7 best dumbphones for a social media detox

The Nokia 3210 is the OG of brick phones and offers a real sense of Y2K nostalgia. Relaunched in 2024, this classic still stands up. It’s good-looking and easy to use for kids and adults alike. It’s simple to set up: just unclip the back and add the removable battery, then charge with the included USB-C cable.

It has an easy-to-navigate menu and making calls is as simple as scrolling through your contacts and hitting call. While it doesn’t support messaging apps such as WhatsApp, you can send standard texts, although the multiple click letter selection took some getting used to for our tween and teen testers. In fairness, the same was true for most of the phones in our round-up.

You can’t connect to wifi on the 3210, however, you are able to access the internet using your own data. To be honest, this is such a faff and so hard to find your way around that our testers didn’t even bother, especially as the tiny 2.4in screen makes viewing web pages an annoying experience.

Unlike some other dumbphones, the 3210 comes with a built-in 2MP rear camera. While this felt like the height of sophistication in the early 2000s, the camera quality here is lacking compared to 2020s smartphones. Our testers still loved that they had their own camera to mess around with, although they were a bit disappointed they couldn’t take selfies, as there’s no front camera.

However, the choice of games was still a hit. Snake was especially popular and proved just as addictive as it was 25 years ago. There are extra features, too. You’ll find a built-in torch, calculator, and FM radio player, and it has an impressive battery life (up to about 10 hours of calls if your data allowance can stretch). Overall, it does everything you need a dumbphone to do, all at a reasonable price.

If you want to start with the very basics, this Maxcom dumbphone is a great choice at less than £17. It’s as simple as they come, allowing you to call, text, and not a lot else. There is FM radio, a torch and a calculator, but no internet access at all.

The buttons are a good size, and our testers found it easy to find their way around the phone. While it may not pass muster with image-conscious teens, it’s ideal as a very first mobile for tweens who are still won over by the novelty of having their own phone. It’s a perfect choice for adults looking for a completely-stripped-back phone, though the lack of a camera, navigation apps and messaging services is very limiting.

It’s small, lightweight and feels pretty durable for such a cheap device. We think this a great choice for kids going away on their first residential or sleepovers with friends, who simply need a way to contact you when they need to.

Unused to the wonders of flip phones, this phone proved an instant hit with our younger testers. The flip design alone made it a popular choice for all ages but there were plenty of other features that made it a favourite. The large buttons are very easy to navigate, making this phone easy to use for even the youngest tester. A small but helpful feature is that the buttons are incredibly quiet, making this phone much less annoying than some of the noisier devices we tested.

Much like the Nokia 3210, the 2660 flip can’t connect to wifi, relying instead on data use. Similarly, it can connect to the internet but the small screen, fiddly controls and slow loading instantly put off our testers from using this function.

There’s a choice of ringtones – a mix of retro and jazzy – which our testers loved. The fact the phone has a camera also got the thumbs up but, like the 3210’s, it’s very poor quality. You’re going to need very good light to take a decent photo.

Like the 3210, the 2660 flip comes with snake and FM radio. At its heart, it’s a simple dumbphone with the added bonus of a classic flip design.

This phone is unlike anything else we’ve tested. While the device itself is a Samsung smartphone, it’s configured to block all addictive apps and websites. Social media, streaming services, games, gambling apps and websites will not show up on the Balance Phone. The brand claims that this will “help your child learn healthy digital habits from day one”.

Unboxing feels like you’re opening up a premium smartphone, with a charger and SIM PIN included in the sleek white box. Once you turn on the phone and go through the relevant Samsung onboarding, the Balance OS onboarding automatically launches. All you need to do is agree to the blocking of addictive content, and it’s all in place. Heads up: this is irreversible, so, there’s no way your kids can get around this once it’s in place.

The phone can access wifi but the only browser you can run is Ecosia – a sustainable browser that claims to reinvest in reforestation. You are also able to add any essential apps (from the Google Play Store) that are not blocked through the Balance Phone OS. So, while Instagram won’t work, you can add helpful apps like maps, Spotify, and weather.

