My new mobile phone

NOKIA 105

Notifications and pop-ups on your smartphone pull your fingers to unlock and check it once every five to ten minutes. If you are constantly engaged by it from dawn to dusk and feel like you need to stay away from your smartphone for a day or two, shifting your SIM to a basic phone is one of the best options you have (apart from locking your phone away, which seems impossible). By basic phone, I mean something with which you can only call and text. Nothing more, nothing less.

I made this shift last month to the phone shown on the right and promised myself that I'd not use a smartphone for quite sometime. It costed me ₹999 on Nokia website and brought me the nostalgia of using Nokia 1101 back when I was in high school. These are some changes I noted in more than a month of its use:

Positives:

• The phone is lightweight and of robust build (not as good as older Nokia phones), so I don't bother much about it.
• The feeling of carrying a phone that's easy to fit, easy to hold and easy to carry eludes almost everyone else.
• All week battery charge under nominal use.
• I don't even feel that there is a phone in my pocket, which made me feel less anxious about dropping/losing it.
• Simple and quick access interface makes dialing faster than present day phones. I use speed dial to call my mom.
• My screen time reduced drastically and I feel good about it. Now I look at people more than my phone (and even smile at them :)
• There was so much visual info on my smartphone screen which bothered me like adverts, infinite YouTube scroll, app and news/site suggestions (click-baits). Now that issue is gone.
• I talk to friends by calling (texting sometimes) them rather than incessantly chat on WhatsApp. Things got conveyed quicker this way (and it's always good to talk).

Negatives:

• No camera, no internet, only FM radio (you now know what this means).
• No Uber/Ola.
• No Paytm/BHIM/Online money transfer.
• Texting using T9 needs patience and practice. It takes close to half a minute to say something simple.

I like using my new phone but I wonder how long would I be using it. Any lifestyle change can force me to take my smartphone out of the locker (Geesh! I need it for GPS). Let's see!

Goutham