alt.hn

6/18/2026 at 4:12:21 PM

The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

 https://www.wired.me/story/commodore-made-a-digital-detox-phone-that-isnt-dumb

by Audiophilip

6/21/2026 at 3:13:43 PM

Regarding the price: the reality with all these alternative phones (e.g. the clicks communicator) is that you are going to have to pay a premium to make them worthwhile for the manufacturers. Scale (and the spyware economy) are what allow the larger companies to produce cheaper "better" phones, so comparing a phone like this with them on price isn't super productive. If you want something different than what the masses consume you are gonna have to pay for it.

The only ones that I've seen beat this dynamic to an extent are the unihertz phones.

by recursivedoubts

6/21/2026 at 3:58:35 PM

That unihertz "Jelly Star" with it's small size and rounded corners looks like a good prison phone choice, but still a bit of a "stretch".

by HarHarVeryFunny

6/21/2026 at 9:39:32 PM

Three inches! Even the greenest punk should be able to bend over and take it.

https://www.unihertz.com/products/jelly-star

by decimalenough

6/22/2026 at 12:19:56 AM

nothing funnier than male rape, is there?

by recursivedoubts

6/22/2026 at 7:04:18 AM

We're discussing the entirely voluntary insertion of mobile phones into your "prison pocket", not rape.

by decimalenough

6/22/2026 at 1:13:17 PM

“greenest punk should be able to bend over and take it.”

Nothing in this suggests consensual self insertion. Perhaps being “Schrodinger’s asshole” was the idea here? The meaning of “punk” in prison context is not ambiguous.

by beschizza

6/22/2026 at 12:55:02 AM

if this ran graphene, i'd buy one today.

by sitkack

6/21/2026 at 6:27:00 PM

I have always been surprised that "Nokia"/HMD haven't opened up more. The have really affordable Android phones (at some point the line-up was also pretty nice) and near-stock Android. So, they seem to have the volume to make reasonably cheap phones without to much spyware/adware. Sadly, they are only supported for a very brief period and even at release they often have outdated versions.

If they collab'ed with some AOSP-based alternatives and/or Jolla, they could build up a really nice alternative market. Especially because these niche phones generally have worse quality than what HMD can offer and being a Finish company, they could play well into the European tech sovereignty story.

by microtonal

6/21/2026 at 10:31:06 PM

Manufacturers do price according to volume. So why doesn't Jolla or Commodore plan a business strategy that focuses on increasing the volume? If $500 get you maybe 1500-2000 pre-orders, $300 may get you 5000+ orders. Sacrifice the profit margins somewhat, initially, to increase the user-base and revenue. Then use the userbase and revenue to get more investors. Currently, everyone targeting the "privacy" or "mindfulness" consumer market is just focusing on an even smaller segment among them (only the HNIs) with premium pricing. This business strategy is flawed. Look at any of the competitors - Light Phone III ($700+), Balance Phone Pro ($800+), Minimal Phone ($500+), Clicks Communicator ($500+), Fairphone 6 ($800+) - how many of them have actually succeeded growing their userbase, since their launch? How much can they really grow with that pricing, especially with the sub-optimal hardware and software (compared to their competitors) their users have to continue struggling with?

Some of you may argue the hardware is customised and developed in-house and that should justify the premium pricing. I would question the business logic of that decision. If the hardware isn't offering anything new (and as far as I can tell it isn't) that isn't already available in the market, why do you want to waste scarce resource on custom solutions instead of using cheaper, readily available designs? It is common knowledge that the consumer mobile device segment is highly competitive, profit margins thin and thus you need high volumes for long-term profitability. Thus, a business strategy that doesn't plan and prioritise for volumes is bound to struggle.

(I am sure there are many factors of this industry that I am ignorant about ... I was just thinking out aloud ...)

by thisislife2

6/22/2026 at 11:21:19 AM

I'm purely guessing, but they may be following the "early adopters pay premium price" model. Which means that there'd be a price drop in the fall, probably accompanied by a new model so that whoever bought the initial one stays happy.

by thaanpaa

6/21/2026 at 3:34:45 PM

Yeah, I'm actually excited about the Jolla phone supposed to launch in September. It's a bit on the expensive side but hopefully it will pave the way to a proper consumer friendly phone. Most of these phones comes with a gimmick too to make them more enticing but so far Sailfish OS is THE gimmick I'm actually excited about.

by aquariusDue

6/21/2026 at 4:52:54 PM

My favorite phone of all time was my Nokia N9.

I would absolutely have another if there was an updated one.

by CobaltFire

6/21/2026 at 5:31:26 PM

Absolutely loved my N9! Used it for many years until I switched to Lumia series until 2018

by mistyvales

6/21/2026 at 7:49:31 PM

NB, there are sub-$100 feature (and even Android) phones available, though there are compromises to be made. Jose Briones's Dumbphone Finder lists about 45, sorted by price, and that's just what he's reviewed. Going to $250 there are about 65 options.

<https://josebriones.org/dumbphone-finder>

Once you're into the Android or Android-adjacent OS territory (LineageOS, SailfishOS (the Callback runs this), /e/OS, iodeOS, etc.), prices approach flagship mainstream Android or iOS devices ($600+ generally), and GrapheneOS specifically requires Google Pixel, at least until the Motorola partnership bears fruit.

And yes, scale of production and the need to be self-supporting rather than relying on business partnerships, advertising, and surveillance capitalism does tend to incur some price premium, though it's still quite possible to find affordable options.

I'd strongly recommend taking a look at Jose Briones's Dumbphone Finder (mentioned and linked above), his website (<https://josebriones.org/>), Substack (<https://josebriones.substack.com/>), and YouTube phone-review channel (<https://inv.nadeko.net/channel/UCFtVwG0NFd6gT3TXfMCU7oA>) in general, and /r/dumbphones on Reddit for more information. I'm going to write a longer top-level comment summarising the current state of my own research into this topic.

