smartsizing blog

It's dumb to get a dumbphone when you can do this...

UPDATED JUNE 2024 This piece was written a while back with the Pixel 4a in mind. The 4a is no longer receiving firmware updates and so now the Pixel 7a/8a is recommended.

TL/DR If you want to smartsize your comms then GrapheneOS - based on non-Googled Android - is relatively easy to install. Buy a Google Pixel 4a Pixel 7a/8a. Set up multiple users; add a 'dumbphone' user partition with only the minimal apps you need. Alternatively, buy a Fairphone or Murena running eOS (another deGoogled operating system based on Android AOSP), or even a de-Googled Brax phone - and do the same; set up a 'Dumbphone' user partition.

It's hard not to notice a plethora of influenzers promoting the dumbphone- The idea that we are too weak-willed to handle the cocaine of scrolling text on a screen

My own thoughts about dumb phones > smartphones are here (eg battery life, one-touch phonecall recording) and I would add it's a waste of money to get a top-of-the-range smartphone unless someone else (eg an employer) is buying it.

8th generation Pixels provide a minimum guarantee of 7 years of support from launch instead of the previous 5 year minimum guarantee. 8th generation Pixels also bring support for the incredibly powerful hardware memory tagging security feature as part of moving to new ARMv9 CPU cores. GrapheneOS uses hardware memory tagging by default to protect the base OS and known compatible user installed apps against exploitation, with the option to use it for all apps and opt-out on a case-by-case basis for the few incompatible with it.
-GrapheneOS device support

Both 7th and 6th generation Pixels have a minimum guarantee of 5 years from launch. 7th generation Pixels are a year newer so they have an extra year of their guarantee remaining. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are all around improvements over the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with a significantly better GPU and cellular radio along with an incremental CPU upgrade. The 7th generation Pixels are far more similar to the previous generation than any prior Pixels. Pixel 7a is nearly the same as the Pixel 7 other than having slow wireless charging and weaker dust/water protection. Pixel 7a offers the best value when buying a new device*.

Meanwhile Techcrunch excitedly report on the latest iteration of the 'Lightphone' which apparently 'has now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps'. Whoop-di-doo. However they are burying the lead somewhat;

'All the upgrades make the new device more expensive: The Light Phone III is a cool $799 (£625!) compared with the $299 Light Phone II. The latter will still be sold, though, for those who prefer the e-ink version.'

All the features of this $799/£625 'Lightphone' - certainly not light on the wallet! - can be emulated at half the cost (see Pixel 7a), with the additional benefit that one can snap back into full all-singing-all-dancing smartphone mode when needed. (If you want to spend £600-£700 on a phone you'd be far beter off buying a Fairphone 5 covered below). Android (and so by extension Graphene etc) allows setting up multiple User accounts. These are separate on the phone. There are many benefits of using different User partitions on the phone (not least security and privacy) which is covered elsewhere but one benefit is being able to set up a 'Dumbphone partition' which has none of those 'addictive' social media apps and has exactly what you want to have on it. You can set up different or no Signal account, no Google apps etc.

Essentially these new 'smart dumbphones' such as the Lightphone are just the latest objects for bugmen to fetishize. Remember, even an arch anti-smartphoner such as Luke Smith doesn't run a 'dumbphone' but a deGoogled smartphone. He just leaves it at home mostly, occasionally using it for video streaming or when travelling. Luke (and I) admit that Google maps are useful and sometimes better than the alternatives -"all that spying has its uses sometimes!". Maps - particularly aided by GPS for driving - are one of the few genuinely useful features of smartphones. I still don't have Google maps though - I muddle through with the de-Googled Maps app on eOS. It's good enough for me and I'm happy with that compromise. [Update: 2024 I now mostly use OsmAnd+ on a deGoogled GrapheneOS Pixel 7a ]

UPDATE *It is now relatively easy to install GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel phone using a web-based interface.

Greyscale

Following my own positive experience with a Google Pixel 4a running eOS, my newish smartsize criteria for buying mobile phones are these:-

• It must either run eOS from the get-go - eg a Murena device or be abe to easily install it (eg Graphene OS on Google Pixels)
• It should have a removeable battery
• Preferably have expandable storage or at least 128Gb internal
• Actual call quality should be good
• dual SIM (not eSIM) a plus

Fairphone

Having all these attributes is the Holy Grail of mobile phones for a smartsizer such as myself. The Google Pixel 4a is was not perfect. Nor is the 7a. It is not true dual SIM phone but single physical SIM slot with an additional eSIM option. It has internal 128Gb storage but with no expandable microSD slot. It does not have a removeable battery. For these options one could opt for a Murena phone above or the more expensive Fairphone - but the later Fairphones are 5G (cost £649) and don't have a headphone jack while the Pixel 4a does. Meanwhile some of the Murena phones have non-easy-removeable batteries. One downside of the Fairphones and Murena phones is that they are not a load of third party accessories for them. Fairphones are already expensive and if you want a cover etc you must buy from Fairphone which isn't cheap (cases are £35 - screen protectors are £30) A tough case (with ring holder) AND screen protector for my Pixel ran to just £11 on Amazon compared to £65 for the equivalent for a Fairphone. You may be saving the planet but you ain't doing much for your pocketbook...However, the bluetooth Fairbuds are now much better and can be easily repaired and battery changed.

The Fairphone does have other smartsize advantages though - the prime one being easy to repair - a 10/10 iFixit repair score and a resounding endorsement here from teardown repair guru Hugh Jeffreys. (The one criticism being the aforementioned lack of headphone jack on newer models). It is certainly not my intention to berate the Fairphone or indeed Murena phones (which are cheaper and some also have hotswap battery options). Fairphone has a stated aim of being more eco-friendly and repairable. As a relative startup, they do not enjoy the economies of scale that a company such as Samsung has. Over the longterm owning a Fairphone may be cheaper if it lasts longer, camera modules can be easily upgraded, batteries swapped easily enough.

Getting back to the likes of Punkt/Lightphones phones etc, 'smarttech' as they like to call themselves - it just seems a piece of clever marketing to sell what is essentially an expensive, quirky 'dumb phone' - something one can already turn a cheap 'smart' phone into, including greyscaling the display. It makes even less sense to smartsizers to have a dumbphone equipped with WhatsApp messaging, Facebook etc as with the Nokia Flipphone seen here. What is the point? For the messaging apps? The reason I liked the Pixel 4a specifically is that the screen isn't that big and isn't that bright. It's not the type of device one wants to spend hours using for social media. It is handily pocket-sized yet large enough to be usable. It's a sweetspot phone. The Pixel 7a is bigger, less pocketable and has lost the headphone jack. :(

There are already a load of things one can do to cut down on smartphone usage. Buying a phone with a smaller screen I've already mentioned. Delete antisocialmedia from your life. If you require social media presence at least access it via a laptop or desktop not a phone. So, uninstall these phone apps, especially Facebook and Twitter. Have Do Not Disturb sessions when needing to get something done. Especially have 'offline' Do Not Disturb time at night from say 8pm-8am. I have a housephone, a landline. In emergencies people know they can reach me there.

Another option is a Braxphone - or he can de-Google your phone - details here.