Dutch beer brand Heineken and US clothing company Bodega have launched The Boring Phone at Milan design week, a "dumb" phone designed to prevent young adults from scrolling on smartphones.
Produced by Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Human Mobile Devices (HMD), which manufactures Nokia phones, The Boring Phone has been stripped of the "distractions" seen in today's smartphones and is used primarily for phone calls and text messages.
The Boring Phone has a nostalgic design that evokes technology from the early 2000s
Most notable feature is the absence of internet access and social media, which was intended to encourage young adults to "disconnect with their tech" and have social interactions in person rather than scrolling on smartphones. Reminiscent of the mobile phone technology available in the early 2000s, the flip phone has a transparent casing that users can cover in holographic stickers and a monochromatic sub-screen displaying two Heineken beer bottles.
It is mainly used for calls and texts
Its design was informed by Newtro culture, retro aesthetics interpreted in a modern context, aiming to appeal to a Gen Z and Millennial audience.
In keeping with its old-school design, the phone has a long battery life of a week in standby time. It also has a 0.3-megapixel camera, FM radio and a snake game.
The flip phone has a clear casing
"Smartphones can be too interesting, so we wanted to design a boring one," said Bodega co-founder Oli...