Hypothetical Which Phone Would You Choose

Home
Discussions
You are here

General Polls

TBomb

• Published: Jul 03, 2025, 4:05 PM

Arena Master

Join the discussion

Arena Master

Original poster

Prompt #1

Which phone would you choose if you couldn't use a smartphone and only had access to dumbphones?

Prompt #2

Which dumbphone form factor would you choose if you were able to match today's generation of smartphone specs?

Rules

Definition of "smartphone" vs "dumbphone": A smartphone would be something that has a dedicated browser, app store, and other "advanced" features (examples: iPhone (any model), Galaxy (any model), Pixel (any model), etc.). A dumbphone would be the stereotypical "flip phone" of the early 2000's and other form factors that were not feature heavy, may have had access to internet, but not like smartphones; may have had games, but not graphically intense.
Prompt #1 Only: You are not allowed to change any CPU/experience-related specs (no additional RAM, no better display PPI, etc.) and the only thing that would change from the original phone's hardware/software is updated antennas to be able to access today's towers.
For the sake of this, all Blackberries are considered smartphones despite being very different than today's smartphones.

Prompt #1: I am going with the LG ENV. The physical keyboard was unmatched in the dumbphone era.

Prompt #2: LG ENV Touch. Closest option to the LG ENV above but with a full-screen front. The touchscreen was super laggy though, so getting better specs and improved experience there allows it to overtake the OG ENV.

Arena Apprentice

Prompt #1: If I had to use a dumbphone today, I’d probably choose the Nokia 2780 Flip. I’m too young to have any nostalgia towards dumbphones, so I just chose this one because it’s modern enough that you could use it as a normal phone today with no spec upgrades. I know HMD also makes the Barbie Phone, but I’d rather have a normal phone that I can decorate and make look cool rather than a phone that’s already pre decorated courtesy of billion dollar corporation Mattel.

If KaiOS phones don’t count as dumbphones though, then I’d have to say the Moto Razr v3, just because it’s iconic and it looks really cool.

Prompt #2: With today’s specs, I still think the flip phone form factor would be the best. Again, I never got to experience the peak dumphone era, but a lot of the more unique form factors like the Moto Aura and Nokia 7600 seem like they’d be pretty impractical or really ugly. The only other one I’d consider is the bar phones like the Nokia 225, but the problem with those is that you can’t fit as big of a screen onto them without making the phone really long or shrinking the keyboard.

If I had to choose a phone to base this modern dumbphone design off of, I still think the Razr v3 is the best for the looks and form factor alone.

Phonearena team

Latest Discussions

Hypothetical Which Phone Would You Choose Stop Playing Is buying a Fairphone really ethical? Samsung Galaxy S23 recall?

See all discussions