Topic Wiki

List of Many Flip Phones. (No smartphones)
A lot of the descriptions is my opinion.
Feel free to let me know if you differ, or if there is info missing/wrong.
Please like if this helps you.
Service plans for Flip phones-Click here.

Alcatel/TCL Go Flip (6)
Alcatel TCL Flip 2, From Tracfone or Amazon
TCL Classic 4058C, Sold on TCL
TCL Classic, From Cricket
TCL Flip Go, From UScellular
TCL Flip Go, From T-Mobile

Probably the successor to the LG Classic. $20 for the Tracfone version. Runs very well.
TAG can Kasher, Also @kosher_cellutions kashers, and there are people working on a free filter as well.

Update (9/22/22): A free talk/text filter is available. Filter with Waze (and maybe more) coming soon!

Not to be confused with the tcl 4056 phones which look the same but run KaiOs and are much buggier.

LG Exalt LTE VN220 – Verizon
•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)
•   ATT (3g),
•   T-Mobile (2g, bad reception)

One of the most popular flip phones. Well-known Brand. No button lag. Overall decent phone.
 No outside screen, awkward shape, delicate, suffers from durability issues
Not sold anymore. Street price is over $400.

LG Classic Flip L125 – Tracfone (DDF Topic)
•   Can be  koshered: Yes
Decent phone from a well-known manufacturer
Successor to the LG Exalt, this phone added an outside screen (!!!) and an SOS button. Camera was downgraded to 2mp from 5, and lost autofocus (think Kyocera Cadence res).  Screen and body were shrunk a little to make it a little less unwieldly to hold . . The street price of $30 is has jumped and it now hovering at about $150.

Compatible Networks;
•   Tracfone (and all Tracfone sub-carriers, like: Net10, Total Wireless, Wing and possibly more)

Koshering services;
•   http://kosherlgclassic.com/ (Talk Only $24.99 or Custom $29.99, strong)
•   http://filterlg.com/ (free, strong, but has limitation READ INSTRUCTIONS)
•   https://www.apps4flip.com/lgclassicflip/ (Remove apps with ADB, no reset protection)
•   Tag, Geder, and Meshumer locations can install a block as well

Probably the best quality phone from all the cheap (you can get it for like $30) phones, but the big limitation is that it's carrier locked to Tracfone carriers and cannot be used with normal Verizon plans or other Verizon MVNOs, Until it has active service for a year two months.

LG Wine LTE (U.S. Cellular)
Can be  koshered: Yes

Same as the LG Exalt LTE but works with ATT 4g. Not compatible with Verizon (small changes  like different messaging app and fm radio) Also not sold. Replaced by the LG Wine 2 LTE

LG Wine 2 LTE (U.S. Cellular)
Not applicable


Kyocera Cadence LTE S2720 & S2720PP
•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)
•   ATT (3g),
•   T-Mobile (2g, bad reception)
PP Version must be unlocked before using with Verizon Postpaid/Other Networks

Overall solid phone by somewhat reputable brand. Has an outer screen to show show who is calling, but lacks video camera & playback. Camera quality could be better. Durability is pretty good. Software update finally fixed some t9 input issues Overall solid kosherable option. Also not sold by Verizon anymore. Street price of about $250

Kyocera DuraXV LTE E-4610
•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)
•   ATT (3g),
•   T-Mobile (2g, bad reception)

Similar to Kyocera Cadence above but in a slightly bigger, rugged package. And added video playback capability. Great choice if you can find a good one.

Kyocera DuraXV Extreme E-4810
MSRP: $240

•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)
•   ATT (3g),
•   T-Mobile (4g)

Successor to the DuraXV above. More rugged, Thicker, Heavier. Now with USB-C!
Message+ Replaced with a slower clunkier messaging app.

Kazuna eTalk
•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)

A cheap prepaid phone made by a company that has a Chinese website. Can be purchased for under $40 but must be activated in the prepaid network to work. Has poor reviews but seems to be an okay phone/operating system. Sluggish response to key presses. Cheap build quality


Alcatel Go Flip V
MSRP: $99

•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)

Slow & buggy Verizon phone. Changes back to ABC instead of T9 every time you create a new message, and no way to add words to t9 dictionary. Button presses take a while to register. Poor Quality. Seems to be a bit better than the competition in the "Easy to buy straight from Verizon" category


Orbic Journey V
MSRP: $99

•   Can be  koshered: Yes

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)

Another no-name brand with a slow buggy phone. Extremely poor quality. Avoid.


Schok Classic Flip
MSRP: $99 Available at Target

•   Can be  koshered: Yes (Tag-No, Meshimer-Yes)

Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)
•   ATT (4g),
•   T-Mobile (4g)

A large, highly compatible flip phone from a company that at least looks like its trying. Finally a viable T-Mobile option. Nice display, Impressive camera, and USB-C  docking/charging. Feels laggy and a bit buggy sometimes. A little bit more smatphone-ish than others as it has a, sometimes convoluted , Google Play store and a Virtual Mouse to input touches on apps. Software updates keep improving the phone so there is hope…

NUU Phone
Compatible Networks;
Verizon (4g)
ATT (4g)
T-Mobile (4g)
Cheap price, cheap quality. Buttons seem to wear out pretty quickly.

