Sidephone is a simple phone with extra abilities that make it easier for you to stay offline, away from distractions, living real life.
Apps available like Signal, Firefox, Proton, Fossify, K-9 Mail, Obtainium, Bitwarden, and more
Okay, ignore my initial snarky comment lol.
This phone actually gives you a lot of freedom in what apps you install. I was a big Blackberry Pearl fan, so I love the qwerty T9 typing experience in a small package. One of the biggest problems with physical keyboards was many moving parts and points of breakage, often without replacement parts, but this phone solves that by having the boards be completely detachable. Battery is replaceable too and appears to be non-proprietary as well.
The default app list is pretty much what I use anyway on my ancient LineageOS OnePlus, with a few exceptions, and then you can add other things with Obtainium or sideloading from there. I’d just swap out HERE Navigation for Osmand and ditch Whatsapp. A sandboxed Uber PWA is a good idea too for emergencies. And the price is quite nice by 2026 standards.
Only real downsides are a lack of 5G, hurting longevity when 4G gets phased out, and no loop for a phone charm. I’m watching with interest for a new Sidephone 5G model to replace my existing phone.
And the icing on the cake is that it’s actually available in the U.S., which is rare for ethical phone companies. Good work, Canada.
No band 13. It won’t work on Telus,Bell, or Freedom.
Also no RCS so SMS only.
Pass.
Telus, Bell, and Freedom all use several other bands, along with B13, 66 and 71.
I’m curious where you got the info of no Telus, Bell, Freedom?
Without B13 you’d have almost zero coverage in most areas outside larger cities as that is the prevalent band used. It is the same problem when people import Chinese phones and then wonder why their coverage is terrible. This is why the Sidephone FAQ even says not compatible with Verizon - Bell Telus and Freedom use a very similar network setup to Verizon and would have the same problem - very poor coverage and frequent dropouts.
Do you work for one of those providers? Again, trying to figure out where you’re getting your information from. Not saying you’re incorrect; would just like to know where you sourced that info. It would be useful to reference in the future.
ISDE shows that Bell and Telus (and their sub-brands) also use B12, which is the same band AT&T and T-Mobile use for rural and building penetration. The big 3 also use B17, which I’m not even sure the US providers use. That said, I’m the first to admit my work with cellular mobility wasn’t at the granular level of specific frequency coverage. Hoping your info source can help clear that up.
I work in telecommunications yes Blackberry Samsung and now for another manufacturer.
Carriers use band aggregation which means you’re usually connected to more than one band at once. Most towers broadcast a set of frequencies simultaneously so when you move out of range for a higher frequency signal, you are shifted to a lower band immediately to continue coverage and data speeds.
It’s a bit more complex than that but point is if your phone doesn’t have band 13 your coverage and data speeds will be bad on carriers that rely on that band especially as it is very widely used. This is why Telus Bell and Freedom would not recommend you use a phone like the Nothing phones for example which don’t have band 13. Same for this handset.
If you want to use this Sidephone then switch to Rogers or one of its flanker brands like Fido or Chatr. Rogers restricts which handsets have access to LTE calling (VoLTE) by an IMEI whitelist meaning this phone won’t have access to that feature. Rogers only whitelists IMEIs for phones they have certified for use on their network. As Rogers no longer has 3G open for voice calls you’d be unable to use this phone for voice on Rogers. Rogers doesn’t want you using imported phones.
Between the shitty coverage on carriers that use band 13 and the lack of the ability to use voice calls on Rogers/Fido - seriously don’t bother with this phone. It’s clearly designed for the American market anyway since their FAQ doesn’t even address Canadian carriers.
Canada sucks for dumb phones. Most of the niche dumb phones like this, the light phone, whatever the Mudita one is called are not optimized for our networks or as in the case of Rogers, the carrier is gatekeeping access to increase the likelihood that you’ll buy a phone from them.
Another super expensive dumb phone
Are there any cheaper ones?
Cat S22 Flip
If this evolves to include 5G, supports RCS, and works with Public Mobile, I’ll jump in.
Rooting for their success in the meantime
I still want a cheap basic phone that just adds wifi hotspot capability but I have to admit this is kinda nice. close to the framework concept and phones have come out with it before but this one is more modest in scope. Reasonable price but again I would like something much cheaper and more basic.
Hey this looks neat!
$379…. Not obscene but not for me.
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