There is a larger community oriented around alternative mobile devices including more reviews and technical information. Given that manufacturers often obscure rather than clarify features and capabilities, this is often a preferred source.

Edit: Corrected device support, originally mis-stated LineageOS as restricted, rather than GrapheneOS.

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 8:07:01 PM

> LineageOS specifically requires Google Pixel, at least until the Motorola partnership bears fruit.

Not true.

by NopIdoN

6/21/2026 at 8:12:32 PM

Gah! I was thinking GrapheneOS. Corrected my parent comment.

LineageWiki device support page lists a number of options, for those interested: <https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/>.

by dredmorbius

6/22/2026 at 5:20:12 PM

And if that isn't enough, unofficial builds are available for even more devices!

by NopIdoN

6/21/2026 at 11:28:47 PM

I can buy a 10$ new flip phone right now from Shenzhen, pay for an order of 1000 pieces and you can put your own logo on it…cough…commodore …cough

by thenthenthen

6/22/2026 at 12:56:28 AM

That runs in north america? Maybe for $40

by sitkack

6/21/2026 at 4:54:35 PM

Ok, so you raise the price so the manufacturers will make it. This creates a bigger problem: users won't buy it now.

No one designs a product to get manufacturers, all they need is to make a profit.

by burnte

6/21/2026 at 3:55:04 PM

Wonder why pine can't do this? Not dissing on commodore. With hallucinated apps, the gap is going to be really small with play store

by sourcegrift

6/21/2026 at 4:07:26 PM

Hallucinated apps are a delusion, and Pine is just yet another random Chinese company remixing surplus hardware. They don't care what happens with the software, that's the plus and minus of it. They don't lock down the software, but nor do they actually provide any. You can run Android on Pine... if you port Android to Pine.

I hear that in China they have a lot of franken-PCs reusing recycled chips because they have all the PCB-level design and manufacturing expertise but they can't make chips. They'll take a GPU off its graphics card and solder it onto a laptop, or the reverse, stuff like that. And each design in low quantities based on what models of e-waste they can get. Pine is one of that kind of company although not nearly as extreme. A lot of their plastic cases are repurposed from other devices. The A64 chip is designed to go in set-top boxes. They don't do low-hundred quantities based on e-waste, obviously, they are set up for mass production but they're still using whatever parts they can get their hands on that are surplus to other companies' requirements. That's half the reason they discontinued so many products.

by pocksuppet

6/21/2026 at 8:10:48 PM

I can see a niche (or two) for this.

My wife hates every smartphone that is currently in the market. They are all too huge for her. She has an iphone SE which was the best compromise at the time, although she still finds it big. She doesn't want to get a new one, because there is nothing on the market of that size. She doesn't use most the smart features. She only uses it for chat with family and friends and getting email notifications (and reading them, but never replying on the phone). She also uses it as a camera. And calls, including video calls. This might be a solution, although for some reason they say "no email app". I'm hoping you can add one later.

And then as a child's phone to keep them off social media, while also having a chat app to actually communicate with them.

Even for me, it's been some years too that I've been thinking that I don't really need a smartphone. I mostly need a device that I can use to make calls and that I can use as a hotspot for connecting other devices such as a laptop when I need to.

The keyboard will definitely not be an issue. I'm old enough to remember teens using those kind of keyboards typing blindly in astonishing speeds, even without T9.

Lack of 5G might be an issue.

The price is steep. I'm not sure if that is going to be a problem.

by gapan

6/22/2026 at 8:04:41 AM

Then the old Sony Ericssons would be her best option I think.

They were the ultimate in to small for my fingers, couldn't stand it.

Still the best form factor has the iPhone 4 in my opinion. And here comes the revelation: the iPhone 17 have grown again and the base models all start at 6.3"

The pro max is now 6.9" - the iPad mini is 8.3"

What a massive burden to carry around and still the iPhone aren't good enough for reading long time - a book for example - like the iPad Mini is.

I guess that many "content creators" edit their TikTok stuff when they are on the move and that the iPhone tries to more and more fit for that market.

Also larger device sizes allow for larger batteries - good for local AI and again video editing and consuming as well.

I Own a iPhone 16 and couldn't handle the pro/max option. Too bulky - and the camera lens has sharp edges combined with a slippy surface.

So size is one thing, form another.

The max options are crazy large especially if you consider a case for protection.

Two things

by _the_inflator

6/22/2026 at 5:09:09 PM

> Then the old Sony Ericssons would be her best option I think.

Definitely not. No chat apps, no proper camera, no email, no video calls.

by gapan

6/21/2026 at 7:00:33 PM

I have no idea who the customer is for this product.

I bought a C64U. I bought a MEGA65. I bought the T-shirt. I own nearly every original Commodore 8-bit. If anybody is the target market for Commodore products, I am the target market, and I am no more nostalgic about or interested in flip phones than I am about fax machines.

It's just like the good old days: Commodore execs shipping absurdly misguided products for the wrong price at the wrong time.

by SwellJoe

6/21/2026 at 7:07:32 PM

I think it's quite obvious that the target market has almost zero overlap with interest in the Commodore products from the 80s.

There's nothing wrong with a new company (new as of last year I think?) that owns the Commodore branding, and put out the C64U, to try putting out a new product for a different market.

The glowing Commodore icon just gives it a suitably vintage/retro feel that is aligned with the values of the device. Nothing more, nothing less.

In other words, is for a very specific group of people trying to digitally detox, who like a retro hardware aesthetic, that has nothing to do with C64 enthusiasts.

by crazygringo

6/21/2026 at 7:17:29 PM

I guess. But, I have a hard time believing that market is large enough, or wealthy enough, to support the custom manufacture of a luxury dumb phone.

