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 the UK, and once you pick your network we only show the ones we've confirmed can make calls on it.
8 of 8 phones
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HMD 105 4G
The simplest, cheapest option: calls, texts, FM radio and a torch.
- Bar
- No app store
- Battery: up to 10 hours of talk
from £39.99
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HMD 110 4G
A basic bar phone with a music player, FM radio and USB-C.
- Bar
- No app store
- Battery: up to 10 hours of talk
from £44.99
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HMD 2660 Flip 4G
A clamshell with big buttons and a 2.8" screen, often chosen for older relatives.
- Flip
- No app store
- Battery: up to 8 hours of talk
from £59
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HMD 3210 4G
The 2024 remake of the 1999 classic, with Snake, a 2 MP camera and dual SIM.
- Bar
- No app store
- Battery: up to 9 hours of talk
from £74.99
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HMD Fusion X1
A smartphone for children with parental controls from Xplora (subscription needed).
- Touch
- Wi-Fi hotspot
- Maps
- Battery: about 2 days of use
from £175
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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 ≈ £299 (US$399)
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Alcatel 3080G
A basic bar phone that Vodafone and Three both list as supporting 4G calling.
- Bar
- No app store
- Battery: up to 12 days on standby
Out of stock everywhere we've checked.
from £24.99
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Punkt MP02
Punkt's buttons-only phone for calls and texts, which can also share its internet as a hotspot. It can't install apps.
- Bar
- No app store
- Wi-Fi hotspot
- Battery: up to 7 days on standby
Out of stock. Get notified by Punkt
from ≈ £272 (CHF 299)
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 the UK