This Flip Phone Changed My Digital Habits

Today's video is all about digital distraction, and how I'm fighting it using the CAT S22 Flip. Using this phone I've reduced my screen time to just 19 minutes! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Links:

Cat S22 Flip (new):

Cat S22 Flip (renewed):

The mic I use:

The camera I use:

Lens:

*Disclaimer*
All Amazon links placed in the description section are Amazon Affiliate links, and I receive a small commission on any purchases made through this link. Thanks for your support!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:45 Background on the CAT S22 Flip
01:45 Why it's less distracting
03:15 How I am using it
05:21 Partnership segment
06:20 Battery life concerns
07:32 Sluggish OS
07:59 Using the keyboard
08:25 Using it at work
09:23 The solution to digital distraction?
10:10 Final thoughts

[stevemuzak]

I was on a vacation and took that phone with me. Using that phone for a month was like liberation. I was relaxed for weeks. Greatest feeling ever.

[JW]

Pro -tip to anyone looking to get this- it has talk to text option so you dont have to type on the small screen or do swipe, i find talk to text very convenient, and it being the google based talk to text it is really accurate as well.

[Puerile.]

A QWERTY version of this would be a sick communicator device. Yes, there are those Unihertz phones, but their keyboard layout is... quite odd.

[emmashaye]

I have this phone and I love it! My only problem is that I'm a social media manager, and sometimes I need to post stories to IG on the go, so I haven't been able to ditch my iPhone yet. But if I can find a way to get around that, I 100% recommend this phone!

[Apocalypse]

I just ordered one of these. It seems that this phone is exactly what I´ve been looking for, the middle ground. I´m able to listen to music, record audio diary entries, look at maps and contact people via Whatsapp (I wouldn´t use it otherwise, but literally 100% of the people I know use that instead of regular messages).

It has features I´ll mostly use not for comfort, but for security and as tools, apart from listening to music, but I´ll allow myself that since music somewhat helps with my anxiety disorder, and it helps me control my mood & stay calm (so you could argue that it´s also being used as a tool I guess :D).

And I think what you mentioned about the ergonomics of the device holds up. For example, if I´m visiting a city or place I´ve never visited before, I can still feel secure that I do have a navigation app available, but because reaching and using it is not as convenient, I´ll rather just try to get to where I need to go without it. That said I´d still have the option to look the route up, which gives a sense of security.

Overall, seems like the best of both worlds. We´ll see once it arrives and I get to test it, I´m so excited!

[gblargg]

9:27 You can use video call apps on this, just not Apple's proprietary ones. Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, etc. work.

[crouton-mt]

I own this phone and it's such a weird thing
It has excellent hardware but Android 11 and its apps really isn't optimized for keypad usage so I end up using the Touchscreen for alot of things
The annoying bit is that I have to press the pound key every time I'm in a searchbox to disable the predictive text used for the Keypad
The phone also takes a whole minute to boot up but I swear they purposely stall it so the fancy Cat boot screen plays
A fix for the slow OS is to uninstall every default app and make sure any apps you download are to an external MicroSD (it's still slow but it helps alot I could even run a DS emulator after this)

i bought it for 40$ so I definitely got what I paid for and then some
I take the flip everywhere with me since its waterproof and it takes decent photos if you use OpenCamera with Camera2 API (yes this phone has it)
the camera has some strange black and white effect but this doesnt show up when you take RAW though it still shows in video

[edwsec]

I love this phone, but after almost a month of use, I'm going to return it. It has issues with the lock screen, where the lock icon overlaps with the time digits. However, the most important problem is that it lacks any kind of support. Since it has such an old version of Android and can't be updated, it has many security flaws. I work in the IT sector, and it makes me feel very insecure to have applications that could potentially be exploited by hackers on a phone like this. And that's even though I only use it for Telegram, but I know the phone is still vulnerable. That's my reason for returning it and looking for another option. I've seen the 'Jelly Star, ' but it has the same issue—it's not up to date with security patches, something that is essential nowadays, especially if you link your Gmail account.

[Luncheon]

Thank you for this honest and balanced review. As someone who does not use Instagram, Facebook and most other social media, but am reliant on email for work, I think this phone may be a good recommendation as it offers all the essentials. The only issue is that of weaning myself off the smooth user experience of conventional touchscreen phones, in particular YouTube! Looking forward to your next video!

[superluig]

I'd love to see a phone like this that has a better camera, higher res (maybe larger) display, and a faster processor. Keeping it objectively a good tool without sacrificing what keeps it a good "happy medium" phone. Problem is I don't think the market for a phone like this one is all that big, so it's doubtful we will see something like that. But I do like it. If I ever have children I will definitely recommend they start with something like this rather than a full smartphone.

[shortstubbysmartkid]

I got this phone today, it's already helping!

[JessicaFEREM]

I'm glad that people can still get their phones dumb-ish but still smart.
there's also the clicks iphone case that turns your iphone 14/15 into a blackberry that I thought was really cool. also iOS allows you to delete most every app on your phone, iirc you only have to have 7 apps installed related to basic functionality like safari/settings/appstore/etc.

[philquinnster]

Just ordered myself one of these after researching and pondering for about a month. It should arrive in a few days and I'm very excited to try it out for a couple of weeks in place of my "dumbified" iPhone 10. As much as I love the idea of getting a proper dumbphone, there are certain practical limitations where my job is concerned that make it an unrealistic option. Hopefully the social shift away form digital distraction will eventually lead to these limitations being more easily workaroundable. In the meantime, we gotta just experiment and make do.

[HansZarkovPhD]

I like ghis phone, i have one, but the contacts r messed up, no option to edit, you have to delete and start over again to add or change something.

[JMANE]

I had the CAT S22 Flip it was a great phone. The only issue I had was it didn’t have Android Auto (need gps for work), a little heavy for the small size, and no fingerprint sensor. Otherwise it was a great phone and using swipe gesture to text was fast and quick.

[john_hunter_]

I was thinking of getting this for my elderly mum because it would be easier for her to use & it would also support Whatsapp.

Can you answer Whatsapp calls using the green call button on the phone? If she has to use the screen it would be too difficult.

[gobindgurung]

It has minor network issue(network bug i guess) or maybe its globally unlocked phone.Specially when you are receiving or attending lots of call per day and all of a sudden you can't make a call or receive any call and only get aware when by receiving miscalls notification.But after rebooting phone manually, problem get solved but temporarily only**..

[JessicaFEREM]

There's a phone called the Unihertz Jelly series that are basically just the top half of this phone. it still has a headphone jack and has all the performance of a normal smartphone, it's just very tiny, and shaped like a jellybean.

[Brooklyn-Richard]

Does it receive photos, videos and voice recordings? I have the Unihertz Titan Pocket that runs on Android and the only struggle I've got is that videos come through as pictures, voice messages come through unplayable (just a triangle you can't click), and pictures are so pixelated you cannot make out faces or words (if it's of a handwritten note, persay)

[Landon-vpun]

That's great I use a flip phone too
The flip is making a come back it's great way too stop smart phone a diction
Great video