I've been wrong about products before. But, I've been right more often. I'm confident this product will be a flop. I'll be surprised if it breaks even. Shocked if it makes a profit. And, unsurprised if it proves to be the undoing of the new Commodore before it really ever even gets off the starting block.

by SwellJoe

6/22/2026 at 8:41:05 AM

The only target market is the nostalgic crowd. For everyone else there's already plenty of flip phones available

The problem is that even among the commodore/amiga crowd, the reception has been pretty uninterested

by ChrisRR

6/21/2026 at 7:19:37 PM

People who bought a Commodore typewriter in the 1950s probably weren’t particularly interested in the C64 in the 1980s either.

It would be more interesting to talk about the actual merits of the product.

by layer8

6/21/2026 at 7:34:09 PM

There aren't any merits to talk about. A flip phone is still a nostalgia play. If someone is nostalgic about flip phones, they're nostalgic about a Nokia, Commodore was long gone by the era of flip phones. And, you can still buy flip phones from a variety of manufacturers, including Nokia, for under $100. A dumb phone, including from reputable manufacturers, is extremely easy and cheap to come by, if that's what you want. A dumb phone is a commodity with many suppliers.

This product at this price is entirely about leveraging the Commodore brand, and it's leveraging the brand in an incoherent direction. If I thought they were making astronomical margins on a low upfront cost, I would think, "OK, fine, do your little experiment, though I don't like you degrading the brand for no good reason." But, I don't think they're going to make astronomical margins and I don't think the upfront cost is low. I think they're spending a lot of money on a product that will be a flop.

by SwellJoe

6/21/2026 at 10:21:29 PM 

  > There aren't any merits to talk about. A flip phone is still a nostalgia play.
Not to everybody.

In my country we have a sizeable religious community which eschew the smartphone. Dumb phones sell here very well - on merit alone, no nostalgia.

by dotancohen

6/22/2026 at 12:22:20 AM

And, there's no shortage of those. Do those religious folks often buy luxury products?

by SwellJoe

6/22/2026 at 6:15:23 AM

I don't know the answer to that! I would imagine that some do. I'll try to talk to some of them, thank you for the point of view.

by dotancohen

6/21/2026 at 7:56:02 PM

I don't think there are any particularly reputable brands of featurephones anymore. Nokia/HMD certainly isn't one: they have obnoxious bugs, they drop calls, and lack basic modern-day compatibility features like emoji in text messages (they display only an "unknown character" box) and group MMS.

However, it does not necessarily mean there is demand for a quality featurephone: it might be that the demand is so low that it does not make sense to manufacture one.

by AAAAaccountAAAA

6/22/2026 at 11:25:36 AM

Me. I like the idea behind the product very much. I feel like my AI-saturated brain needs something like this very much at the moment.

by thaanpaa

6/22/2026 at 12:50:39 AM

>I have no idea who the customer is for this product.

Everyone who despises Google, Apple and all of the social media companies and wants absolutely no part of them. I'm going to buy one, along with several other people I know. The only thing that has prevented me from going full flip-phone so far is the lack of support for maps and QR scanning (which is unfortunately required if you want to park in some places or engage in certain activities).

As far as the cost goes, I shelled out $500 for an Android/Google phone that I don't like. That being the case, why would shelling out the same amount of money for a phone that isn't tied to one of the toxic tech companies be prohibitive?

Back in the day, I wasn't a fan of Commodore and didn't even own one! I was an Atari 8-bit guy. Hopefully they will cash in and release a similar phone stripped-down phone next year!

by StanislavPetrov

6/21/2026 at 3:06:03 PM

It has the same core spec as a $120 (delivered) Samsung phone and will cost between $500-$600 (delivered).

The C64U is an amazing achievement but it seems too early to go for the smart phone.

Hopefully there is a niche and their business plan is viable for a small number of sales.

by radicalbyte

6/21/2026 at 6:09:59 PM

They're betting that the target demographic will pay a premium for the form factor, not so much the tech specs.

by kmoser

6/21/2026 at 7:23:38 PM

They are completely ignoring the market of parents who want a non-Smartphone for their kids. And I'm pretty sure this market is going to grow, much more than adults who want to limit themselves.

by eloisant

6/21/2026 at 7:38:44 PM

Those parents can choose from the many dumb phones already on the market that cost under $100. Why on earth would someone who isn't specifically nostalgic about Commodore products spend $500 for this specific dumb phone?

https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/b...

by SwellJoe

6/21/2026 at 7:56:01 PM

You can't do video calls on those sub $100 phones though.

Don't let the form factor fool you, this is not a dumb phone.

by gapan

6/21/2026 at 9:12:37 PM

The Samsung with parental control does the same thing as this phone only you don't have to beg Commodore to install the apps your kid's school requires them to install.

It's at most a $200 smart phone (doubling the prices for the DAC + IEMs) being sold at > $500 with a funky design, interesting OS and their own app store.

I hope that they sell millions of these things, enough so that they can afford to buy the Amiga IP... just don't see it happening.

by radicalbyte

6/21/2026 at 9:24:07 PM

Exactly that. The idea that Commodore can decide which apps go on the device, and I'm supposed to pay a premium for that, is crazy to me. Parental controls solves the problem for kids, without preventing them from having apps the parents want them to have.

People in this thread are trying really hard to invent a customer base for this phone that was seemingly designed for exactly one person.

by SwellJoe

6/21/2026 at 3:44:46 PM

The phone may not be dumb (we'll see) but the idea for new Commodore to release one is. Sorry to be so blunt.

by msephton

6/21/2026 at 5:10:14 PM

I bought one of their C64 repros, it was exactly what I want, I was searching ebay for original Apple ][e at the time anyway.

