Some Gen Zers Trade Smartphones for 'Dumb' Phones

Kendall Schrohe, 23, of Washington, D.C., remembers the moment she gave up her smartphone for a flip phone.

"For me, like the second that my iPhone was gone, it was just like heaven on earth," she told CBS News.

Schrohe is one of a growing number of young people trading smartphones for stripped-down "dumb" phones in an effort to unplug from social media. Some, CBS News reported, are also drawn by nostalgia for an era they never experienced firsthand.

The habit they are trying to break is widespread. Pew Research found that roughly half of U.S. adults visited social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook at least once a day in 2025. Research cited by the American Psychological Association put usage higher among young people, with the average U.S. teen spending nearly five hours a day on social media.

What counts as a dumb phone

The category is broad. At one end are the flip phones of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which handle calls and texts and little else. Others use flip-phone hardware but add messaging and select apps. A third approach uses smartphone technology with social media blocked.

Schrohe bought her flip phone from Dumb.co, a startup that sells devices loaded with practical tools such as Uber, maps and Spotify, but no social media. The company said it has more than 5,000 active users and that its typical customer is a 24-year-old woman. Other providers include The Light Phone, while companies such as Brick sell companion devices that connect to smartphones to block social apps.

The research

In March, a jury found Meta and YouTube liable for creating products that led to harmful and addictive behavior by young users, a decision that could set a legal precedent for similar claims against social media companies.

Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, said his research found that social media use can mirror patterns seen in substance abuse. The design features "can lead to symptoms similar to substance-related addictions, which can include impaired control, withdrawal, tolerance and relapse," he said. Those who cut back often report "improvement in sleep, better concentration, less overall stress," he added.

Schrohe said she spent years trying to wean herself off her phone before succeeding through "Month Offline," a program that partners with Dumb.co and challenges participants to give up smartphones for 30 days in favor of communal screen-free activities.

"I needed that extreme measure," she said. "The concept of social media, it's not like inherently evil. It's the way it's designed to keep you on it."