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Dumb phones and low-tech phones

A dumb phone calls, texts and not much else. That's the point. Every phone below is sold in Canada, and once you pick your network we only show the ones we've confirmed can make calls on it.

Must have: WhatsApp, maps, hotspot and more
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5 of 5 phones

  1. Nubia (ZTE) Cymbal 2

    A simple flip phone sold by Bell's and Rogers' budget brands, with a hotspot, FM radio and a removable battery. No app store, so no WhatsApp.

    • Flip
    • No app store
    • Wi-Fi hotspot

    from $80

  2. TCL Flip

    A cheap flip phone sold by Bell's and Rogers' budget brands, with a hotspot, music player and headphone jack. No app store, so no WhatsApp.

    • Flip
    • No app store
    • Wi-Fi hotspot
    • Battery: about 13 hours of use

    from $110

  3. Sonim XP3plus 5G

    A tough, waterproof-style flip phone with an emergency key, a hotspot and a headphone jack.

    • Flip
    • No app store
    • Wi-Fi hotspot
    • Battery: up to 11 days on standby

    from $480

  4. Sonim XP5plus

    A tough keypad phone with an emergency key, push-to-talk, a hotspot and loud dual speakers.

    • Bar
    • No app store
    • Wi-Fi hotspot
    • Battery: up to 25 days on standby

    from $483

  5. Mudita Kompakt

    An E Ink minimalist phone with offline maps, a music player, hotspot and a headphone jack. No browser or app store, though Android apps can be sideloaded.

    • Touch
    • No app store
    • Wi-Fi hotspot
    • Maps
    • Battery: up to 6 days on standby

    from ≈ $565 (US$399)

What is a dumb phone?

A dumb phone, also called a basic phone, feature phone or low-tech phone, is a mobile phone without the app store, feeds and endless notifications of a smartphone. Most have physical buttons and a small screen, and many have a battery that lasts for days rather than hours.

People buy them to cut down on screen time, as a cheap backup phone, for children and older relatives, or for places where a smartphone would get broken or lost.

What to check before you buy

Whether it can make calls on your network. Mobile networks are switching off their older 3G and 2G services, and many simple phones can only make calls over 4G on networks that have approved them. We check this for you: pick your network above.

Whether it has the few extras you can't do without. Some dumb phones have WhatsApp, maps or a Wi-Fi hotspot so a laptop or tablet can share their internet; most don't. Use the "Must have" boxes to narrow the list.

More guides

How we check · Which phones make calls on which network · Networks in Canada