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    10 weeks w/o a smartphone

    For the first ten weeks of 2023, I used a Nokia 6300 4G phone instead of a smartphone. At the end of 2022, the thought came to me to start the new year “fresh” and without any distraction. Add to that the founding of 7YO.ME: This doesn’t leave much time for scrolling and procrastinating on the smartphone. Therefore, I made the decision to start 2023 with only a feature phone .

    The Nokia 6300 4G comes with WhatsApp, Facebook, Google Maps and the Kai App Store

    Technology Facts

    The Why

    I had already used the phone for my “digital detox” in January 2022. The separation from social networks and the feeling of simply being offline is very fulfilling for me.

    Sometimes it’s just not possible for me to completely discipline myself and leave my smartphone behind. Deleting apps, limiting usage times, or other tips don’t help me. Somehow I always find a way to trick myself. Add to that the comparison with others on social networks, the feeling of always having to respond to messages immediately, and the distraction of the mere presence of my smartphone.

    As soon as I set the Nokia phone up, insert a SIM card and turn my smartphone off (this took me like 10 minutes), it feels amazing! Immediately a feeling of satisfaction sets in for me. I briefly check WhatsApp, just to see that no one has contacted me, and put the phone away for the next few hours. What should happen in the meantime? What reason is there for someone to want to reach out to me via WhatsApp as soon as possible? And why doesn’t that person just call?

    There are few good answers to these questions. And yet, today I’m using my smartphone again. But more about that later. First, I’d like to give a glimpse of how I used it in everyday life.

    A feature phone day

    Everyday life with the phone consisted of:

    1. Checking WhatsApp and sending voice messages

    I’m way less using my cell phone than a smartphone. You automatically spend less time chatting. “Okay” becomes a simple “k.” There is no small talk. Emojis, punctuation, and capitalization are also (mostly) ignored. All in all, it makes communication more efficient, but friends complain that I communicated too little — quite rightly. Voice messages are the solution for every problem: Even simple questions, like “What do we want to do tomorrow night?”, are a pain to answer with a T9 keyboard. Short messages are still typed. For slightly longer messages (4 words or more) I always switch to T9 mode.

    1. Short phone calls

    I thought I would automatically make more phone calls with the feature phone. However, the sound quality on the other end of the line is often so poor (background noise, wind, etc.) that this is more of a disadvantage than an advantage.

    1. Play Snake

    Yes, I have played all Snake levels. Yes, I miss Snake a little bit.

    1. Handing people the cell phone over and answering questions

    Nowadays, a cell phone gets a lot of attention. Especially since it has an internet browser (at no extra cost), Google Maps, App Store and WhatsApp. Then it’s always a matter of explaining the reason for using it. I’ve even been called a hipster for using this feature phone.

    Disadvantages and limitations

    If feature phones were a bit more comfortable to handle, many more people would use them. Over and over, I keep hearing that others would gladly swap their smartphone for a slimmed-down version. However, there are a few limitations / missing features that make it really exhausting to use to me personally. Here I give a short overview of the things I noticed:

    All the constraints you'll face with a feature phone

    Going back to the smartphone

    Today I use my smartphone again. At some point the initial trigger — to be offline — passed again. You sometimes want to “just chat”, take videos and pictures in acceptable quality and send them quickly to someone. Being able to discover a new restaurant, listen to music or make phone calls with AirPods are also great features :D. After a long time, you miss all that much more. Texting just becomes unbearable at some point.

    And so, after 10 weeks, I said goodbye to my feature phone and turned my smartphone back on. In the first few days, you really appreciate all the features! Only the battery is (and remains) in my opinion the biggest drawback. “Just go offline” is now no longer as easy as before.

    Will I do it again?

    Yes! At some point, I’ll crave offline time again. And then I’ll trade in my smartphone for my Nokia phone again — at least for a while!