Our testers loved the look and feel of this phone – it’s stylish, contemporary and feels very ‘grown up’, which obviously is a big plus when you’re at secondary school. It’s good for adults, too - the UI is designed to be boring, a black drop-down menu offering the different features without attention-grabbing colourful app icons.

Best of all, the camera is far better than any of the others in our round-up, but don’t expect smartphone levels of crispness.

Just bear in mind that there could still be some distractions with this phone. While you can’t access social media, you can still access messenger apps like WhatsApp. On top of that, you can still browse, so you might find yourself going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole rather than getting lost in Instagram Reels.

However, the biggest downside is that this is easily the most expensive dumbphone we tried. It feels a little galling to spend hundreds of pounds on a smartphone with half the functionality. However, if you’re trying to reach a compromise with your teen about smartphones, this could be worth every penny.

Offering all the benefits of a dumbphone with the usability and design of a smartphone, this phone offers the best of both. Designed with a modern look that will appeal to image-conscious teens, this clever French import offers a sleek smartphone with no internet access.

You get the phone, a choice of two phone cases (clear and matte black), headphones, a charger and a screen protector. This is a much better value option than many of the other phones in this list, which usually just come with a charger. Though it can be delivered to the UK, the instructions were all in French. However, with some basic knowledge of the language, the illustrations and a helping hand from Google Translate, the phone was easy enough to set up.

The beauty of this phone is in its simplicity. It has four features, arranged on a simple touchscreen. You can call, message, access contacts, or access settings. That’s it – no internet, no social media, no camera, no games.

The lack of a camera and games may not appeal to younger users but it’s the perfect choice for adults looking to reduce their screen time. The keyboard is easy to use, too – it uses a QWERTY keyboard, unlike the clumsy button navigation of most of the other phones we tried. We absolutely love it: it’s just a shame it’s only available to order from France.

Calling all Barbie fans: this one’s for you. We love this OTT Barbie-themed flip phone by Nokia. Turn on the phone and you’re greeted with a friendly “Hi Barbie!” before you can access the very pink, very Barbie menu.

Like the other HMD Nokia phones, there’s no wifi access, and accessing the internet using your data is slow and clunky. However, there’s so much more to explore on this phone that our testers weren’t bothered in the slightest by the lack of online access. As well as the camera (again, not the highest quality, but good enough), there’s FM radio (with surprisingly good sound quality), and all the usual call and text features. There’s even a basic calendar function.

“Meditate with Barbie” is a cute feature that enables you to set a timer for a meditation session, rounded off with a gentle gong sound. Meanwhile, the digital balance tips suggest ways of working screen-free time into your life. As with all the Nokia dumbphones we tried, it has Snake - Malibu beach-themed, of course.

Everything from the mirrored front screen to the accessories included – we’re talking beaded phone chain, choice of three covers, gems and stickers for customisation – won over our testers. The feature adults loved most of all was the SOS button on the side of the phone, which your child can press to call a trusted contact immediately.

However, it almost goes without saying that this may not be the best choice for over-stimulated adults. The camera, meditation and games are all nice distractions, but “distraction” defeats the point of a dumbphone.

The unique square design of this flip phone seemed to appeal to our younger testers, who declared the mini gold device ‘very cool’. It’s a simple dumbphone with no wifi access. While you can access the internet via mobile data, like the Nokias above, the screen on this phone is so small and the speed so slow that few will attempt to go online.

It handles basic calls and texts. As well as the basics, the phone has a torch, the Snake game, a calculator, an alarm and an FM radio. It also has a built-in camera, which, although very poor quality, appealed to our younger testers.

Despite its affordable price tag, the flip phone felt quite durable, and the battery life is seriously impressive.

However, the buttons on this phone are particularly loud, which was more annoying for parents than it was for young testers.