Looking for dumbest of dumb phones

[Hacker Uno]

I've been trying to find the dumbest possible dumb phone, without a lot of luck. Well, actually, ZERO luck!!

I want a newer model device with 4G (no < 4G where I live) and really don't want 5G.

What I absolutely don't want is:

• Texting (of any kind)
• Internet
• GPS
• WiFi
• Hotspot
• Tracking (that is, anything equivalent to Apple's FindMy or AirTags)
• Anything Android

What I prefer not to have includes:

• Camera
• Apps (except for Contacts)
• Bluetooth
• Music Player
• Radio (AM, FM, or both)
• Voice Mail

What I would prefer is:

• Flip or Candy bar phone
• Small to tiny
• LONG battery life
• Ability to shut off all device radios (airplane mode)
• All device electronics "dead" when powered off (no RF or other emissions)
• Call forwarding
• Hide my caller id
• Works on most GSM networks
• One or more eSIMs

I have spent a lot of my spare time in recent weeks digging, but have found nothing even close to what I'm seeking.

Any suggestions?

TIA!!
HU

 

[Paladin]

Nope.

 

[MachinistMark]

You're not going to find a phone that doesn't have texting, I'm afraid.

There are some pensioner friendly phones like Doros that tick some of your boxes but I'm afraid you're going to be out of luck looking for something on LTE that has none of the Absolutes, especially one that supports eSIMs.

 

[Ardax]

Nope.

Done in one. The top 4 items on the "do not want" list are table stakes for pretty much anything that's going to call itself a "phone" in 2025. No texting is pretty much off the table with the number of companies that still use SMS to do 2FA or passwordless login.

Depending on the goal you're attempting to accomplish, OP, you can check r/dumbphones or dumbphones.org. You've going to have to choose your compromises.

 

[wxfisch]

It might help if you provided some of the use-cases you are looking to fill with this device. but even 15 years ago essentially every phone made supported texting (shoot, you can probably go back 20 years and that still be true). You could always just, IDK, not use SMS.... no?

 

[Andrewcw]

I found it. Maybe. The shittiest overpriced pieces of shit. And it's not like the phone isn't capable. It's they software disabled the features most likely.

https://sunbeamwireless.com/product...ip-phone-with-talk-only-no-bluetooth-or-wifi/

Though with no GPS. If government agency's are after you. They'll know where you are fairly fast by being the only person not transmitting GPS data back to the cell tower for tower handoff.

 

[evan_s]

I found it. Maybe. The shittiest overpriced pieces of shit. And it's not like the phone isn't capable. It's they software disabled the features most likely.

https://sunbeamwireless.com/product...ip-phone-with-talk-only-no-bluetooth-or-wifi/

Though with no GPS. If government agency's are after you. They'll know where you are fairly fast by being the only person not transmitting GPS data back to the cell tower for tower handoff.

Yeah. It may not expose GPS to the user of the phone but I'd bet it's still in the chipset as virtually everyone is going to include that as an expected function in a phone so it's going to be built into it. I'm not even sure if it's possible to make a 4g or 5g phone without GPS capabilities while meeting the standard. Positioning and timing are pretty critical to modern cell networks and I'm not sure a device can function to specs without any gps.

Same thing with texting. SSMS part of the 2g standard and I doubt it's possible to not have support for it in the hardware and modem. The phone might just not have a SSMS app on it but I'm sure the hardware is still capable of sending and receiving text messages or it wouldn't be able to connect to the cell network.

 

[pauli]

I'm not even sure if it's possible to make a 4g or 5g phone without GPS capabilities while meeting the standard. Positioning and timing are pretty critical to modern cell networks and I'm not sure a device can function to specs without any gps.

Neither 4g nor 5g require GPS to my understanding, and will work fine without that extra radio... that every phone has anyway.

Also, 5G-Advanced exists to make GPS et al even less necessary, though I don't know if it's in phones and networks yet.

 

[SportivoA]

Local gas station probably puts you on a special customer list if you march in with a list of technical requirements on your burner phone. Get something cheap, available, and with good battery life. Presumably being able to purchase more minutes with cash is a better priority. Look up if you're allowed to purchase a phone without ID in your locale; maybe use the local library computer to do it.

An eSIM requires internet (WiFi) to commission. Just so you're aware of conflicting requirements.

