This is my phone.
I have a flip phone. And flip phones aren’t just for grandparents.
There are many phones to choose from when deciding to throw away your iPhone (sell it rather for cash). At first glance, most flip phones look the same. A T-9 keyboard, a classic flip to dramatically hang up on partners or parents, a 2-inch screen, and of course speed dial exist for all of your communication needs.
Fortunately, flip phone software differentiates one flip phone from the next. And Alcatel’s SMARTFLIP / GoFlip 3 software stands out. (There are two names because Alcatel sells this phone as the SMARTFLIP to AT&T and as the GoFlip 3 T-Mobile, Sprint). The SMARTFLIP runs on KaiOS, a mobile operating system released in 2017.
KaiOS is equipped with 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS connectivity. With their investments and partnerships with Google KaiOS provides Google Assistant features, a Google web browser, and Google Maps. You can dictate all of your text messages by stepping out into the hallway to “text” with Google Assistant. You can satiate your curiosity by using a moderately slow web browser. And you won’t get lost with an excellent navigation tool at your fingertips.
Fortunately, in the KaiOS store, there was no Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat to download, but there was a radio and music app where I could listen to music as I walked or local radio to listen to the news while commuting through a headphone port on the left side.
The silent, vibrate, and sound buttons are easy to maneuver on the right hand side just pressing down all the way for silent and vibrate one above that, and sound levels up to 15 above that. Speakerphone is easy to use, it is just the center OK button. Similarly muting yourself is easily accessible as the left top button. Bluetooth headphones can also connect to the phone for phone calls which is easy to set up.
The phone takes a Nano SIM card (same as iPhone) in the back and has an easily removable back for battery replacements and a micro SD card for saving images. The Alcatel SMARTFLIP is equipped with a 2 Megapixel phone on the top half of the body, so you won’t accidentally cover up the camera while you are taking a picture.
It is possible to check your email, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, and Twitter on this phone if your heart so desires, but wouldn’t that be ruining the point of getting rid of your iPhone in the first place?
Lastly, there is no support for group texts. I’m still looking for a phone with group messaging support.
If you find another flip phone you enjoy, please let me know and I will review it!