Why? It's going to be my kids first computer.

Computers today are so absolutely hostile as they are simply attention-sucking sale-terminals. They spend all their time popping up unwanted notifications which are just advertising.

And the interface of modern devices is actually horrible for learning. Some stuff may be intuitive, but the biggest issue is that every slight movement, accidental tap or gesture is linked to something so for kids it's too easy to do something that exits the current program or bring up some sidebar. It's impossible even for me to connect "what did I just do?" with the sudden change in context. It makes it really hard to connect cause and effect. And don't even get me started on how dangerous apps like YouTube are for kids. The recommendation algo seems to surface click-farm scam content in no time. Or weird dopamine traps.

So my kids will start with a device that isn't constantly trying to sell things, they will learn to understand simple systems which has deterministic behavior.

by gtowey

6/21/2026 at 6:10:33 PM

Good luck, I mean that. Times have changed, my kids simply aren't interested in the things I was growing up, so as parents we decided not to force them but rather to positively reinforce whatever it is they want to do. That's not to say they can do whatever they want, of course, but they lead the direction.

by msephton

6/21/2026 at 11:53:57 PM

Commodore's CEO said in the press release about this phone that he wanted it because he, himself, had become addicted to his smartphone, so he switched to a dumbphone "And my two year-old daughter doesn’t see me staring at something she doesn’t understand for half of the day."

Not to sound overly flippant about it, but that sounds like a "him" problem, not a phone problem? He clearly doesn't see it that way. Instead he's decided that his inability to personally cultivate a healthy relationship to current technology represents a flaw in the technology itself, so we should regress it. Kind of, "Am I so out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong." vibes.

I'm not a father, so I can't speak with authority, but it seems to me the appropriate approach (given technology's advances will not stop) is to nurture the skills in children that help them navigate the waters, not to drain the sea.

by ChristopherDrum

6/22/2026 at 7:00:48 AM

Current phones and online services are designed by the very best in their fields to make you as addicted as possible, so you spend your whole life in front of them. It’s not a self control problem and definitely not the user’s fault. That some are realizing this and want a way out (get these toxic technologies out of their life), I think is a good thing. But you can’t really go with a dumb phone in western societies any more, where every small part of your life requires some app to function (parking, public transport, library, banking, postal services, etc). This phone gives a solution to that. I think it fits a niche and it’s probably a growing one.

by neongod

6/22/2026 at 8:45:04 AM

Perryfractic also runs a youtube channel that's more nostalgia bait than actually using the products

I stopped watching after he kept "tearing up" when loading a computer. After a few times it seemed totally fake

by ChrisRR

6/22/2026 at 8:43:29 AM

I'd disagree that the c64 is the platform for learning either though. Sure, plenty of kids learnt that way, but that was out of necessity, not because it's the easiest way to learn

by ChrisRR

6/21/2026 at 7:30:53 PM

So I had a feature phone -- the Nokia 8110 4g. What sold me was that I could use it as a 4g hotspot and connect a smartphone to it, or not and be offline. The idea of "going online" is something I miss, in that it's not normal to be always attached to the internet. The connections I want to foster don't need to be mediated by an ISP, or a Telco, or a social media crime syndicate, or whatever else.

The "flip" part of this phone is cute, but the point Commodore makes about using it to punctuate the experience of using the device is significant to me. The Nokia also has a little sliding cover (which I always preferred over the flips as a matter of taste) and indeed the tactile interaction adds something. If it's still always connected to the internet though, it's just a gimmick.

Sadly my cell provider at the time gave me a SIM which just wouldn't work with it, and nowadays it seems like they aren't even available to buy anymore. I'd be interested in this, but not at a 600$ price level. I want a phone which (a) is a phone and (b) is a 5g wifi hotspot on demand and (c) nothing else. After years of casual searching, I have concluded that such a product is either too niche or too countercultural to be allowed.

by Humorist2290

6/21/2026 at 8:07:33 PM

I'd be the first to admit this alternative is less than ideal since it adds yet another device, but you could carry a battery powered MiFi router (even power it off to conserve it) to supply a mobile connection, and then a feature phone for calls. Plus of course whatever you'd want to use to go online.

I used a TP-Link M7650 when I was cut off from fiber for a while and it worked great for me.

by nehal3m

6/21/2026 at 9:00:16 PM

You certainly could. There are also pluggable modems which are powered directly off, say, your laptop or tablet.

There are also many dumbphones which act as hotspots. Most carriers have low nominal charge for ~100 GB of 150--300 Mbps connectivity monthly.

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 5:13:45 PM

I would use that phone if I had the ability to customise it to my needs. I don’t want meta apps nor Spotify preinstalled, but I would take the ability to install signal.

by aspect0545

6/21/2026 at 3:27:05 PM

Commodore died in the 80-90s, this is the husk of a dead horse being beaten by some YouTuber.

by nubinetwork

6/22/2026 at 11:47:46 AM

[dead]

by diydsp

6/22/2026 at 12:36:21 AM

So "Commodore" as in that YouTuber who bought Commodore although initially he was just asking for the right to make a new C64 case (and the company owning Commodore suggested he could maybe buy the whole thing, instead of just asking for the rights to produce a case)?

Why not: at least it looks like Commodore is in the hand of people who appreciate the brand.

by TacticalCoder

6/21/2026 at 5:57:07 PM

The Samsung android flips are great but all this patent pending tech is just configurations on a non basic build of google.

Like the idea, commodore never had me in its nostalgia, too young, idea is cute, t9 keyboard is workable but I disagree that it’s viable. I want to be wrong of course but

Samsung and apple using their fold flip and discipline fixes the other side. People do not want to detox. Going back to a flip won’t fix it.

