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The smartphone is among the most significant innovations in human history. With these pocket-sized devices, users can access or purchase nearly any song, book, movie, or television show ever created. Together with the mobile app ecosystem, which\u00a0Apple helped pioneer, the smartphone has changed how people communicate, shop, travel, bank, and even date. However, the very things that make smartphones so engaging and useful are also what make them so addictive.<\/p>\n
Today, smartphones bombard users with perpetual streams of alerts and notifications. By offering an endless well of entertainment, social media apps like Instagram and TikTok often keep users glued to their devices for hours on end \u2014 but studies have shown that extensive social media use can negatively impact one’s mental health. One\u00a02020 report<\/a> published in the\u00a0Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science\u00a0found that social media use demonstrably increases “exposure to harm, social isolation, depressive symptoms, and bullying.”\u00a0Furthermore, a later\u00a02025 report<\/a> published by Pew Research Center found that 45% of adolescents believe they spend too much time using social media.<\/p>\n Consequently, folks in Generation Z are trading their Androids and iPhones\u00a0for new minimalist flip phones<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0still enable them to call and text friends, but without the temptation of being hooked on their devices for countless hours.\u00a0Without instant social media access, users are less likely to spend as much time scrolling through omnipresent\u00a0“brain rot,”\u00a0 which\u00a0Merriam-Webster<\/a>\u00a0defines as “mindless digital content.” It\u00a0should come as no surprise, then, that many\u00a0people who use flip phones as their primary device report feeling happier and less anxious compared to when they used smartphones. Consequently, the trend of Gen Zers gravitating towards flip phones has been growing\u00a0over the past several years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Nostalgia is a major driver of flip phone sales, even among youth<\/p>\n
Florencio Horcajo Alvarez\/Getty Images<\/p>\n In every generation, technologies from decades past carry an allure that makes them easily romanticized and, therefore, coveted. This even occurs with music\u00a0\u2014\u00a0nowadays, there’s a niche segment of younger consumers who shun streaming and prefer listening to music on CDs and vinyl records. Even\u00a0cassette tapes are making a comeback in 2026<\/a>.\u00a0This phenomenon of chasing older media is now playing out with cell phones, and\u00a0Gen Z is actively embracing flip phones for the nostalgia factor.<\/p>\n The Gen Z age range commonly includes individuals born between 1997 and 2012, so the oldest members of Gen Z are likely to remember flip phones from their childhoods. For most people in the demographic, though, smartphones are the only kinds of mobile phones they’ve ever owned. As a result, using a less capable\u00a0“dumb phone” has retro appeal. Gen\u00a0Z\u00a0started flocking to acquire feature phones in the early 2020s,\u00a0so much so that flip phone sales among users aged 18 to 24 increased by 148% between 2021 and 2024, according to a 2024 report<\/a> from\u00a0the peer-reviewed Partners Universal Innovative Research Publication.<\/p>\n Cell phones and music aren’t the only areas in which Gen Z folks are leaning into older technologies, though.\u00a0Many\u00a0people in that demographic are now using old point-and-shoot digital cameras and disposable cameras over modern-day smartphones for photos, especially for events. I\u00a0attended a wedding just a few weeks ago where every single table featured a disposable camera \u2014\u00a0a retro gadget that pretty well everyone owned in the ’80s<\/a>\u00a0but isn’t so ubiquitous anymore \u2014 so guests could easily take retro-style photos. All told, the nostalgia factor appeals to adults hoping to enjoy childhood relics anew, but it also appeals to younger generations yearning to use devices they were too young to experience when they were first introduced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Select flip phone models stand out among Gen Z buyers<\/p>\n
Velimir Zeland\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Support for mobile data \u2014 namely 4G LTE \u2014\u00a0is one big reason why certain flip phone models gain popularity over others. The Nokia 2780 Flip and the Nokia 2660 Flip,\u00a0both released in 2022, are two such options.\u00a0The Telegraph<\/a> even designated the latter as what they call the “Best Flip-open Clamshell Dumbphone” of 2026.\u00a0You can find either\u00a0phone\u00a0new on eBay for anywhere between $60 and $100.\u00a0Some aspiring flip phone owners also take to online marketplaces to buy\u00a0bona fide vintage flip phone options,\u00a0one of the most popular options being the Motorola Razr V3. That one goes for about $50 on eBay. Just note that buying used flip phones online can be risky, since there’s no guarantee they will work as expected.<\/p>\n Naturally, newer flip phones like the Nokia 2660 Flip have more features and advantages than vintage flip phones do. Those features include better battery life, GPS functionality, a larger display, and cellular network access. If those are the kinds of features you need, avoid getting a flip phone from the pre-smartphone era. If you want some flip phone recommendations, consider heading to the r\/dumbphones subreddit,\u00a0an active online community where users post all about their experiences with stripped-down cell phones. Some\u00a0flip phones on the market\u00a0that are popular among\u00a0Gen Z\u00a0buyers include the two aforementioned Nokia models,\u00a0the TCL Classic, and the Kyocera DuraXV Extreme+.<\/p>\n Even major retailers carry\u00a0flip phones, most of which are brand new and unlocked. For example, Best Buy sells the Tracfone Blu Flex<\/a>\u00a0flip phone for just $24.99. The device ships with 4G LTE support, Bluetooth, GPS, and Android\u00a014. It also has a rear-facing 2-megapixel camera, so it provides just about all the key mobile phone essentials \u2014 like maps, messaging, and basic photography \u2014 without any of the noisy features that would tempt you to spend endless hours scrolling on your device.<\/p>\n
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