this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2023
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I rocked a Samsung Alias 2 for 4 years before I got an iPhone 5. The e-ink keyboard was awesome how it changed when you flipped the screen open to portrait or landscape.

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[–] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 80 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Bring back sliders with full keyboards

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Being back T9. I could text with it in my pocket.

[–] andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What duh the ib huwdb I j texted from my pitcher just fine.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you didn't text with a rotary phone you were a fucking noob: There, I said it.

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[–] turbowafflz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I really want one, I hate virtual keyboards so much. There's the f(x)tec phones but their keyboards come out in landscape mode and I'd really rather have one where it's portrait like the Palm Pre

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[–] VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I never saw one where the keys were big enough that I didn't mash everything around the target key with the size of my fingers, and I really don't have big hands or anything.

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[–] rustyriffs@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago (5 children)
[–] Lifecoach5000@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I paid $400 for one of these brand new and it was ludicrous at the time. I thought it was super cool though.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

So did I, and it was. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

[–] Slogan@fedia.io 5 points 1 year ago

As a huge Formula 1 and Ferrari fan I had a Razr Maxx V6 Ferrari edition.

[–] dasusernem@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

I still have my champagne Razr around here somewhere. It works, even looks pretty new.

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[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] late_night@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This was mine, which I used from 2001 until 2011. I loved that phone

1000002329

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I adored that phone!! I still miss the interchangeable covers instead of adding a stupid case to the phone. I had a few cases I could swap depending on my outfit or the occasion. I wish new phones would adopt a similar idea instead of having to add an extra cover on top of the phone. I don’t need it to look good under the cover. Just make the outside looks nice.

[–] Linnce@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

I always thought this was such a cute phone

[–] Muninn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 year ago

I always liked the color.

[–] crackajack@reddthat.com 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would not call these on the picture "dumb phones" though.

I had a Motorola phone. I actually liked it because it had a really good camera. The native photo editor was also top notch at the time.

[–] Socsa@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 year ago

They were called "feature phones" at the time.

[–] vinnymac@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
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[–] malockin@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

A Nokia 3100 ... it was the first phone I bought, and I kept it through college and beyond.

The thing was a beast :-)

128x128 pixel screen, with 12-bit RGB. No WiFi, no Bluetooth. Had some web access with WAP (no not that! "Wireless Access Protocol"). It did have a camera module though /rofl

And best of all, the battery lasted a week!

[–] netburnr@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

LG Env, I actually miss it.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago

I had the env2. Hands down, my favorite phone to date.

[–] droidpenguin@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Oh ya I remember wanting that one a lot! I think it was too expensive for me at the time, so ended up with the alias 2 but I envied anyone who had one of those.

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[–] LucidDaemon@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wish phones would go back to being unique. I want a slider with a physical keyboard (like the HTC EVO Shift). My Pixel 6 Pros battery is showing wear already but there's nothing on the market I feel is worth switching to.

[–] droidpenguin@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just wish modern devices still had easily removable back covers without needing pry tools and hair dryers.

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[–] Filthmontane@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

I had this sick LG car phone and it made vroom vroom sounds. Used it for a decade and I still have it and it still works.

[–] tacosplease@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Does BlackBerry count as a dumb phone? I have a hard time calling it a smart phone.

[–] Lon3star@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

LG enV... Clamshell phone with a full keyboard when opened... God, that phone was awesome

The enV3 was either my last or one of them. Yeah, it was pretty great.

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[–] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

SonyEricsson w810i. It was a great phone and an upgrade from my earlier SonyEricsson T610. The w810i is in my bedroom drawer.

I got the first Android smart phone after those (G1/Dream) which I still have in my kitchen drawer.

Happy memories texting my mates in uni. God so much has changed in 20yrs. 😱

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[–] MadBob@feddit.nl 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

This isn't my hand but I had this lovely bastard:

I used to be able to chuck it down the stairs and everything.

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[–] weew@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A Samsung slider. I remember watching the Matrix the first time, and when that phone popped open to reveal the keypad it was mind-blowing. Getting a slider phone a few years later was so satisfying.

[–] Geek_King@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I think it was my Motorola Razr, then I got a Black Berry Bold, or some such. So yeah, the Razr.

[–] EldVrangr@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I miss my Alias 2, best phone I've ever owned.

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[–] FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A Moto Razr I think, my first smartphone was a Palm Centro.

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[–] punkwalrus@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Depends on "how dumb?" I had a Motorola RZR before my first iPhone(2), then before that, some camera flip phone (Motorola E815), and before that, an SCH-3500 flip phone. Before that, land lines only.

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/samsung-sch-a950-verizon-wireless-review/

This beast. Yeah, it has an mp3 player in it so I could put all my tunes from Kazaa on there.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The last phone I had before I got an Android phone was an LG EnV2. I still have the thing, it still turns on though no networks support it and the battery is toast. Sometimes I just hold it in my hand for a few minutes because it's just such a nicer thing to interact with than my S10e.

I don't really count it as a "dumb phone" though. I had some Samsung slider before that that really was a "Camera phone." Effectively no web browser, no app ecosystem at all, you could barely get the pictures it took out of it. The EnV2 was USB, there were games and things you could get for it, it had some email and web capability.

Then I got my LG Ally phone running some android version from before they started naming them after sweets, and it's all been downhill from there.

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[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, or who made it. It was a phone with a full keyboard, and instead of sliding the keyboard out it opened like a little laptop. When it was closed, it was a shiny silver blank rectangle with a display that would shine through when a call was made or when someone called me.

There were so many cool unique phones before Basic Rectangle With Button took over.

[–] ExfilBravo@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I miss slide out keyboards. Touch typing is trash bro.

[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Just had look at it, a Sony IT-B3 wall-hung. Never needed charging. So dumb it could only memorize phone numbers. Used it once or twice a week.

Finally got a free Android when digital got under $20/mo.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A Nokia Ngage , it was a Gameboy phone combo

Last time in my life that I was cool.

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[–] DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago

An Apple iPhone! Hahaha, I kid. . . . . I use Arch, btw.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 5 points 1 year ago

Sony Ericsson W580i

[–] hackitfast@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The Samsung SCH-U740

It was a good one! It literally flipped 2 ways.

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[–] Kerb@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago

my only "dumb phone" was a nokia 5300.

i used it for years, until i got dads old iphone 3 after he switched to a samsung phone.

i think that was a few months before jobs died, and the iphone 4s was released.

[–] Sabakodgo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Nokia N93
My first smartphone was HTC HD2 which I replaced around 2016 for Pixel, which I still use.

[–] u_tamtam@programming.dev 6 points 1 year ago

Does that qualify as a dumb phone though? Symbian could do a lot more, and better, in the area of productivity tools, multitasking, customization and apps management than android/iOS did, and for a very long time. The form factor wasn't putting as much emphasis on the screen real estate but that doesn't make it less smart.

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