In 2024, top news agencies and media reported a new trend among young people – the old mobile phones, the “retro” flip phones are making a comeback. The old-school Nokia brick-like handsets are now also known as feature phones.
Most recently, Reuters reported that sales data shows the trend of buying dumb phones is gaining ground. 450,000 of these devices were sold in the UK in 2024, and sales in western Europe are up 4% on 2023 for a total of 215 million units.
As per Euronews, Gen Zs and millennials are turning back to “dumb phones” and rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world with flip devices. The basic mobile devices are making a comeback among the younger generations, as teenagers seek to regain independence from technology.
CNBC also reports that dumb phones are on the rise in the U.S. as Gen Z looks to limit screen time. In the United States, sales of phones with just basic call and text capabilities were up in 2022 for HMD Global – the maker of Nokia – with tens of thousands sold each month. “We see that the market for flip phones is up 5 per cent,” said Lars Silberbauer, chief marketing officer of Nokia Phones and HMD Global.
In accordance with The Guardian it’s almost enough to make you stop doomscrolling: dull devices are now cool. The Boring Phone is a new, featureless flip phone that is feeding the growing appetites of younger people who want to bin their smartphones in favor of a dumbphone.
Moreover, The Guardian believes that the Boring Phone is part of a new dumbphone boom, built on the suspicion of gen Z towards the data- and attention-harvesting technologies they have grown up with. That suspicion has fueled reinventions of retro cultural artifacts – a trend known as Newtro – and seen in the revival of vinyl records, cassettes, fanzines, 8-bit video games and old-fashioned mobile phones.
What Might Be the Reason Behind this Trend?
According to The Independent, referring to a 2023 research from DataReportal, the average screen time for users around the world aged 16 to 64 is six hours 37 minutes a day, three hours and 46 minutes of which is accounted for by smartphone use.
Of note, Reuters is citing a report by researchers from the London School of Economics indicating that one in seven countries has recently introduced policies to limit or prevent pupil access to smartphones at school, with many more considering similar action. Moreover, Australia’s government recently passed a law stipulating that social media users must be over 16 years of age. In October, 33 U.S. states filed a lawsuit against Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta accusing it of fueling a mental health crisis in young people.
As per Euronews, the flip phones provide a simpler and less addictive user experience than their smartphone counterparts. The devices prioritize essential telephone functions, such as making calls and sending texts. “I think the trend is really [about] people taking control of their own lives, of their own digital lives,” added Lars Silberbauer, the chief marketing officer of Nokia Phones and HMD Global.
Also, “I think you can see it with certain Gen Z populations — they’re tired of the screens,” said Jose Briones, dumb phone influencer and moderator of the subreddit, “r/dumbphones”, as reported by CNBC. “They don’t know what is going on with mental health and they’re trying to make cutbacks.”
Brain Rot
Brain rot, sometimes written as one word, “brainrot,” is a state of mental fogginess and cognitive decline that results from excessive screen engagement. Is brainrot real? It’s not a medically recognized condition, but it is a real phenomenon.
Brain rot is caused by excessive technology use. That might mean binge-watching videos on YouTube, scrolling social media, or switching back and forth among various browser tabs. On top of that, you might be simultaneously surfing the Internet, texting, and checking your email.
“Brain rot” has been announced as the Oxford word of the year for 2024, defined as the deterioration of your mental capacity owing to “overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging” especially through endless scrolling online.
Smartphones, Social Media, and Their Impact on Mental Health
In the Journal of Mental Health & Clinical Psychology, Danielle M. Viola provides an elegant review of all major negative effects of the increased cell phone and social media use on human connection, mental and physical health.
For example, exclusion in social media and cyberbullying have interfered in one’s vital need for connection and acceptance, which has led to anxiety, loneliness, depression, and sometimes suicide. In addition, cell phone distraction between parent and child, has resulted in teaching and learning deficits, interference in social development, influencing behavior, and disturbing bond formation between the parent and child.
As specified by an Editorial by Greg Hartwell et al., published in the British Medical Journal, population based data suggest a dose-response relationship between social media use and depressive symptoms in teenagers, especially girls. Systematic reviews report links to other harmful behaviors, and heavy adolescent smartphone use has been associated with sleep deprivation and poorer socioemotional functioning.
Importantly, according to the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, the social media platforms, while enabling us to connect with others and share experiences, can also contribute to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. The tendency to compare oneself with others and the desire for validation through likes and comments can lead to a distorted self-image and feelings of worthlessness.
Moreover, as mentioned above, studies have shown a correlation between heavy social media use and depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. The platforms are designed to be addictive, using algorithms that feed users content based on their preferences and interactions, keeping them engaged for longer periods.
The business model of social media platforms, which involves collecting and selling user data for targeted advertising, further exacerbates these issues. The constant barrage of personalized ads can lead to overconsumption and financial stress, and the invasion of privacy can contribute to feelings of paranoia and mistrust.
Conclusion
According to a BBC report, seventeen-year-old Robin West is an anomaly among her peers – she doesn’t have a smartphone. Instead of scrolling through apps like TikTok and Instagram all day, she uses a so-called “dumbphone”.
Her current handset cost her just £8. And because it has no smartphone functionality she doesn’t have an expensive monthly data bill to worry about. “I didn’t notice until I bought a brick phone how much a smartphone was taking over my life,” she says.
The Londoner adds that she doesn’t think she’ll ever buy another smartphone. “I’m happy with my brick – I don’t think it limits me. I’m definitely more proactive.”
It might be worth mentioning Alexandra Dieckmann’s suggestions from the C.S. Lewis Institute — “Let’s put our phones down, and instead of being LinkedIn to social media or having our Facebook in front of our faces and on our mind, let’s laugh more, run barefoot through the rain, read those books we’ve been meaning to read, go apple picking, learn to roller skate and do all the things that make life as a child of Christ so magical.”
In accordance with the BBC report mentioned above, five years ago, Przemek Olejniczak, a psychologist, swapped his smartphone for a Nokia 3310, initially because of the longer-lasting battery. He soon realized that there were other benefits.
“Now I have more time for my family and me. A huge benefit is that I’m not addicted to liking, sharing, commenting, or describing my life to other people. Now I have more privacy” he says.
Again as per the BBC report, one maker of dumbphones is New York company Light Phone. Slightly more innovative than the norm for such products, its handsets do allow users to listen to music and podcasts, and link by Bluetooth to headphones. Light Phone co-founder, Kaiwei Tang, says the device was initially created to use as a secondary phone for people wanting to take a break from their smartphone for a weekend for example, but now half the firm’s customers use it as their primary device.
An Update
As reported in The Independent article from Monday, 28 April 2025, the actress Sophie Winkleman believes smartphones are “impossible” to make safe for children and should be banned from schools.
“I think the impact of smartphones on children’s mental and physical health is so immense and so multi-stranded that it’s actually impossible to make them safe,” she said. They’re designed by geniuses to be unputdownable, she told an event hosted by the Policy Exchange think tank in Westminster.
And, she added: “The physical consequences of this vice like addiction range from eyesight damage, spinal damage, sleep disturbance, hormone disruption, obesity and manifold neurological impairments, which include the decimation of the attention span, giving rise to various ADHD like symptoms.
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