Same as the glp1 drugs, people knew food was bad, didn’t stop eating. Started body shame movement. Now that movement seems to have gone silent, glp1s fixed obesity seemingly overnight.

So the question is, what is the future glp1 equilivant for digital detox, a simpler phone or a phone that makes it more complicated to get digital services isn’t it.

Then there’s the argument for price, photo quality and all. No one is going to take photos and edit on a desktop in photoshop or Lightroom. Same as for using two phones and transferring esims, their WhatsApp number, etc

by rootsudo

6/21/2026 at 4:21:40 PM

I'd go this direction as long as it had a real keyboard... Maybe it's time for the blackberry to reemerge.

by dpcan

6/21/2026 at 7:58:27 PM

Look at the Keyphone ($399), Minimal Phone ($399), Zinwa Q25 ($420), Unnecto Snap ($69), and HIT K1 ($349), all via Jose Briones's dumbphone finder.

<https://www.dumbphones.org/>

The other way to go is with an ultra-small laptop (typically 12--13"), a tablet with integrated keyboard, or a (usually DIY) cyberdeck.

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 9:14:34 PM

> ultra-small laptop (typically 12--13")

Gpd makes smaller machines than that.

https://gpdstore.net/gpd-pocket-4/

by fragmede

6/22/2026 at 1:25:07 AM

Thanks!

This is a 9" (well, 8.8") device (display).

Though it looks as if there starts to be a price premium. I'll grant that the specs are impressive.

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 7:43:02 PM

If I were going to be nostalgic about a phone, it'd be the Sidekick II (Danger Hiptop outside the US). That was a banger. Physical keyboard, very comfortable form factor for double thumb typing. A modern take on that would be my ideal phone. The first Android Google Dev Phone 1 was also a great device, sharing lineage with the Sidekick.

by SwellJoe

6/21/2026 at 9:41:54 PM

Waiting for delivery of my Unihertz Titan 2 Elite. Hopefully it’s good overall, but I’m just excited to have a physical keyboard again.

A bonus is that it has some features for interacting with modern interfaces, like touch sensitive scrolling by swiping along the keyboard.

by sudokatsu

6/21/2026 at 4:54:58 PM

https://clicks.tech/communicator

by hoppyhoppy2

6/21/2026 at 9:46:35 PM

I’m surprised they’re able to offer the Dimensity 8300 at that price point. Curious to see how much RAM it comes with.

by sudokatsu

6/21/2026 at 7:43:38 PM

More than the Blackberry... I'd say, the N900 form factor, complete with camera lens lid.

by sombragris

6/21/2026 at 4:11:09 PM

For some reason the diagram under the "Not Your Granny's Flip" heading has been AI-generated

by Retr0id

6/22/2026 at 12:32:44 AM

Basically all the images and videos on their website are AI-generated. It doesn't inspire much confidence.

by ainch

6/21/2026 at 6:06:40 PM

The whole concept is hitting me like a Google studio AI suggestion taken to the extreme with contract manufacturing somehow on-tap.

by itomato

6/21/2026 at 3:42:30 PM

I'm interested in the form factor and excited about the inclusion of a headphone jack but SailfishOS is the real selling point for me.

I'll buy this if there is a way to remove the app restrictions they have. Ideally, I should be able to flash the default SailfishOS

by tcrenshaw

6/21/2026 at 5:20:01 PM

That’s the whole selling point of this phone, though. If they had made it easy to sideload Twitter, they might as well not make a phone.

by Jolter

6/21/2026 at 4:15:47 PM

Their FAQ says there's no way to disable the restrictions, but they also say you can sideload APKs.

by Retr0id

6/21/2026 at 6:16:10 PM

Might as well get an Android flip phone?

Cheaper with a more powerful SOC and better feature set?

Disable your own features, don’t let Perifractic own you.

by itomato

6/21/2026 at 4:49:52 PM

I'm not sure about these new dumb phones. Just not having social media in the first place has worked alright for me.

I hate my phone, and my relationship with it, but sometimes you just need to use one.

My preferred strategy is having a normal phone, minimal apps, and just keeping it switched off most of the time, particularly round the house.

Thing is, I've got a worse problem with my laptop and desk. Between HN, lichess, and a handful of favoured blogs, I can easily blow a day doing nothing, without the help of a phone.

Honestly, I think something deeper than a different form factor is required. If anyone has found it, let me know.

by specproc

6/21/2026 at 9:21:26 PM

What wouldn’t you consider “doing nothing” if even chess and blogs don’t count?

by recursive-call

6/23/2026 at 11:07:11 AM

It's the staring at a screen I hate. I do it for work, I do it when I'm not working.

Best is being out with family, friends, dog. Creating things.

Computer saps my life.

by specproc

6/21/2026 at 6:05:02 PM

It’s not even a dumb phone. It’s a WhatsApp flip phone.

by itomato

6/21/2026 at 7:47:06 PM

Having WhatsApp but no email is the weirdest part about this thing (and there are many weird choices here). This is the most "built specifically for one person" product I've ever seen. I've never used WhatsApp. Never known anyone who suggested we talk via WhatsApp. I know it's popular, but, it's not more popular than email. And, it's certainly more distracting than email, if you're trying to build a device free of things that distract and demand immediate attention.

by SwellJoe

6/21/2026 at 9:10:14 PM

In many countries, Whatsapp is texting. You wouldn't expect a dumb phone to do email but you would expect it to do minimal texting.

by wvenable

6/21/2026 at 10:05:45 PM

I get a lot of nostalgia and initial interest in these types of phones. But I always talk myself out of it because, with self control, my current phone is just as good plus it's one I already have. Perhaps when my current phone loses support then I'll consider these alternatives. But for the price... Eek. Rather just buy a "real" flip phone that can give out a hotspot.

by QuantumNoodle

6/21/2026 at 3:14:09 PM

Folks have a hard time reclaiming their attention from the never ending distractions of a smart phone. If commodore can make a device and ecosystem to make that happen, I’m sure folks will spend the money.

