I used to love flip phones. Now I can’t stand them

Just like they have with their internal screens, foldables have divided the user base into two camps – either you find regular phones too simplistic to go back to, or you just don’t want to see your phone in half anymore. There is no other realization you will have after living with a foldable. And the title must have given that I fall under the second category.

I used to die a book-style folding die, but as the novelty wore off, its flaws became glaring by the day. And no, I’m not worried about foldables with a lesser rear camera or a more fragile exterior. My problem is more fundamental. I just can’t stand the idea of ​​a device that exposes complicated and delicate (not to mention expensive) mechanics to do two things at once, if I’m not convinced that it also excels.

The concept of smartphones began as a way to consolidate multiple devices into one. It could save you from carrying ten different tools and make your pocket lighter, figuratively and literally. That made sense when we had a phone that couldn’t do much more than call and text, a dedicated music player with hanging headphones, a digital camera, and what not. But in the last 20 years, our problems have also evolved (more on that later).

Foldables take this idea further by combining a phone and a tablet into one. When you feel the need, you can open it and run multiple apps simultaneously, referred to as productivity power. I was also impressed by the idea, but after the novelty wore off, I found myself having to open two or more apps at most a few times a month, if not just for that.

And yes, folding bars are actually handy for people who specifically want this combination. My problem is that these pieces of productivity were so far apart and so few that they didn’t justify the trade-offs for me. It’s not 2010 anymore, and I’m no longer optimizing my setup just around comfort – it goes a layer deeper than hardware compromises.

Your phone keeps buzzing with notifications from Instagram or an active WhatsApp group chat while you try to tackle work on a busy Tuesday. Or maybe your overseas team is getting active on Slack while you try to wind down by reading a book in bed. These occurrences are far too common in my life. Morphing work, play, and rest into a single device took a real mental toll, especially when I became so dependent that I couldn’t leave it behind, even briefly.

When you turn off your work laptop, it signals that work hours are over and your mind needs to move on to what’s next in your personal life. This shift is stronger when you switch physical devices instead of relying on software features that your fingers quickly build muscle memory to navigate. The very friction that modern gadgets try so hard to eliminate is what actually kept me sane when I had to be surrounded by devices for work and otherwise.

That’s why I started wearing a smartwatch again, adding a point of friction with its tiny display that’s useless for almost anything except notifications and small interactions. It helps me leave my phone behind and only pick it up when something requires my immediate attention. The same goes for entertainment. My tablet is dedicated to games, movies, magazines, and ebooks without work or social media apps open. Yes, I’m trying to use my phone less by adding more screens to the mix. It’s exactly how you feel more beautiful and more productive by watching a two-hour movie on a TV instead of spending the same time mindlessly on TikTok.

I call this compartmentalized computing. The idea is to consciously create enough compartments that you don’t compulsively rely on a single device for everything.

Flip phones have reinforced the feeling that the device uses me more than I use it. We have forgotten that phones are tools that we should use when we need them, instead of calling us in ingenious ways to pick them up and using psychological tricks to keep us connected.

Moving away from foldables, I started to treat my devices more like devices with specialized purposes. And I know I’m not alone because there’s a growing wave of niche products, from minimalist phones and dedicated music players to dedicated cameras and screenless fitness trackers.

Just to be clear, I don’t want every device to do exactly one thing; that would go in the opposite direction, to be counterproductive. My phone still handles quite a few tasks, and I want it to stay right there instead of taking over the tasks of a tablet as well. I have created a setup that gives each device enough purposes that I consciously choose for myself.

I have made peace with the fact that we are surrounded by screens no matter what. They have become a way of life now, so I won’t fight them anymore. The idea now is to give myself enough opportunities to put the phone down. Like my smartwatch, which lets me use the phone during lunch without worrying about missing important notifications – or my tablet, which has become my exclusive mobile entertainment center.

I know I might come off as a flip hater, but I would actually allow flip phones that save space without being too far from a regular flip phone. In fact, the minimal external display is a neat convenience feature for things like viewing notifications and controlling media (replacing the smartwatch for these purposes). They would perfectly fit the bill for my growing love of compact phones if not for their poorer battery performance compared to a standard handset.

Then there is my desk setup with a laptop connected to a monitor. My brain is now trained to know this is where the work happens; neither do I play anything here. And I use it for tasks too important for a small screen, like booking a flight – I’m old-school like that.

As I see it now, book style folding bars have no place in my setup. They lie neither here nor there and simply sit uncomfortably in a compromised gray area. And that’s the opposite of what I want if I’m careful with my gadgets.

What works for me won’t necessarily work for you, and I’m all for personalization. If you travel light while having the convenience of using two devices, book-style foldables are custom-built for that specific use case. They are actually worth spending more if they make your life so much easier.

As for me, I don’t stick to my digital boundaries more often than I care to admit. And this is the reason why I try to be more aware of how I use my devices and for what purposes. These physical divisions helped to minimize this decay much more efficiently than when I used a multipurpose foldable phone. The new multi-device setup has proven so robust that, no matter how often I play with newer flip phones, they certainly don’t know where my main SIM goes.