Looking for the best dumbphone? We’ll help you find a great non-smart cellphone that fits your needs and budget. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, traditional mobile phones have faded, but now there’s value in choosing the right phone for specific jobs.
Smartphones excel at multitasking and media consumption but come at a high cost, have shorter battery lives, and can be fragile. They might also inflate costs if you cover employee bills. In contrast, “dumb phones” are affordable, handle basic communications, often include cameras and music players, and can last a week on a charge.
For many, a dumbphone can serve as a secondary device alongside a smartphone, useful for certain occasions. However, if you travel, ensure the phone supports 4G, as 2G and 3G networks are being phased out in many regions.
In the UK, 2G still sees use, especially for smart home devices, but with a planned shutdown by 2033, it’s important to stay updated. Below are some recommended devices, along with a few smartphones to consider before making a final decision on going dumb.
With over 20 years of expertise as a tech journalist, Adam brings a wealth of knowledge across a vast number of product categories, including timelapse cameras, home security cameras, NVR cameras, photography books, webcams, 3D printers and 3D scanners, borescopes, radar detectors… and, above all, drones.
Best dumbphone in the UK
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Best overall
Nokia may just be a brand name nowadays, but it is still one associated with quality. So if you’re just looking for a simple handset that can take calls, read (but not compose too many) texts, and even browse YouTube and Facebook, then this elegant and relatively up-to-date flip phone is a good choice. (That’s watch YouTube – the camera only takes stills).
The main color screen is safely closed inside the flip shell when the phone’s out of use, but a good quality white on black 240x240 pixel display on the outside lets you know who is calling or just check the time and date.
One lovely nod to feature sets from phones twenty years its senior is the inclusion of an FM radio, a more battery efficient way of getting music, news & entertainment than the average smartphone will offer you.
Best premium dumbphone
Got money to spend? The Punkt MP02 transforms the dumbphone into a design statement. Crafted by renowned industrial designer Jasper Morrison, this Swiss-made device proves that choosing simplicity doesn't mean sacrificing style.
Our reviewer found that its unusual trapezoidal form felt purposeful in hand, while the glass-fiber reinforced housing did a good job in resisting fingerprints and provided excellent grip. While the monochrome display is tiny, it's perfectly suited to the phone's minimal interface. But what really sets the MP02 apart is Pigeon—its implementation of Signal Private Messenger—bringing secure, encrypted communications to the dumbphone category.
At $379, this isn't an impulse purchase. You're paying premium prices for premium materials, thoughtful design, and the cache of owning something genuinely beautiful. For professionals and digital minimalists who want their values reflected in their devices, the MP02 offers a compelling take on the dumbphone. For more details, see our Punkt MP02 review.
Best budget
While some manufacturers have attempted to keep old products alive by looking for niche markets, Doro are committed to helping people use their technology to stay independent and have targeted the over 65s.
That is reflected in this modestly priced simple handset which might be all many need. They also offer some 4G flip phones, worth looking up, but this is about as simplistic as the Swedish brand gets and it’s pleasing to see that the camera still rates a bit higher than other cheap handsets.
Best for just calls and texts
Here's another good choice if you want to avoid the distractions of a modern smartphone, while still enjoying a few smart features. This simple handset can take and receive calls; read (but not compose too many) texts, and even browse YouTube and Facebook. That’s watch YouTube, by the way: the camera only takes stills).
If avoiding distraction is your priority, though, it’s worth bearing in mind that the color screen is good enough for some of Nokia’s famously playable games to work. So if you're a keen mobile gamer, you’ll still need to exercise some self control.
One lovely nod to feature sets from phones twenty years its senior is the inclusion of an FM radio, a more battery efficient way of getting music, news & entertainment than the average smartphone will offer you, though you can also add 32GBs of MP3s via the MicroSD card slot.
See our full Nokia 225 4G (2024) review
Best for oldies
The CS182 calls itself a ‘Senior Phone,’ and it has two signature features designed to help the elderly. The first is nice big buttons which you can see take up nearly the whole front of the handset, so no fumbling here, and the second is a dedicated SOS button.
The button can be programmed with up to five numbers and, when held down for 1.5 seconds, will message all of the numbers in that list. For less troubling times, a decent battery and a loud speaker are features that serve the indented customer well too, and a charging dock is a nice feature though perhaps could have a slightly more funnelled top.
As a 2G dual-SIM phone, you’ll be able to connect to two networks, so long as they’re not exclusively 3G and above.
Best for remote locations
One kind of phone which ought to appear in this list is one of the best satellite phones. Because of the limited bandwidth, this technology hasn’t embraced data transfer with the same enthusiasm as cellular.
Physics, however, does give satellites one huge advantage: the infrastructure is just a few satellites able to see most of the earth’s surface. Together and you have the recipe for a dumb-phone like tech best suited to keeping in contact from remote locations, which is just what the IsatPhone 2 does.
The phone is built for adventure with IP65 compliance, a reflective screen with Gorilla glass, a dedicated location sharing button (texting your location as a GPS text to an interested follower), and an SOS button.
The giant antenna stops it looking like an average dumb-phone, but put up nearly anywhere in the world and thanks to a network of geostationary satellites you will be able to make a call without fear of the satellite moving out of position.
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