The reality though is, most folks don’t even think how much time they spend on phones, so I hope they can become profitable with devices sold in the thousands.

by azretd

6/21/2026 at 5:09:44 PM

I just parental lock my wife’s phone and she parental locks mine. This has worked for us for nearly a decade now. Solutions that actually work often sound weird (because otherwise it wouldn’t be a problem in the first place), but yeah “ask my wife” and vice versa keeps us from installing Facebook and other apps that are rabbit holes while making it easy to remedy if I actually need it. To be clear, this is totally voluntary and we both choose our own blocks then say “hey add a password” or “hey I need to adjust, punch in the password”. I see it as similar to having a bank teller vs the ATM. Easy peasy and that little bit of friction has made our quality of life better.

by wincy

6/21/2026 at 5:18:15 PM

In case you don't want to bother your spouse (or don't have one) you can use lockmeout.online as a simple online time lock service to hold numeric codes.

by littlecranky67

6/21/2026 at 3:46:45 PM

> Folks have a hard time reclaiming their attention from the never ending distractions of a smart phone.

It's actually surprisingly easy. Flash LineageOS and don't install any nonessential apps which includes no play services. At that point all you have is SMS and the browser. (If you find even just the browser too difficult to resist then configure parental controls I guess.)

Alternatively a less drastic action is to permanently set it to silent. You (and your contacts) get used to it after a few weeks.

by fc417fc802

6/21/2026 at 4:35:22 PM

> Flash LineageOS and don't install any nonessential apps which includes no play services.

I did this with GrapheneOS and a simple launcher. That said, it's not something the average person will ever want to, or maybe even be capable to, do. They want to just pay someone money and get a product that respects them.

If this does that, then it will be well received by the people who care enough to spend money on it. I'll actually be buying one when it launches. My custom solution is "fine"... It's also a pain in my behind.

The entire point of a "dumb" phone like this is to reduce the amount of attention it requires from me. Managing some custom ROM and keeping it up to date actually requires MORE attention in some ways. I kind of hate it even after a year or two of constant tinkering to make it fit me "just right". I'd rather have something that respects me out of the box and spend a little time adapting to it.

by mapontosevenths

6/21/2026 at 3:11:50 PM

This is a similar idea to the lightphone. I would be curious to see a more detailed comparison of the twos features.

by ageedizzle

6/21/2026 at 7:17:17 PM

> "You don’t need a Google account to operate the device."

Now that's progress.

by Animats

6/21/2026 at 8:26:55 PM

But you need a Meta account??

by itomato

6/21/2026 at 7:53:18 PM

It's typical of de-Googled devices, which includes some tablets which ship without Google Play Services (the adtech tracking infrastructure) activated, as well as Android-derived OSes (GrapheneOS, LineageOS, /e/OS, iodeOS) and AOSP variants (KaiOS). There's Linux and Android bits in there (fairly complete for the first list, less so for AOSP/KaiOS), but at least by default no Google requirements or spyware.

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 3:35:01 PM

I need car play, eg maps + YouTube music. And fb and texto + messenger + whatsapp. Price is irrelevant if i can get a “fully functional” phone without a browser. Oh i guess I could live without discord. But seems fine to have..

by bethekidyouwant

6/21/2026 at 5:10:26 PM

The cool thing is running two phones w same number. One big market phone and one minimal. Take the minimal out most of the time and the big one when you need to.

Tmobile used to let me do that but it was pricey.

by diydsp

6/21/2026 at 5:41:01 PM

It still is pricey, but you can already buy such a minimal one; it’s a smartwatch.

by Someone

6/21/2026 at 5:01:12 PM

My biggest problem with dumb phones and similar concepts like this digital detox phone is the comparitively crappy cameras. I don't take photos often, but when I do I want them to be good.

by notnullorvoid

6/21/2026 at 5:06:53 PM

They say that it has a 48MP camera so that shouldn't be a problem. I think I saw them comparing it to the iphone's camera even. Remains to be seen of course.

by gapan

6/21/2026 at 5:17:57 PM

The reason the iPhone takes great photos is probably 95% because of the software. It’s 0% because of the number of pixels, and never was even since their early models.

I think the kind of user who gets a detox phone will also get an Instax or a second hand old Ixus.

by Jolter

6/21/2026 at 8:14:25 PM

Is there a reason to think that this might not have equally good software for taking pictures? Almost, at least. There are a lot of phones in the market with good cameras (yes, + software).

We won't know until someone tries it.

by gapan

6/21/2026 at 8:09:32 PM

You can buy a standalone camera, some for under $100, many for < $600. These are at least as pocketable as a smartphone, you can hand one to someone without giving them your digital life, and they'll outlast any current smartphone, often by decades.

For examples of current offerings, PC Mag 2026 reviews: <https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-point-and-shoot-cameras>.

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 5:15:52 PM

This is a pocket Linux terminal with loads of untapped potential out of the box. Combining voice navigation with an ssh linked home AI server may make this a true privacy-first successor to the prying smartphone for the AI era. And there is the audio quality, with a battery that lasts a week. The Bluetooth tethering has a standby feature so any non-cellular wifi device you carry is effectively always connected as well. It won't drop like most smartphones. There is way more utility in this combo than the brick in your pocket we have to contend with now. I hope Commodore can see past the detox only and see what they have really created here. Meanwhile hackers can have a field day!!

by PrimeOS32

6/21/2026 at 6:03:14 PM

Not really, it’s a 5 year old SOC that runs Sailfish.

