Time For a New Cell Phone

I’ve been in the market for a new cell phone lately. My old one was a few-year-old Nokia free phone. It was good because it would also double as a bottle opener, but it left some unsightly scratches along the base. My big problem was that it would randomly call Hayden Blades. This seems to happen once every couple weeks. I like that my phone would keep in contact with Hayden, but I would never be there on the other end, so it was almost pointless.

I was doing some research and I came across this wonder.. the Cinco Fone.

Here are the ads:

I’ve wanted a simple phone like this. It doesn’t have the camera that I don’t need. It doesn’t have the internet access that I don’t need. It doesn’t offer much besides being a phone, and that’s why I like it.

It does seem to have some pitfalls, however. If you look closely in the ads, you can see some problems one might have with operating the phone.

First, the one-button design is some cool contemporary design, but I don’t really like how you have to press the button multiple times in succession to equal one number. Pressing the button 9 times for a 9 could be a pain. Imagine calling 888-999-9999. That’s like 87 presses, and it would be easy to mess up. The idea of no presses for 0 could be a bit confusing. If the number is 800-000-0000, does the phone know that I’m done dialing after that 8? I don’t know. I’d be worried that it wouldn’t.

Other things bother me a bit about the design. I don’t get the 2 antennas. That seems annoying. It weighs 2.7 pounds. I’m sure it’s built well, but that’s considerably heavier than my old phone. Add in the fact that the battery life isn’t all that great, this isn’t an ideal phone for everyone.

For me, though, it fills a void that I haven’t seen in any other phones on the market lately. It only makes calls. No camera, no internet, no complications.