(5G below 6 GHz is basically the same stuff as 4G, just with newer standards and upgraded features; certainly won't hurt you more than your older phone)

 

[cogwheel]

Voice Mail

This is a service-level feature. It'll come either from the carrier (most phones) or the phone manufacturer (Apple). You may not be able to get service without voicemail.

• Ability to shut off all device radios (airplane mode)
• All device electronics "dead" when powered off (no RF or other emissions)

You can achieve both of these with a removable battery. No power, no RF emissions.

• Call forwarding
• Hide my caller id

Both of these are service-level features. Hiding your caller ID is probably not going to happen unless you go with some fly-by-night service that markets to criminals.

Yeah. It may not expose GPS to the user of the phone but I'd bet it's still in the chipset as virtually everyone is going to include that as an expected function in a phone so it's going to be built into it.

Given Sunbeam has 12 different feature sets for the F1 Horizon, not only is there only one hardware platform with all capabilities built in, it's also extremely likely there's only one software branch that includes all functionality, and features are just hidden or exposed based on a config file.

Positioning and timing are pretty critical to modern cell networks and I'm not sure a device can function to specs without any gps.

The phones don't need GPS (even though pretty much every phone has it) because every tower has its own GPS receiver, and that's the source of precision timing for the network. For position, cell towers can triangulate a handset; it's one of the E911 requirements.

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

How about one of these?

https://hackaday.com/2022/09/10/the-open-source-rotary-cell-phone-two-years-later/

 

[singebob]

Maybe look at one of those phones you can stuff up your butt for prison - I doubt even they have no texting tho

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

Maybe look at one of those phones you can stuff up your butt for prison - I doubt even they have no texting tho

I'm afraid that if no texting at all is a hard requirement, then only one of these will fill the bill anymore:

Even my first Motorola cell could text, and that was back in '94. And if smuggling the phone in that way is another requirement, I hope they have a very, very good friend they can rely on.

 

[singebob]

I'm afraid that if no texting at all is a hard requirement, then only one of these will fill the bill anymore:

Even my first Motorola cell could text, and that was back in '94. And if smuggling the phone in that way is another requirement, I hope they have a very, very good friend they can rely on.

some people will see that as a challenge

 

[steelghost]

Something like a Nokia 105 4G or one of the many "senior phones" on the market.

 

[Shavano]

Yeah. It may not expose GPS to the user of the phone but I'd bet it's still in the chipset as virtually everyone is going to include that as an expected function in a phone so it's going to be built into it. I'm not even sure if it's possible to make a 4g or 5g phone without GPS capabilities while meeting the standard. Positioning and timing are pretty critical to modern cell networks and I'm not sure a device can function to specs without any gps.

Phones get basic timing from the network, not GPS. They get basic location from the network, not GPS. They use GPS if it's available but not for anything critical to communication.

The reason almost (possibly all) cell phones have GPS is almost all users want it and are willing to pay for it.

Same thing with texting. SSMS part of the 2g standard and I doubt it's possible to not have support for it in the hardware and modem. The phone might just not have a SSMS app on it but I'm sure the hardware is still capable of sending and receiving text messages or it wouldn't be able to connect to the cell network.

That is so.

Something like a Nokia 105 4G or one of the many "senior phones" on the market.

Yeah that's honestly about as close as you're going to get:

WLAN	No
Bluetooth	No
Positioning	No
NFC	No
Radio	Wireless FM radio
USB	microUSB 2.0

 

[diabol1k]

I found it. Maybe. The shittiest overpriced pieces of shit. And it's not like the phone isn't capable. It's they software disabled the features most likely.

https://sunbeamwireless.com/product...ip-phone-with-talk-only-no-bluetooth-or-wifi/

Though with no GPS. If government agency's are after you. They'll know where you are fairly fast by being the only person not transmitting GPS data back to the cell tower for tower handoff.

This sent me down a rabbit hole - I have a hunch OP is not from the US and the Sunbeam phone says it only has US 4G bands. But, on the product page they call it a “kosher” phone - a quick DDG suggests that kosher phones are a thing, so that might be a good search term for OP in their locale. I was able to quickly find a number of other kosher phone options, many of which call themselves voice only. I assume all the lockouts are software based - ie the BT/wifi radios are there but disabled, they have camera hardware, etc.