You want a Linux box in your pocket? Why does a flip phone factor excite you?

by itomato

6/22/2026 at 2:53:19 PM

It's the battery life and the small size. Although it is the same wieght as my SE.

by PrimeOS32

6/21/2026 at 7:14:59 PM

It's genuinely small. You can put it in your pocket and forget that it's there. I'm continually amazed that people don't seem to want that.

by abc42

6/21/2026 at 8:24:41 PM

We have had that in various forms for a while now without the grandiose visions and gatekeeping.

The exact same module in fact has been around for a while. Battery is ancient. T9 is ancient.

I have a $70 Linux box in my pocket already. It runs a Buildroot distro and the only real difference is an LTE PHY.

I have lived through the Nokia internet tablet and I’m surprised this isn’t what people aspire to.

by itomato

6/22/2026 at 4:53:35 AM

Thing is, we also need stuff like Signal to actually use phones for their original purpose these days. Most flip phones that we've had so far are dumb phones, mostly unable to run 3rd party software.

It sounds like this Commodore phone might be able to fill that gap. I'll wait for the first few reviews though.

by abc42

6/21/2026 at 7:40:08 PM

WTF are you talking about? This is not at all fit for that purpose.

by SwellJoe

6/22/2026 at 2:52:19 PM

I agree. But it shoud be. A voice AI emabled flip phone.

by PrimeOS32

6/21/2026 at 3:54:11 PM

Keeping my eye on this. I really like the general form factor and aesthetic here. The candy-like wired audio and chiptune ringtones are a fun bonus.

by DigiEggz

6/21/2026 at 8:57:33 PM

There is a growing set of options outside the Android / iOS duopoly. Commodore is stepping into this space, but they're by no means the only option.

I've been looking into this area for the past month or so and have some hopefully-useful knowledge to share.

For informational resources, I strongly recommend Jose Briones's website <https://josebriones.org/>, Substack <https://josebriones.substack.com/>, Dumbphone Finder <https://www.dumbphones.org/>, YouTube channel <https://inv.nadeko.net/channel/UCFtVwG0NFd6gT3TXfMCU7oA>, and /r/dumbphones on Reddit (which he co-moderates). There are others also sharing information in this space, you should be able to discover at least some especially through YT and Reddit.

First question I'd pose is why do you want out of the Apple/Google phone duopoly? Typical answers would be:

- Intentionality / focus. Avoiding digital distraction and social timesucks. I'd include phone/SMS/messaging spam here.

- Privacy / tracking. Avoiding the pervasive adtech of modern smartphones.

- Cost. Not wanting to throw a megabuck at a new flagship device.

- Quality. Of calls, of hardware, of software, of support (next item).

- Support. Both hardware and software. Is there a solid warranty, is the device repairable, will there be OS and app updates, and for how long?

- Modularity. Whether hardware or software, the ability to add/remove from the standard feature set.

- Specific features. Rugged devices, overall size, screen size, battery capacity, removable batteries, removable modules, flip phones, e-ink / monochrome, keyboard (T-9, QWERTY), headphone jack, etc. Neither Google nor Apple offer choice on most of these for current products.

Second would be what other constraints exist on your options? Typical here would be mobile networking standards (4G and VoLTE are table stakes today, 5G may be soon), physical v. e-SIM, and your must-have capabilities (usually given as apps). Messaging (including group texts, WhatsApp, Signal, Teams, and/or Slack), mapping/navigation, music/podcast/entertainment, rideshare, and banking/finance are what I see come up most frequently. Most or all of these have viable workarounds, but that depends on where you care to compromise.

Third is what OS option(s) fit your needs. Full integration with the Google/Apple worlds will require Android or iOS. Android alternatives will match most mainstream functionality, though Google's making this increasingly difficult. That's GrapheneOS, LineageOS, SailfishOS, /e/OS, and iodeOS generally. Android-lite options, typically based on AOSP (Android Open Source Project), notably including KaiOS are yet further restricted, though have some app support (calculators, FM radio, podcasts, minimal Web browser, sometimes mapping, Signal, etc.). Even "focus-oriented" devices typically permit sideloading apps, so ultimately you are your own gatekeeper.

Fourth is to what extent you're willing to extend your "everyday carry" (EDC) with items to backfill smartphone features you've traded off. For example, an e-reader, camera, flashlight, laptop, MP3 player, or ultra-light laptop.

Fifth is your price range. Options start well under $100, and can go well over $1000, though there's quite a choice in the $100--$%600 range (new), lower if you're willing to pick used/refurbished devices.

I'd argue that intentionality is fairly well served by many options.

Privacy is far harder to establish, and many characteristics of the phone ecosystem independent of smartphone features themselves put some pretty hard limits on what you can accomplish. Cell-tower tracking, call history, contacts, and the like will leave a pretty robust footprint regardless of your OS and app choices. Even secure comms systems leave valuable metadata. My own approach is to consider any phone tainted, and to seek instead to minimise the data on, and generated by, the device. This means relying on other tools for other online tasks ... or moving those tasks offline.

The remaining factors (or others you might consider) tend to be reflected to some extent. There are flip phones, Android-alternative smartphones, feature / dumb phones, e-ink devices, modular phones, rugged phones, cheap phones, big and small phones, touchscreen or keyboarded phones. And lots and lots of headphone jacks.

The options which seem to most often make a splash on HN tend to command price premiums: Light Phone, Punkt, and Commodore are all $300--$600 items, rivaling recent full-featured iOS/Android devices. These options have their strengths, particularly in design and possibly support. Fairphone is another option, starting around $750, with hardware modularity baked in. There are reasons prices tend to run high relative to spec for comparable iOS / Android devices, with fixed costs and lack of economies of scale being key, though upmarket-positioning (warranted or not) is also at play. You'll find discussion of this on Reddit and YouTube, e.g., <https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=Fj61cc3QFdM> and <https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=BurBSG0YSGk>, from Briones and "My Name is Michael" (another informative YouTuber).

