Blog || tcl flip 2 first impressions

I've been using a TCL Flip 2 for a few days since my Pixel 3 bricked itself. It wasn't my first choice for a flip phone (that would be the Kyocera 902KC Digno Ketai 3), but for $25 it works fine.

I haven't texted with a numpad in well over a decade, before I had smartphones I used those slider phones with a QWERTY keyboard. But I've found that I still have the muscle memory for texting this way and it really hasn't slowed me down that much. The two minor quirks I don't like are 1) when I press and hold the back button it completely erases the text I'm writing instead of just deleting the text faster and 2) no emoji.

As for apps, the phone has the basic stuff I need. Calculator, music player, web browser. Using a browser on a flip phone is an.. experience, but it's doable. One of the apps I wish it had was Google Maps. I tried to use the browser to look up something on Maps but it's really bad! Fortunately, this phone does run android, so I can sideload apps on it. Once I figure out how I'm going to give it a try, though we'll see how well Maps and Telegram and Cash App function on a tiny low res screen...

Aside from that, I find myself not really missing anything else. One of the main appeals of a flip phone is lack of distraction, so I'm not sinking embarrassing amounts of time into social media or game apps. If I want to scroll tumblr or play a game, I get on my laptop. I wish I could say that I'm filling my newfound time with fulfilling things but due to IRL reasons I don't want to get into that I haven't been lol

**EDIT 5/4/24**
I've run into my first major hurdle with this phone: I can't copy/paste text!!

I just tried to send a friend a youtube link and while the phone does appear to have a clipboard (I got a notification saying that I successfully copied the link to it), the messaging app has no way to paste it. I also can't copy texts received, which I don't usually do but can see how the ability to do so would be useful. The manual does not mention copy/pasting and a little googling confirms it.

The closest thing I've found to being able to paste text is creating a note in the Note app and clicking share, which creates a new message with the text you put there. I can see how this would be useful, but it's still no substitute for being able to copy/paste like on a smartphone or computer. Right now I'm hoping that I can somehow add this functionality when I get around to modding the phone 😿