Alcatel Go Flip ATT  T-MOBILE
Sorry  don’t have exact models all the iterations of these.
Old version- Horrible. Contacts and calling app broken
New Version Go Flip 3- Big improvement
Has Google maps and assistant, will be removed when koshered though.
There is a cricket version that was advertised on Dansdeals.com already koshered on ebay for $60 seems to be okay.
Many many different iterations of these. Some can be filtered. Some cannot. Most are bad phones.

Coolpad Snap
4g Sprint Flip Phone. Bad Phone. Can’t be koshered

ZTE Cymbal
Different versions for Verizon prepaid and T-Mobile. Phone is Okay, Can’t be koshered, But available to buy already kosher in Lakewood.

Sonim xp3800
Compatible Networks;
Verizon (4g)
ATT (4g)
Unlocked versions available

Great phone, similar to the Kyocera DuraXV series
Can be kashered by TAG

Sunbeam
Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)
•   ATT (4g),
•   T-Mobile (4g)

Can be purchased kashered by TAG
Has a very good voice-to-text option @ $5 a month

Ans F30 Kosher
Offered by meshimer
Compatible Networks;
•   Verizon (4g)

Fig Kosher flip
Sold koshered

Nokia 6300 4G GSM
Sold koshered

Compatible Networks;
•   ATT (4g)
•   T-Mobile (4g)

Other niche options you may want to look into, and up and coming:

Keyphone  https://keyphone.tech
Mindphone  https://greentouchstore.com/pages/mind
Light phone ii $350 E-ink phone   https://www.thelightphone.com]T-Mobile
Punkt MP02    https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp02-4g-mobile-phone/

In Short (for most people)

Verizon- Find the Kyocera Cadence or Kyocera DuraXV E-4610
ATT- Schok /Alcatel Go Flip 3/Kyocera Cadence
T-Mobile- Schok /Alcatel Go Flip 3/
Sprint- Get a new service. You’re getting cheap service without a device to use it on

Site that allow you to search based on features and network -
https://dumbphones.pory.app/

Why is there so many garbage phones?
Why are the big brands reluctant to make decent phones?
Why did LG and Kyocera stop making such popular devices? 
Did Verizon ask for cheaper phones to make them more accessible? To make an even bigger profit?
And why can’t we get some normal phones like the old 3g devices? LG Revere, Samsung Gusto, etc. Durable, solid, reliable, NO BUGS! Maybe even… dare I ask for… a qwerty keyboard!
Why do people use sprint if there’s no phones?
What will happen to all the active old sprint 3g devices after T-Mobile/Sprint merger?

Full Disclosure: I currently use an LG OCTANE 3g Verizon Keyboard Phone and I love it. That’s gonna have to change by the end of 2020… but if you put things into perspective, that’s AFTER the November elections. Who knows if Trump will even be president?

I would love if someone knows the answers to some of these questions.

UPDATE: I switched to the Kyocera Cadence and overall, its pretty good.
I also have answers to my questions. To be very brief:
Real operating systems cost $$$$ and no one is willing to put in that much for a basic phone. They all use android (free) Or KaiOS (free and terrible) which dont come readily set up for a flip and have to be "stuffed in". Fulll android+cheapest hardware= Mess
Its hard for small companies to make their own phone due to the massive costs of certification approval and similar.


Author Topic: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE  (Read 481222 times)

Offline shabbosabba

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1560 on: June 25, 2021, 05:23:46 PM »
Anyone know of a dumb phone (no apps) that can currently be activated on cricket? My kids moved the SIM from one cricket dumb phone to an old one of the exact same model, and now cricket suspended service to that device and insists they will not and cannot reactivate service on a 3g device
myi has written here in the past that he has called them up and told them that its his only phone and they will restore service.

https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=65907.msg2425809;topicseen#msg2425809
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=65907.msg2425020#msg2425020
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=65907.msg2405094;topicseen#msg2405094

Online cholent

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1561 on: June 25, 2021, 05:26:36 PM »
I spent a long time on the phone with them and was totally unsuccessful. I also filed an FCC complaint against them.
Don't ask stupid questions and you won't get stupid answers

Offline azforkosh

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1562 on: June 29, 2021, 10:48:39 PM »
is this actually unlocked?

No, it's not unlocked.
SimpleMobile is just a sub-company of Tracfone

Offline shabbosabba

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Get directions, weather, info, and nearby places by text message
« Reply #1563 on: June 30, 2021, 12:54:35 AM »
Not sure whether or not this has been mentioned before, but I will put this out there, bc I found it tonight and found this to be totally genuis (and i'm posting this so i can feel important [and maybe get some likes]).