That said, there are far less expensive options available, though you'll want to pay attention to your priority list and reviewed quality/experience.

If spam avoidence fits into your intentionality/privacy considerations ... some of the options aren't great. KaiOS, a fairly popular feature-phone OS, lacks specific call-blocking settings, apps, or APIs entirely based on what I've seen. This is ... unfortunate. I'd consider white/grey/black listing to be table stakes in 2026. Most devices offer at best per-number call blocking, which is ridiculous. Ideally I'd have a VoIP call relay which was the only number permitted to directly reach my mobile, with logic on the VoIP system to process incoming calls based on white- / grey- / black list status and other rules (e.g., time of day, availability status).

There's also the option of ditching PSTN (public switched telephone network) largely or entirely, whether through VoIP/SIP systems, alternative messaging platforms, or other options. That's something I'm continuing to explore (and am well behind the curve relative to many).

by dredmorbius

6/21/2026 at 6:02:11 PM

It runs Sailfish. That's something, I guess.

by daneel_w

6/21/2026 at 4:05:50 PM

It looks awesome but I’d need to be able to swap an eSIM easily to switch back and forth from an iPhone.

by clickety_clack

6/21/2026 at 4:06:56 PM

eSIMs can't be swapped by design to increase lock-in. That's why I never buy a phone that requires an eSIM or use a carrier that only issues an eSIM.

by pocksuppet

6/21/2026 at 8:13:55 PM

Why downvote this?

by pocksuppet

6/22/2026 at 4:09:31 AM

> eSIMs ... design[ed] to increase lock-in.

Probably because you're assuming facts not in evidence. I'm not doubting you, but please provide a source for such an assertion.

by rationalist

6/21/2026 at 4:25:46 PM

Am I able to use the Transit app? That's one thing I'd really like to have.

by busymom0

6/21/2026 at 5:30:38 PM

Not Commodore-looking. Not nostalgic. Not novel. It unchecks all the boxes.

I’m saying that as a very happy C64U owner.

by sedatk

6/21/2026 at 6:16:16 PM

But it IS “digital detox” and Christian Simpson has said many times that’s what Commodore is.

Despite Christian’s YouTube channel being all about retro and nostalgia, that not what Commodore is about.

by andrewstuart

6/21/2026 at 8:12:11 PM

> Christian Simpson has said many times that’s what Commodore is

Well he’s wrong. Commodore’s original spirit was all about entering the new digital era, not running away from it. We learned programming, games, demoscene, BBSes, and even Internet on our C64s and Amigas. C64U makes this even better thanks to USB ports and Wifi support, so it’s trivial to keep it connected to the new material while experiencing the nostalgia closest to its authentic form.

This phone is nowhere near it.

by sedatk

6/21/2026 at 4:37:44 PM

I'm all for something dumber than the average little black skinner box. The price doesn't really bother me as much as the side loading restrictions. If I'm going to pay $600 for a novelty phone I better be allowed to do whatever I want with it. Locking that behavior behind some fuzzy logic yes/no algorithm based on God only knows what LLM seems pretty tone deaf to what a lot of people have been saying about owning their own hardware over the last decade or so.

by ediamondscience

6/21/2026 at 3:11:04 PM

not so sure about this one.

by DennisL123

6/21/2026 at 4:00:28 PM

We had smart phones already before iOS and Android came to be, so the headline is a bit duh.

by pjmlp

6/21/2026 at 3:26:18 PM

Speaking as someone who loved the hell out of the dysfunctional mess that was Commodore, and read every Compute's Gazette front to back as soon as it came out: FFS, just let them stay dead. I'm really sick of seeing my generation being strip-mined nonstop for nostalgia.

by chuckadams

6/21/2026 at 3:08:54 PM

It’s as overpriced as the SpaceX IPO.

by dotcoma

6/21/2026 at 3:31:51 PM

Overpriced relative to what? Phones that are produced at scale by the millions and so can have much lower prices due to economy of scale? That's going to be the case with anything produced in low volumes, but that doesn't mean they are overcharging for it.

Most tech products are sold at somewhere around 3-4x what it costs the company to make them.

by ranger_danger

6/21/2026 at 3:49:42 PM

I have no idea how much it costs to produce this phone, but if you asked me how much it should cost, I'd say about 200 USD.

by dotcoma

6/21/2026 at 4:08:26 PM

That's the hardware. How much do you have to add on to cover the designer and software people's salaries and the CEO's profit, if you're only going to be able to sell 5 phones?

by pocksuppet

6/21/2026 at 5:00:55 PM

If all you sell is 5 phones, or even 500, the price doesn’t matter. A lemon is a lemon.

by dotcoma

6/21/2026 at 5:47:40 PM

Back when I designed phones, there was a minimum order of 50K units before an OEM would talk to you, and even then, they usually had a like-unit already in the production pipeline so they wouldn't have to retool everything.

by zikduruqe

6/21/2026 at 6:07:58 PM

The BOM speaks for itself

by itomato

6/21/2026 at 3:15:14 PM

That'd mean they sell for more than the advertised price given how the stock went up after launch.

by Leonard_of_Q

6/21/2026 at 3:27:06 PM

Well, somehow the laws of gravity don’t apply to SpaceX, nor to Tesla.

by dotcoma

6/21/2026 at 9:18:26 PM

> the laws of gravity don’t apply to SpaceX

If and when that happens the stock will really take off.

by Leonard_of_Q