like I lived through the brick to flip phone to smartphone era, but I can’t remember what features I was looking at on these flip phones when I was deciding which one to buy. do you guys remember?

  • invertedspear@lemm.ee
    2·
    1 day ago

    My first flip phone was free when I signed up for service. Next one I got because it had that push to talk feature a bunch of my friends and coworkers had. Last one was just to upgrade the second one. Added a camera, an external display with caller ID and track info when playing MP3s. Then I got into the early smartphones. Pre iPhone, Windows CE stuff.

    If I were looking today it would need to be rugged as hell since I drop shit all the time, and I bet there won’t be a lot of cases for it. Capable of hotspot. Still want a camera (the best camera is the one you have with you). And a decent button feel since texting is going to be a way bigger PITA

  • Mountain_Mike_420@lemmy.ml
    19·
    2 days ago

    I liked the ones that had fm receivers in them and if you plugged in a pair of headphones they would act as the antenna and you could listen to local Radio stations.

  • 10_0@lemmy.ml
    4·
    2 days ago

    Never had a flipphone but I would imagine that features like: opening with one hand, FM radio, and a good microphone, and builtin games are a must. I’m gonna get a refurb (excellent condition from amazon) Samsung flip3 5g so I’m hoping that I can open it with one hand, and I’m a bit sad that’s there’s no FM radio on it. But a lot of comprises are made when buying former flagships. (No SD card slot, no FM radio, no headphone jack.)

    • Beeps@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 days ago

      I don’t remember phones ever having FM radio as a norm. Yoy could listen to stations that were playable online if you had data. But that was before streaming is what is now.

      • thepreciousboar@lemm.ee
        2·
        1 day ago

        Very common before 2010. As far as I know the fm decoder was integrated in the SoC itself (at least it is so in modern SoCs), so it’s not even that demanding on the design. Probably not a requested feature, which is a bit sad

  • NataliePortland@lemmy.caEnglish
    10·
    2 days ago

    I’m trying to remember. I think they had cameras. I know I had the Motorola Razr. Everyone had that phone. I think it had a camera and that was basically it. But everyone has that phone because it looked cool.

    • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
      6·
      2 days ago

      for some reason my little brain decided that the razor was a girl’s phone and, being a teenager, that mattered.

  • shasta@lemm.ee
    3·
    2 days ago

    Tbh I always preferred the slide phones. But if you specifically want opinions on the flip phones…

    Needs to be able to open one handed with your thumb. Some models are too sleek with no ridge to pry up with your thumb.

    Needs to be durable. A lot of cheap flip phones start having screens and buttons coming off after a while because of slamming the phone shut all the time and being made of cheap parts.

    I preferred a phone with T9 texting, but maybe you can just download that these days.

    Vibration might be a factor for you. Some phones vibrate really loudly while others are more subtle. When I was in high school I wanted a vibration I could feel but not hear if it was in my pocket or my hand. Many modern smart phones have much more aggressive vibration than the old flip phones. Not a problem for me anymore now that I’m an adult.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
    7·
    2 days ago

    How big the front side screen was and if it was a colour display? Unless you liked the look of phone that only had LEDs showing the time on the front.

    What ringtones it had (remember this was the age of $1.99 ringtones).

    Speed/specs wasn’t too much of a factor as much as looks. As long as it made calls, did texts, play Snake and if you could afford cellular data then receive emails and do light websurfing then it was good enough.

    Oh, and in this age the smaller and more compact the phones were the better. Only with smartphones did the trend go into reverse.

  • starlord@lemm.eeEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    The weight of the flip does not cause the phone to jostle out of my grip but also fully opens it.

  • tiramichu@lemm.ee
    6·
    2 days ago

    Cared about:

    • Camera quality
    • Audio playback (Can it do MP3 ringtones?)
    • Looks and size (more important than anything else!)

    Didn’t care about:

    • Screen resolution
    • Processor specs
    • Onboard memory (because the assumption was all those photos and videos were going on an SD card)
      • tiramichu@lemm.ee
        1·
        2 days ago

        Haha yeah.

        Honestly though, while I’d certainly look through my photos when I was bored on the train (having no Internet on phones then of course) that was never the intent of how I expected those photos to be viewed.

        I’d regularly transfer all the photos to my PC and that’s what I considered the “real” way to look at them, and email them from there to other people.

  • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
    5·
    2 days ago

    okay, it’s starting to come back to me now. I remember the importance of caller ID on the outside of the phone. it was also really important to me that the phone continued working in speakerphone or with a headset after I closed it. I had one that no matter what settings you changed would not do it, closing it always hung up

  • Che Banana@beehaw.org
    5·
    2 days ago

    I looked for one that could fit in my front chest pocket and be indestructible when fallen out, and then kicked across the floor as I reach for it.