This is a service that provides text message based info for people who don't have a smart phone or don't have data. I know this works for USA and Canada.

You have to send a text message to 1 (312) 313-1234 with the right format depending on what you want

Directions
The form should be [mode] from [origin] to [destination]. For example: drive from UC berkeley to Oakland airport. The possible modes of transportation are 'drive', 'walk', 'bike', and 'transit'.

Contact info
You can also get the phone number and address of a businesse with the format info for [place]. For example info for uc berkeley.

You can get up to 20 nearby places with find [type of place] near [specific place]. For example: find grocery near uc berkeley.

Weather
Use the form: "weather for 55555" (with your zip/postal code instead of 55555)

Donation
This project costs money every time it sends or receives a text message. If you'd like to help the project keep running, feel free to donate.

Built by Oui Develop (at http://ouidevelop.com)

Offline Jojo202

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1564 on: June 30, 2021, 08:58:58 AM »
Wow great I have been looking for a good one of these ever since cha-cha and all the others shut down! thanks I will test it out.

Offline VLK

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1565 on: June 30, 2021, 03:19:34 PM »
Any basic phones I’d be able to easily transfer my google contacts to?

Offline Jojo202

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1566 on: June 30, 2021, 04:17:59 PM »
Any basic phones I’d be able to easily transfer my google contacts to?
You can go to https://contacts.google.com and download them as a .vcf and then transfer it to almost any basic phone that exists. (sometimes you can do it even from the phones browser directly)

Offline shabbosabba

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1567 on: June 30, 2021, 11:11:19 PM »
Wow great I have been looking for a good one of these ever since cha-cha and all the others shut down! thanks I will test it out.
I am still looking for a replacement for basic google searches. Though I never did use it while it it existed,(i didnt have a phone yet), i would love to have something like that today.
https://techcrunch.com/2013/05/12/google-kills-sms-search/

ETA: Looks like someone found a way around it, but that was also killed after twitter shutdown sms.
https://www.instructables.com/SMS-Google-Search/



Any basic phones I’d be able to easily transfer my google contacts to?
You should be able to to transfer via bluetooth or MMS from your current phone.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2021, 11:18:48 PM by shabbosabba »

Offline Jojo202

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1568 on: July 01, 2021, 09:17:52 AM »
You should be able to to transfer via bluetooth or MMS from your current phone.

Unless your current phone is an iphone, in which case Apple makes it as hard as they can to get your contacts off.
(contacts to vcf app, or login to icloud on a pc are easy workarounds but still wholly unnecessarily complicated. Apple should just let sending vcards via bluetooth and mms! )

Offline grodnoking

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1569 on: July 01, 2021, 11:26:59 PM »
I want a flip phone without access to a browser but has email (and hotspot abilities a plus). What are the options out there?
I'm not who you think I am.

Offline Jojo202

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1570 on: July 02, 2021, 12:37:57 AM »
I want a flip phone without access to a browser but has email (and hotspot abilities a plus). What are the options out there?
What service?

Offline TzviR

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1571 on: July 02, 2021, 01:43:30 AM »
I want a flip phone without access to a browser but has email (and hotspot abilities a plus). What are the options out there?
I think a LG classic may be great for you. What’s your price range and do you already have existing service?

My  prizes from CV :)

Offline jose34

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1572 on: July 04, 2021, 07:51:18 AM »
Will an old Sprint phone work with the new Tmobile network?

Offline Jojo202

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1573 on: July 04, 2021, 12:19:29 PM »
Will an old Sprint phone work with the new Tmobile network?
If old means 3g then no

Offline jose34

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1574 on: July 04, 2021, 01:00:14 PM »
If old means 3g then no

Old means a dumb phone.
Does that change the answer?

Offline Jojo202

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1575 on: July 04, 2021, 07:37:57 PM »
Old means a dumb phone.
Does that change the answer?
Is it 3g or 4g?

Offline shabbosabba

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1576 on: July 05, 2021, 06:17:49 PM »
Old means a dumb phone.
Does that change the answer?
Chances are it wont. But to be totally sure, why dont you supply the model info

Offline WonderingYid

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1577 on: July 06, 2021, 06:42:14 PM »
What are people using for Sprint service for a 4G flip?
I'm using the XP3.

Offline Darth1

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1578 on: July 06, 2021, 10:43:37 PM »
Does anyone here have the Nokia 2720 V Flip? A Verizon flip phone that looks like it has potential. And its cheaper than the Kyocera and Exalt.

Offline jose34

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Re: REVIVE THE FLIP PHONE
« Reply #1579 on: July 07, 2021, 03:53:17 PM »
Probably not such good news; where will we get normal dump phones now:

https://www.lg.com/us/notice

"G has made the difficult decision to close its mobile phone business to focus on other businesses that will provide new experiences and value for consumers. "