For many people who got their first cell phone in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the flip phone was a chrome-and-neon portal to pop culture and a new outlet for interaction with their peers.
The digital world, now a constant gateway to millions of people, information on any subject, and the latest news from around the world, is feeling frustratingly cluttered to a growing number of fellow flip phone enthusiasts.
Some Gen Z and Millennials are using apps or hardware to block access to social media, setting their smartphone screens to grayscale, or purchasing “defunct phones” that don’t have internet access. Reddit’s “r/dumbphones” forum had 185,000 weekly visitors as of Friday afternoon, and an “offline group” offers a 30-day dumbphone challenge that encourages groups of participants to meet in person.
Intrigued by the smartphone detox hype, two CNBC Make It reporters, Megan Sauer, 29, and Renee Onk, 26, hid their iPhones from themselves and bought flip phones to use in a four-day experiment from Friday morning to Monday evening. Their cell phones could only make calls, send text messages, and take low-resolution photos. In the spirit of detox, the reporters agreed to avoid social media on their laptops and tablets.
Neither reporter wanted to test for more than five days, considering the impact on their workplaces. On my flip phone, I couldn’t access the authentication app, sources from previous projects, or record audio from calls. But Carissa Bellis, associate professor of philosophy at Oxford University’s Institute of AI Ethics, says that even a four-day holiday can improve your mental health if you replace your smartphone activity with the right kind of activity that engages your senses, such as walking in the sun, or engages your imagination, such as reading.
The parameters of the experiment, including duration, were based on academic research and recommendations from experts, including Velis and Anastasia Dedukina, director of the Consciously Digital Institute, which aims to help organizations and individuals develop a healthier relationship with technology.
A small study conducted in February 2025 by researchers from organizations including the University of Alberta and Georgetown University found that blocking internet access on smartphones for just two weeks boosted mood, restored alertness and improved sense of well-being in 91 per cent of participants. But in another study, researchers at Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that participants who were enthusiastic about swapping their smartphones for dumb phones had more psychological benefits than those who felt neutral after taking part in a week-long experiment.
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To prepare for the long weekend, reporters recorded their plans in advance on physical calendars, wrote reminders on sticky notes, and relied on friends to help them out on the New York subway and ride services around New York and New Jersey. Then I turned off my smartphone.
Their experience was incomplete, with one person having to turn off and on his phone on the first day, but both say they would do a similar detox again. Neither of them plans to give up their smartphones forever.
Here are the thoughts, challenges, and conclusions they recorded during their four-day hiatus.
Day 1: Friday
Renée Onque, 8:22 a.m.: I can work from home on Fridays and Mondays, so I don’t have to wake up early. However, I made a mistake in setting my alarm clock. I received a “good morning” text from a friend, and the ringtone on my flip phone was so loud that I woke up instead.
Megan Sauer, 8:30 a.m.: Instead of my usual morning routine of skimming through news alerts and app notifications, I only saw one text message from a friend asking if I had officially started the experiment. When I realize I forgot to write down a source’s contact information for an interview, I pull my smartphone out of the drawer and log on to my laptop during the workday.
Sauer, 1:17 p.m.: Our job doesn’t require us to interact with our phones much beyond simple phone calls, so our job feels pretty normal. I finish the interview, work on editing the two stories I have in progress, and finally have lunch. As I eat, I find myself itching to scroll through social media like I always do. Use that energy to text a friend to ask if they’re free for dinner tonight.
Sauer, 6:30pm: At a restaurant after work, a friend laughed at my failed attempt to locate me. I’m chronically 10 minutes late, so I don’t really care that my close friends use Find My Friends to gauge my actual arrival time. But it seems like a smartphone feature I could live without.
Onc, 6:40pm: My sister calls. Instead of texting, she says she’ll email photos of the cupcakes she baked or of the cats going outside on the patio for the first time. I email her some kombucha recommendations. Surprisingly, this doesn’t bother me and actually makes email feel more fun and easy-going.
Onk, 7:45pm: For the first time, we have successfully integrated a calling alternative to Group FaceTime. The maximum number of people on my flip phone is 3 people, including myself, but there are 4 people trying to make plans for the weekend, so that’s unfortunate and limiting. We communicate the details to each other over multiple phone calls.
I also found that using a flip phone while it’s plugged in doesn’t charge it effectively, which means I end up putting it down frequently. It’s a pain, but it might be a good thing for me.
