Overview

After a few years off of social media (sans Discord and Tumblr), my phone became useless from a leisure standpoint. It was time to find a device that closer fit my new pace. Having a $500 device full of personal data in my pocket seemed ridiculous when I barely even use what it was expensive for--browsing videos, playing games, social media, etc. So I needed to devalue my phone, and burn off the rest of my vestigial internet-usage habits. Enter: Cat Flip S22

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The CAT Flip S22 is a $70 CAD flip phone by , running an old version of Android. It supports apps (poorly), has a touch screen, and charges with USB-C. Google Maps and Uber will work for basic needs, but not without challenge. Though, I can get by with its unreliability, living in a safe city with good transit. The phone supports communication apps well (Discord, Whatsapp), probably because they're less bloated.

I used this phone for three-months, an exception being a 2 week period where I used my iPhone during a work travel trip. This helped me validate some assumptions. Some things to note: I work remotely but don’t need mobile Slack access, and don’t listen to music/podcasts when I’m out.

I would not recommend this phone for anyone who needs to operate with urgency and security, or needs to hold digital documents. It's an extremely slow phone. If you need to frequently text/email, access documents or emails, use apps or need to Google a lot, this phone will be very difficult. To be clear, this is not a minimalist or a dumb phone, but an extremely low-quality smart phone.

II would recommend this phone as a cheap ($70!) complementary phone, for those who use thier phone less than the average person. I use the CAT phone as my main phone but its limitations force me to keep my smart phone at home for authenticators, money management, and travel.

CAT supports apps, but apps don’t support CAT

Unlike a lot of old-school flip phones, this screen is touch screen compatible -- it HAS to be, because most apps don't support navigation in any other way. So, the screen gets more action than the nice analog buttons. That said, it's not much use when the screen resolution is smaller than most apps support.

Uber and Google Maps' incompatibility is so apparent that anyone without patience would consider these apps flat-out unusable. UX is horrible with constant pop-up modals and cramped screens. If you need to navigate apps with any semblance of urgency, it will not be good enough. Google Maps doesn’t have enough screenspace to move around, and Uber is so bloated it almost always crashes when a ride is found (and sometimes, you can’t even get to that point if you haven’t restarted your phone in a while). The worst part is Uber Lite would resolve all my complaints, but it's not available in North America.

The phone is hard to use, so you don't use it

Discord takes several seconds to boot up, enough friction to catch myself habitually checking messages and training myself out of the autopilot. When I was back on my iPhone, I'm always catching myself launching Discord unintentionally. I don’t even know what I’m checking for.

With a smart phone, it follows me around even when I'm at home. But CAT phone's unweildiness has kept itself out of my pocket. Its ringing is LOUD, so keeping the phone by my bedside as an alarm isn't a problem when texts and calls can ring through the home. Since browsing and scrolling is so unfriendly, its completely removed my phone habits in bed. I'm leaving bed when I wake up in the morning, and sleeping easier at night.

I also use Uber less, which meant I used transit more. In the transition to work from home, my aversion to public transit was at an all-time high (and in consequence, so were my Uber bills). Uber becomes inconvenient to navigate and because of that, it’s generally more reliable to just take public transit.

Infinite battery

I can't understate the huge relief having a battery that lasts several days. This is probably my biggest pro. Back on an iPhone, if you didn't charge your phone overnight, you'd screwed the next morning even on minimal use. The CAT phone's 15% lasted me a 10 hour day out, and not using the phone to peruse needlessly helped.

Having a non-precious is great

This phone costs $70 CAD, carries none of my authenticators, no financial info, and has no screen to crack. Not having to worry about damaging or losing my phone has been a relief. Especially when my first day back on my iPhone, I'd already lost it (returned quickly!) My CAT phone is so negligble that I used it to hammer a pole into the ground to set up a badminton net.

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Reflections

This phone forces you to slow down, but slow is a struggle with modern needs and peers

Using a slower phone, specifically one with the T9 keyboard, means texts become slower and simpler. It's intentional though -- For most people, distancing yourself from digital space is the reason people make this transition. But in practice, it’s frustrating communicating with peers who aren't interested in the same digital relationship. I didn't realize the expectation of peers who;d text large messages and expected lengthy responses, and some peers text follow-ups if I don’t respond within 6 hours. In one instance, I had to copy a link texted to me to send to myself on Discord so I could open up the link on my PC to fill a form.

You also need more preparation when leaving the house for events. “Figure it out when we get there” isn’t valid, especially if there’s a schedule to adhere to or stress surrounding unpreparedness. In one case, I was trying to get my way to an unclear location in 10 minutes. It involved digging through e-mails, Googling for the site, finding the address, and navigating it in Google Maps while walking in the general direction. It was unexpectedly rough.

Why the CAT phone and not (other phone)?

There’s a few

phone

alternatives focused on digital distance. They tend to lean towards not supporting apps, and stripping away aesthetics. They look beautiful but for me, I wanted a phone I can forget, which meant something that didn’t exceed $100. I also needed something to support basic apps for safety, directions, and important communication. As much as I love well-designed luxury objects, the value and beauty were maligned with my goals.

The smartphone is too useful -- I still need to keep it around

I use my iPhone when I travel, to quickly Google emergency information, find my way around, access rideshare easily, or language translation. For home, I still keep my phone for bank management and authentication apps. Unfortunately, I can’t get away from these tools. But keeping this attached to my desk has kept it in its spot.