I finally found a dumbphone that works for me 🌺❤️
After what feels like an endless search, I finally found a flip phone that fits both my needs and the kind of life I'm trying to build.
Over the past few years, I've become increasingly tired of my iPhone and social media. I missed when phones were just... phones. Not a huge slab of glass keeps you hooked on doomscrolling for hours. I wanted something that would let me stay connected without becoming another distraction.
So I started my flip phone journey.
Along the way, I tried the Alt Mive Style Folder 1 and the Galaxy Folder 2. They're both beautiful devices, but unfortunately they no longer work in the US due to the 2G shutdown and the conversion of 4G bands into 5G. I also experimented with the CAT S22, but that experience was... chaotic. The phone itself was buggy, and while rooting it, I accidentally destroyed the Wi-Fi modem. (Thankfully, I was able to return it.)
For a while, it felt like there weren't many good options left. I looked into Sonim's flip phones, including the Dumbphone 2, but I still wanted a web browser for those occasional moments when I needed to look something up. I also wanted a phone I could actually make my own by rooting it and customizing things.
That's when I found out about Kyocera and their phones.
They had several models that still worked in the US, and even their rugged phones looked surprisingly good, not ugly like some of the phones I saw in the American market. After way too many hours of reading forums and comparing models, I finally settled on the Kyocera KY-42C in red.
And it’s so cuteeeeee!
I love that it runs Android 10; it doesn't have Google Play Services, and it's not a touchscreen, which is a huge win in my book! No doomscrolling, no distractions. And it uses a MediaTek chipset, which also meant I could root it, which was another huge plus.
Now, I knew that it was a gamble buying this phone for several reasons.... A. I wasn't sure whether it would work well here in the Midwest, and B. Docomo had released a software update that removed the bootloader and recovery options, which makes rooting much harder. (Someone eventually figured out a method to root the phones on the 1.090 firmware and above, but I got used to using MTKClient lol)
Thankfully, my phone arrived running firmware version 1.060.
That meant I could root it before ever inserting my SIM card and connecting it to wifi. Once I rooted the phone, I activated my Tello SIM, entered the APN settings, and hoped for the best.
And... it works!
Setting the phone up was a bit tricky lol. Since it doesn't have a touchscreen and everything was initially in Japanese, navigating through the menus took some trial and error. Eventually, I was able to switch the language to English, sideloaded the apps I needed (Breezy Weather, Opera Mini, TT9, etc), and customized everything to my liking. I even downloaded some wallpapers and switched the launcher to InkOS, which is one of my favorites 🌺
Then came the real test. Would it actually work as my everyday phone? My answer to that is yes, yes it can! 🥳
Calls, texts, and mobile data all worked flawlessly over both Wi-Fi and the cellular network. I even had VoLTE and HD Voice support because T-Mobile uses Band 12 extensively where I live, including in many rural areas. Even my family ended up loving it because of the red/magenta color and how sleek it looked.
The only downside is that it only has 8GB of internal storage. While Android technically supports using an SD card as adoptable storage, doing so on this phone can cause boot loops. I know I could still use an SD card as external/portable storage for photos, but for now, I'm being mindful about what apps I install until someone in the Android/Garaho modding community finds a solution to prevent this from happening lol.
Overall, I'm very happy with the KY-42C. If I had done some research when I first started this journey, I would've gone with this phone instead of the other ones I tried 🌺
The cool thing is that I don't have to disappear from the internet to have a healthier relationship with it. I just needed a device that matched how I want to live. Now, I spend less time staring at my phone and more time listening to CDs, drawing, reading, focusing on schoolwork, writing on this blog, and being in the moment.
Take care, everyone!
