The Dumber Mini is a Nokia-style keypad phone that, unlike the Light Phone, keeps the load-bearing apps (WhatsApp, Maps, banking, transit, Spotify) and just uses a 2.8-inch screen plus an app blocker to kill the scroll. Whether that fixes the "back to a smartphone in a week" problem, or just smuggles the smartphone back in, is untested.
What holds up:
- Priced at 149 pounds (UK) and 199 dollars (US and Canada), but it is a preorder, so a promise, not a product.
- The hardware is a rebadged Chinese keypad Android phone, not bespoke.
- DumberOS is genuinely open source, but as patches on LineageOS, not a whole stack you own.
- Best part costs nothing: flash it yourself on a supported phone, or just try grayscale plus an app blocker first.
The idea does not need the pallet. Test it this weekend for free.
