Nokia 2660: Digital detox done right

As miraculous as it is to be able to tap into the collective knowledge of humanity by typing (or asking) your smartphone a question, to navigate to any address on earth, hear or watch a huge array of music/TV/movies and control your home, there is a dark side to being online via your smartphone all the time.

We were out at a restaurant a while back, and a couple sat at a table across from us. At least, I think they were a couple; you see, neither of them spoke to the other during the entire meal. Instead, they sat and gazed zombie-like at their smartphones as they stuffed food into their faces. They could have been eating pickled barbed wire and they’d have never noticed. This isn’t a unique situation. Attend any social gathering, and chances are that you’ll see more people staring vacantly into their phones than being in the moment and engaging with others around them.

Then, there’s the sheer amount of toxic behaviour and misinformation accessible via social media and online media outlets. Things have become so crazy that many people are unsure of what is real anymore. To be fair, the whole issue is a complex can of worms, involving a vast amount of interdependent moving parts, but the upshot is that spending any time on social media has started to become more unpleasant than fun.

These issues were at the top of my mind when I received the Nokia 2260, a tiny flip phone that is the polar opposite of today’s smartphones, lacking anything remotely like the capabilities of today’s smartphones.

Its plastic design makes it feel toy-like but spending two weeks with it as my daily driver, where it suffered several accidental drops, proved that, like old Nokia phones, it’s built to last. The 2660’s curved finish makes it easy to slide into a pocket or purse, and answering a phone call is as easy as flipping it open. I’d almost forgotten how tactile a flip phone is and found its opening “thunk” to be very satisfying.

Design-wise, the 2660 is a definite blast from the past. Its front display is big enough to display a clock and some basic notification information, but that’s it. Flipping 2660 open reveals an old school 4-way D-pad for navigating menus (we don’t need any stinking touch screens!) along with call answer/end menu select and exit buttons plus a numeric pad for entering phone numbers or multi-tapping text messages (more on this later). Its design is blindingly simple and elegant, so there’s next to no learning curve involved (even if I took a few long minutes to figure out how to navigate its setting menus). In short, the 2660 is probably just like your phone before Apple added fruit to phones and smartphones entered the mainstream.

The 2660 also wins points with its sticker price. Where the latest crop of smartphones commands a steep price premium, the 2260 can be had for a mere $129. If you shop around, you’ll pick it up for as little as $88, making it one of the most affordable phones on the market.

So, how dumb is the 2660? It’s a phone, so it can make calls and send texts. It also has a camera and can shoot photos or videos. There’s also a torch, an FM radio, and several simple games (sadly, Snake isn’t included). Facebook is baked in as is a very basic browser, but I gave both a miss in the interests of completing a digital detox.

The integrated shooter uses a 0.3MP sensor, and the best thing that can be said is that it works – just. In lower light settings, it struggled to focus, saturation suffered, and shutter speeds dropped to the point where getting a photo that wasn’t a blurry mess was a tricky proposition. Under full daylight, however, it was marginally better to use. To be honest, Nokia could have omitted the camera and focused on using more premium materials for the 2660’s chassis.

The 2660’s other winning attribute is its battery life. In an age where charging one’s phone daily is a must, the 2660 ran for three whole days with moderate use before it needed quality time with its bundled charger. Unfortunately, the charger uses a micro USB plug, which makes it next to useless for most other USB-charged gadgets scattered around Cassa Pilch. Maybe Nokia could bring a USB C to its next flippy phone?

Another bonus is the removable battery, which went by the wayside with smartphones. It’s a handy addition, allowing me to buy a spare battery so I can always have a charged battery on hand. Underneath the battery is a microSD slot for up to 32GB of media storage, as well as dual SIM slots allowing you to have both personal and work numbers on the same phone. This was a pleasant surprise given the 2660’s super affordable price point.

So, after a few weeks with 2660 as my daily driver, I became more present and in the moment. Social media was a distant noise on the horizon that was dealt with much later if and when I got on my PC. I wasn’t constantly bombarded by an endless stream of unwanted and distracting notifications, either. Did I miss my Galaxy Fold? Hell yes, but for those who need a break from the often toxic mayhem of being online or who don’t want a smartphone, the 2660 is a solid and affordable choice.

https://www.hmd.com/en_nz/nokia-2660-flip?sku=1GF012HPA1A01