The Commodore Callback 8020 flip phone looks like it’s from decades ago but its price was definitely a sign of today’s times. That’s changed, with Commodore’s announcement today that it will drop the price $100 for most models before pre-orders start next week.
The phone caused a stir when it was announced a week ago. First, there was the thrill of 80s computing legend Commodore making a phone. Then the phone being retro in both look and function caught attention, with a flip-phone form factor combined with a focus on privacy. But one of the most unique features of the Callback 8020 is that it runs Android apps on Linux-based Sailfish OS instead of Android. Among all of the praise though, was criticism that a $500 starting price for the basic models was too high.
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I don’t get it. You literally have the choice of any dumb-phone out there, why buy a new one?
Many places are phasing out 3G and even 2G networks which would make the vast majority of pre-smartphone phones unusable. Also, proprietary (but technically replaceable) batteries which don’t hold quite the charge they did 15+ years ago.
Point me towards a dumb phone that can run Signal properly and I’ll cancel my 8020 order right now.
(yes, it’s still a bit of a guess whether the 8020 can actually run it properly, but that’s what they’re promising right now anyway)