‘Dumbphones’ a smart move? Some young people seeking free time and friends say yes.

Nestled just blocks between Harvard and MIT, Faro Cafe has become a watering hole for college students who chatter excitedly, and at one table near some leafy plants, discuss the latest in the mobile phones. This development, they say, would help them work with increased productivity and focus on priorities.

The students aren’t discussing Apple’s new artificial intelligence program.  In this cafe, where Zoom conferences take a back seat to face-to-face chats, they’re talking about the Light Phone III, a phone designed to be used less, not more. And it’s just one example of the quietly growing, countercultural “dumbphone” industry.

Visvajit Sriramrajan, a 23-year-old college grad from Massachusetts,  began the move from smartphone to dumbphone in 2021  after realizing that he was on his phone more than five hours a day.

“Over the course of a week of seven days, that’s 35 hours,’’ he says. “Over the course of a month, that’s 140 hours. Over the course of a year, that’s 1,680 hours. If someone asked me, ‘Do you want 1,680 hours of your life back?’ I think most people would say ‘yes.’”

These new low-tech phones offer a way to reclaim that time, market experts say.

Often devoid of internet browsers, social media, and email, these dumbphones allow the user to take more control of their time. Companies such as Light, Techless, and Boringphone, which produce the low-tech phones, are reporting strong year-over-year growth, with figures as high as 200%, and thousands of sales in cities across the country, from New York to Seattle. Meanwhile, while it continues to show steady growth overall, during the first quarter of 2024, Apple faced a 13% decline in year-over-year sales, hitting a six-year low in new smartphone activations, according to researchers.

Google searches for the term “dumbphone” have increased more than 300% over the past year, while TikTok hashtags like “#bringbackflipphones” and “#dumbphones” have tens of millions of views each.

Smartphones may still be largely ascendant in society. But these trends, along with interviews for this article, suggest that many young adults who grew up with smartphones and social media are now seeking tech-free ways to protect their mental health, productivity, and free time. 

“Social media can be good if you're very intentional about your usage,’’ says Laura Marciano, a researcher at the Harvard Chan T.H. School of Public Health who studies the connection between technology and mental health. She said she is not surprised that young people are noticing the link between the two and trying to find ways to unplug. “If you're using it to call people and you're using it to really develop relationships’’ then it can be positive. “But if you're not intentional, it can lead to doomscrolling.’’

Courtesy of Gabriela Nguyen

The display, or home screen, of a "dumbphone" offers simple graphics and basic information. A growing number of Americans are looking for something with more functionality than a flip phone, but that's less addictive than a smartphone.

For young adults who have lower impulse control, she says, extensive social media and phone use often result in negative effects on mental health. 

Samantha Tillett, a 21-year-old medical secretary from Virginia, switched to a dumbphone after finding her mental health and college grades declining as she became dependent on her smartphone.

“[The] alarm goes off and, immediately, I’m on my phone,’’ she says. “And that could go anywhere from just being on my phone for 20 minutes to being on my phone for the first three or four hours of my day.’’

Sometimes, the distraction went unchecked. “I would log into my school and sit on Zoom with no face screen on and just scroll, not listening to what was going on in class. My grades definitely struggled, and it was because I could not disconnect,” Ms. Tillet said. “It’s definitely a sort of addiction.”

Ms. Tillet has since switched to a flip phone, and her average screen time has dropped from 11 hours a day to just three or four. With newfound free time she’s begun to paint, crochet, and read. 

Still, the switch to a dumbphone is not always easy, says Mr. Sriramrajan. Without Spotify on his phone, he can no longer play songs on the fly. Now, he has to wait to download the music. 

“Do I want to mindlessly adopt the most convenient way to do something, knowing that, as a result, I am losing my ability to remember things, to be in the moment, to be present, to cherish what I have?” he asks.

Matthew Meyers, a 36-year-old neuropsychiatrist, describes having both kinds of phones and desperately hoping for something with more functionality than his Lightphone but less addictive than his iPhone. 

“The important thing is that we, as a society, are aware of the costs and benefits of this technology and don’t just mindlessly engage,” says Mr. Meyers. “There is a place in our brains just for recognizing faces. We are deeply wired for connection with other humans.”