Should you ditch your smartphone for a dumb phone?

Reports from around the world indicate that many people are ditching their smartphones in favour of so-called dumb phones or feature phones, very simple phones that can call and text, and sometimes with just a few basic apps.

According to the BBC many teenagers in the United Kingdom are beginning to opt for dumb phones because they do not want smartphones to take over their lives. The Guardian wrote in an opinion piece that people seem to lose some basic life skills, like being able to find their way around new places, because they rely too much on navigation apps on smartphones.

A press release by Counterpoint in 2019 said that feature phones, slightly more advanced versions of dumb phones, are becoming more popular because many of them are now capable of 4G reception and have some basic apps. They are also much more affordable.

The BBC described dumb phones as basic phones with minimal functions compared to the smartphones we know today. Dumb phones do not have touch screens and use old-fashioned button input methods. These phones can make and receive calls and text messages and can take some low-quality images. Feature phones are similar but have a few more apps, such as very simple versions of the most popular apps like Facebook and Twitter, and can connect to the internet.

According to Highsnobiety a dumb phone is a great way to detach from social media and the always-on digital life, and to improve your mental health.

According to a press release by the research group Gartner from March 2022 there has been a significant drop in smartphone sales over the last few years. However, this was mostly due to the pandemic and a shortage of important components.

Gartner said there was a 12.5% drop in smartphone sales in 2020, which was mainly because of Covid-19. Post-lockdown there was a 6% increase in smartphone sales in 2021.

On the other hand, global sales of dumb phones have seen strong growth over the past few years, jumping from around 400 million in 2018 to 1 billion in 2021.

A study done by Mark Williams, a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, titled Smartphones are making you stupid – and may be a ‘gateway drug’, concluded that smartphones affect memory and concentration and along with the use of social media it can become very addictive.

“There is a lot of evidence showing that the information you learn on a digital device doesn’t get retained very well and isn’t transferred across to the real world,” said Williams.

He also said that smartphones have conditioned humans to react when hearing beeps and buzzes, so people jump at the sound of it and forget about the task at hand.

The study indicated that smartphones have been linked to university students with high levels of social anxiety, terrible sleeping habits, poor real-world navigation and depression.

A research article on the science portal Frontiers, published in 2021, shows that increased social media usage among university students during the Covid-19 lockdown caused a spike in anxiety, depression and burnout.

Nadia Coetzee (20), a third-year pharmacy student at NWU, agreed, saying “during lockdown, there was very little we could do to entertain ourselves between online classes and I realised halfway through that constantly being on my phone or on social media negatively affected my mental health to the point where I am still struggling with anxiety today, now that we’re out of lockdown.”

In a vox pop by threestreamsmedia, students on the Potchefstroom campus were asked which smartphones they prefer. Miranda Smuts (20), a third-year theology student at the NWU said, “I prefer Apple because I think it is safer and more reliable.” Watch the video on TikTok to see comments from other students and add your own voice to the debate.

@threestreamsmedia There has always been a debate among students about which smartphone is beter. Threestreamsmedia decided to hear from the NWU Potchefstroom students what they think. Check out our article tomorrow about how people are switching from smartphones to ‘dumbphones’ on threestreamsmedia.com #uni #students #voxpop #smartphone #iphone #android #fypage #threestreamsmedia ♬ Stand By Me – Ben E. King

• Let us know in a comment to this story or on our social media pages if you think dumb phones are a good idea. Do smartphones lead to anxiety and lack of concentration? Will you be able to survive without your smartphone?