Daily Driving a Flip Phone in 2026 (TCL Flip 4)

To start, I want to say that in no way am I a technology skeptic, nor do I care about the nostalgia of flip phones.

My iPhone 13 Pro's battery has been slowly deteriorating since around 6 months ago. The battery life kept shrinking and shrinking. Eventually, my battery wouldn't last a full day being out.

Honestly, I think the iPhone 13 Pro is the last "great" iPhone in the past few years.

These newer features, such as performance upgrades, better camera quality, Dynamic Island, USB-C charging, and the Action Button, have been some improvements. None of which have impressed me enough to consider upgrading.

I actually don't really like the Action Button replacing the silent switch in the newer iPhones.

The iPhone 13 Pro remains relatively on-par with the newer iPhones, with its tri-camera design, 120hz screen, and almost identical footprint.

So it was pretty disappointing when my iPhone screen started to pry from the chassis because of my swollen battery, rendering it unsafe to use and potentially causing it to eventually explode.

Paying the repair cost of a four-year-old phone is not worth it, no matter how beloved it is to me.

Recently, I've been watching a lot of jvscholz (James Scholz) on YouTube. He's a productivity YouTuber with super interesting technology habits.

He talks a lot about digital minimalism and sort of digitally delegating different setups, devices, and applications to different tasks.

For example, he reads on dedicated e-readers, he uses dumbphones for communication, uses specific applications to help him focus better, and he sets up operating systems tailored to what he'll be using them for.

Scholz also attempts to cut out unnecessary technologies that are distracting and unneeded.

Let's hone in on dumbphones for a minute.

I've been looking into dumbphones for a few years.

During high school, I limited my screen time on my iPhone 13 Pro. Even then, I understood that spending hours a day on your phone is wasting years of your life.

I already sit at my desk on devices for hours a day, sometimes, screwing around with pieces of hardware and software. I do not need to spend my entire life behind a screen.

With this being said, I think that the idea of using a dumbphone is cool. I mean, you only need a phone to text, call, and maybe a few utilitarian features like a map and calculator.

This is exactly what a phone should be. A utility.

It is supposed to be a useful addition to your life. It's supposed to serve you, not you serve it.

Now, I decided this would be the best time to at least try it out. So that's what I'm doing. I picked up the TCL Flip 4 refurbished for 50 bucks (which I probably overpaid for), but so far it's been working swell.

I've had it for around 2 weeks now, and I don't really have a problem with it. Sometimes it's a bit inconvenient, but that's what happens when you buy a dumb product on purpose.

Ironically, it's everyone else who seems to care more than I do about having an inferior device. I mean, "care" is maybe too strong a word, but it surprises me that most people don't put much thought into their technology use.

So the first question that almost everyone has asked me when they look at my phone is: "But, why?"

For me, the answer is pretty self-explanatory and almost not worth explaining: "Because it's less distracting." A few times already, people have just looked at me weirdly, like I'm some sort of anti-technology conspirator.

It's just crazy to think about how normal it is nowadays to have a supercomputer in your pocket, that people just can't imagine someone giving it up in an attempt to better their lives.

Anyways, I'm not sure how long I'll actually be using it, but I want to let myself get comfortable with not needing to have a smart device everywhere I go.