Day 2: Saturday
Sauer, 8:30 a.m.: With nowhere to go and no Instagram to scroll through, I start reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck in the morning. Usually, when reading a particularly dense book, you should put your smartphone in a separate room to help you concentrate. But even with your flip phone next to you, you can respond to incoming texts and get back to reading without being distracted by the screen.
Onc, 2:30pm: I’m watching a movie with a friend, but I can’t see the purchase confirmation QR code on my flip phone. My friend, who still had a smartphone, met me at my apartment, called an Uber, showed me the QR code, and got my ticket at the theater. I apologize frequently because it feels like a burden. She assures me it’s no big deal.
Sauer, 6:35 p.m.: I’m leaving the house late because I plan on going to the movies, and the subway is running late. Unable to hail an Uber, I wait anxiously, enduring the effects of being late. I trotted from the station to the theater, breathlessly showing the usher a blurry screenshot of the QR code my friend had sent directly to my flip phone. I can scan without any problem. “Thank God,” I say. The guide laughs.
Onk, 8:15pm: Using a flip phone in a restaurant or later in a bar can be a little embarrassing and a little embarrassing. Everyone who noticed wants to ask me about it. I hear people whispering, “Look, she has a flip phone.”
Sauer, 10:30 p.m.: At the bar after the movie, people stop me and ask about my flip phone. “The fact that you’re willing to go offline says a lot about you as a person,” says one patron. I shrug.
I know how to get home afterwards, and although I’ve never felt unsafe, I’m nervous about riding the subway without my smartphone. I’m not sure why.
Day 3: Sunday
Onk, 12pm: I dropped my flip phone during a call and the battery died. This ends the call and turns off your phone. I often accidentally drop my smartphone. Dropping a flip phone has a bigger impact.
Sauer, 12:30pm: I don’t feel like checking my phone or answering calls or emails until I’m doing chores, watching TV, or just relaxing. I don’t think about my phone when I don’t have it in my hand. On your smartphone, even if you have Do Not Disturb mode turned on, if you are late in contacting someone, you will feel like a bad friend. Foldable phones feel like a buffer of digital obligation.
Onc, 7:28pm: When I try to check my text messages while talking to someone, my phone hangs up. But it’s not all bad that the limitations of my flip phone have forced me to put down my phone more often than usual over the past few days. I don’t panic cleaning my apartment or finishing other tasks on my to-do list because I feel like I have more time. In short, I’m much more fulfilled now. Will this feeling remain even after I get my smartphone back?
Day 4: Monday
Mr. Sauer, 7:30 a.m.: I get out of bed, realizing I forgot to give my temporary new phone number to the therapist who will be conducting my session over the phone Monday afternoon. Once the panic subsides, you’ll notice that you’re much more relaxed at work than you were on Friday. You can focus on completing your morning tasks efficiently, even before your morning cappuccino has started.
Onk, 2:30pm: Overall, my workday feels like a typical Monday. Work on editing current drafts, write research and proposals for larger projects, and schedule interviews for upcoming articles throughout the week. This is standard practice. I usually work while listening to music using my smartphone. It gives me energy and focus. If I were in the office, I’d listen to Spotify from my laptop instead. At home I’ve been trying my hand at vinyl records, and other than having to get up multiple times to flip each record over to the B-side, it’s been working fine.
Sauer, 5pm: I usually hit a wall in the afternoon. Today is different. After I’ve finished my work for the day, which includes more draft revisions, a series of fact-checking emails, and somehow just one meeting, I’m feeling refreshed and ready to go for a walk by 5 p.m.
Onk, 6:15pm: For the past four days, I’ve been away from social circles, reading more books, focusing on personal goals, and thinking I might have a hard time feeling connected to my loved ones since I can’t send as many memes every day.
Instead, I spent more time than usual engaging with people through phone calls and random hangouts. It wasn’t much, but life and work were more difficult than usual. I had to approach some things differently. It wasn’t a burden. I don’t know if I would be as laissez-faire if I had to do this every day.
Sauer, 6:40pm: Usually when I’m awake, I’m fighting the urge to buy clothes. But as I was booking my trip on my iPad, I realized that for the past four days, I hadn’t thought much about online shopping, or about my appearance, wardrobe, hair, and makeup in general. Until this experiment, I had no idea how often my iPhone motivated me to stare at the screen. Having hundreds of notifications a day can make you feel like you’re falling behind.
Without them, you’ll feel even less anxious about missing out, and you’ll feel less guilty if you don’t respond to calls or texts right away. When I turned on my phone on Tuesday morning, I turned off notifications for several apps, including social media, shopping, and gaming platforms. You don’t need reminders to distract you.
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