of “dumbphones” gradually do the trick?

Dumbphones, which is also a 2025 Merriam-Webster addition, are basically phones with simpler features. Its core function lies in messaging and calls. No social media, high-quality cameras, or an endless stream of apps. Dopamine hits aren’t a priority, but people seem to have been enjoying swapping recommendations on Reddit. The simplicity and straightforwardness may remind you of a sibling’s old Blackberry, which has been attracting new users as of late. 

In 2023, the dumbphone resurgence may have had its headstart through the flip phone craze, too, and brands followed suit. “I’m team flip phone revolution,” said singer Camilla Cabello on X. 

Over on TikTok, girls are giddily unboxing the HMD Nokia Barbie flip phone launched in 2024, while some tech-savvy folks are trying to figure out if they can live with the Nokia 2780 flip phone, which was released in 2022. This one, however, appears like a hybrid of a dumbphone and a smartphone, because it still lets you surf the internet, albeit at a limited capacity. The Light Phone line, which focuses on only minimalist features (hence the name), unveiled that the latest Light Phone III now has a camera, but its functionality still revolves around intentional use.

Phones that integrate nostalgia are hitting the gadget market, too. Take for example the new generation of Motorola Razr flip phones, or the smartphone version of the original V3 launched in 2004 (an actual “dumbphone”), still fondly remembered. 

Power Mac Center, the premier authorized reseller of Apple products in the Philippines, announced in late 2025 that you can buy the Native Union Pop Phone in their stores. It’s interesting how you can find the latest iPhone – and a colorful accessory mimicking a nostalgic handset phone – in the same place. According to its product description, this is a device “thoughtfully designed for meaningful conversations” you can plug into various existing gadgets.

There’s also Clicks Communicator – which at first glance looks like a Blackberry reincarnation – that’s presented as a “smartphone purpose-built for doing (not doomscrolling).” The twist? It can be a standalone gadget, or you can pair it with a flagship iPhone, Galaxy, or Pixel. The allure of the classic keypad is also seen in the Unihertz Titan 2, which is dubbed the “latest QWERTY physical keyboard smartphone”.

If you’re still exploring other doomscroll-proof methods, some recommend friction (through a square orientation or a grayscale screen) to make doomscrolling less enticing.

While some of these new gadgets aren’t exactly dumbphones, how they bank on nostalgia through design and function may just be indicative of what we truly crave: authentic connections with ourselves and the world around us, which can only happen if we actively refuse to be sucked into our limitless screens longer than we should. And if exploring an experimental gadget – which asks to be put down every once in a while – can slowly push us to touch grass a little more, maybe it’s worthwhile to try.

Over a year ago, I randomly asked my dad if we could find his old Motorola flip phone – his trusty companion while working in South Korea when I was little – lying in the nooks and crannies of the house. Although he knows how much I enjoy digging through old stuff, he still wondered why I bothered. “You can’t do much with that phone,” he reminded me. Well, maybe that’s the fun part. – Rappler.com

Note: This page contains affiliate links. We earn a small commission every time you shop through these links.