Transitioning to a “Dumbphone”

I’m not somebody addicted to using a smartphone. In fact, I sort of adopted the digital minimalist mindset around six months ago and started using my existing smartphone, a OnePlus 10 5G, with the amazing Before Launcher.

But something told me that wasn’t enough. I felt like I needed to do even more to make my phone less inviting. However, there were still a few apps I needed to get by. It didn’t seem too possible for me to completely give up my smartphone as a result of that.

However, it looks like there was a way in the form of the (pictured above) Xiaomi Qin F22 Pro. I found it when I stumbled into this YouTube video by Jose Briones.

This looked like it would serve as the possible transition device I was looking for! However, I would still tell myself that I was already doing enough by having Before Launcher on a smartphone. After months and months of thinking about it, however, I decided to go for it in the middle of last month. Fast forward to just recently as it finally arrived in my hands.

I’ll update with a new post once I have more to say about using the phone for an extended period, as I know a first overall impression doesn’t give a full picture of what it’s like to use the device on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong; I do have a few things I already want to say about it, but I’m going to go more in-depth once I’ve really gotten the full experience.