Using a Z Flip 5 as a minimalist phone
I turned the 3.2-inch front display on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 into a minimal phone. With a lot of discipline, it helped me reduce how much time I spent looking at my phone.
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00:00 I hate how much time I spend on my phone.
00:02 Wake up? Scroll.
00:04 Make coffee? Scroll.
00:05 Sit at my desk? Scroll.
00:06 And the idea that I'm wasting my time isn't even what's bothering me,
00:09 because I do loads of things that aren't worthy of my time.
00:12 What bugs me is that I'm unconsciously and habitually doing it.
00:17 Take a moment right now and try to remember the last four things you saw on a social media app.
00:21 I know I couldn't tell you, so I've set up screen time and down time,
00:25 but I'm never disciplined enough to stick to it.
00:28 The obvious next solution, in my mind, is a minimal phone, like the Light Phone.
00:31 But completely giving up things like Gmail or Slack on mobile just isn't possible for me,
00:35 and I don't want to wipe out social media completely, I just want my use of it to be more intentional.
00:40 Back in August, I was at a hands-on event for the Samsung Z Flip 5.
00:44 Spec-wise, the phone isn't all that different from its predecessor,
00:47 but there was one hardware change that got me thinking.
00:50 Could the new 3.2-inch front screen be the minimal phone of my dreams?
00:54 The front screen on the Z Flip 5 is big enough that you can actually do things on it,
00:58 like use a full keyboard or search Google Maps.
01:01 So I decided to do a little experiment.
01:03 I would only use the front screen of the Z Flip 5 as my daily driver for a week,
01:08 and purposely not install any social media apps on the front screen.
01:12 It would allow me the full phone I need by flipping the thing open when I need it,
01:15 but the minimal phone I want for everything else.
01:19 Now, I realize that Samsung has been trying to sell foldables as
01:22 "just this," a way to focus and shut out the digital world since their inception.
01:26 So a lot of this is just a test of marketing bait.
01:29 But I really hope they're onto something, because I hate how much time I spend on my phone.
01:33 The first part of this experiment was setting some rules.
01:37 During the day, it was exclusively front screen, outside of work emergencies.
01:41 And at night, I got one scrolling sesh, after dinner-ish, to catch up on news and friends.
01:46 Next, I set up my screen.
01:47 Samsung has an app called Good Lock, and within that app is a launcher for
01:51 the front screen that allows you to put shortcuts to any app on it.
01:54 I put only my essentials on there.
01:56 Then I made some tweaks to make the home screen pretty, and I set the order of the pages,
02:00 which includes my phone, weather, calendar, and alarm pages.
02:04 The best part about a small screen is you can do all of the things.
02:08 The worst part about a small screen is you're doing all of the things
02:11 on a small screen, which inherently makes doing all the things a lot harder.
02:14 Very quickly, I had a few frustrations.
02:17 First, the keyboard.
02:18 The obvious answer to a small keyboard is swipe to type.
02:22 But even with the slim width of this phone, reaching the top left of the keyboard
02:25 was tough when I was using one hand, and my accuracy was non-existent.
02:29 So then I was typing with both hands, which made my accuracy better, but it was still slow.
02:34 So after a few days of slamming on the small keys, I became a full-time voice-to-texter.
02:39 Also, I could not figure out a way to get Gboard as my default keyboard on the front screen,
02:44 despite it being my default on the inside.
02:46 So if anyone has a fix for that, please let me know.
02:49 The other issue with a small screen and a full keyboard
02:51 is that when the keyboard is up, it's the whole screen.
02:54 I'm someone who is often replying to multiple points in one text,
02:57 or referencing back to a text to see how something is spelled,
02:59 so not being able to see past text was a pain in the butt.
03:03 And then taking photos outside of selfies is a whole other thing to get used to
03:07 when the camera is right next to the screen.
03:09 You're just blindly pointing the lens at objects,
03:12 and it feels a lot like setting up a GoPro in 2012.
03:14 It's a total guess as to what will actually make it into the frame.
03:17 And then there's some things you can't do on the front screen for reasons I'll never understand.
03:22 The most annoying was not being able to make a call to a business from Google Maps.
03:26 Hitting the call button triggers an "open phone to continue" prompt,
03:29 even if you have headphones in.
03:30 You also can't change what Bluetooth device you are connected to,
03:33 adjust Wi-Fi pairings, or see your full contact list in the phone page.
03:37 The contact list thing.
03:39 Really, I really don't understand that one.
03:42 That, like, is it a safety feature?
03:44 What, what is it, Samsung?
03:46 I feel like there's just like a switch that you can switch on,
03:49 and it would allow me to do that.
03:50 So if you could switch that switch for me, that'd be awesome.
03:53 Thanks.
03:54 Okay, none of those are deal breakers for normal people who are just going to open their phones,
04:01 but they are for someone as crazy as me who wants nothing to do with the internal 6.7-inch display.
04:06 Ultimately, I learned that using a small screen takes intention and a lot of patience.
04:11 Every swipe does something, every window only shows a small part of the story,
04:15 and there is no going fast when you can only do one thing at a time.
04:19 Intentionality was my goal all along, and getting used to this life was tough,
04:23 but once I did, it worked.
04:27 I could do all of the necessities without the distractions.
04:30 I noticed it working the most on commutes,
04:31 when instinctively I would pull my phone out of my pocket,
04:34 but without being able to open the device, there really wasn't much to do on it.
04:38 So I would just put it away.
04:39 After two days of this routine, I was doing it less and less.
04:42 I also noticed that the speakerphone quality on this phone was really good.
04:46 I mean, was I that person talking on speakerphone in public?
04:49 Yes, I was, but no one I was on the call with noticed, just everyone else around me.
04:54 But as present as I started to feel, I also, I don't know,
04:57 I just got this kind of sad feeling while doing this.
05:00 Not because I miss social media, but because I started to tune into everyone else's phone habits.
05:05 This is nothing new, and features like screen time were released years ago
05:09 to help us all better manage how much time we spend staring at our screens,
05:13 but it is alarming to watch folks being so completely consumed still.
05:18 So if you don't have $1,000 to spend on a phone, and you too want to use your phone less,
05:23 there are other solutions that don't cost nearly as much.
05:26 On both iOS and Android, there are screen time settings.
05:29 Even if you dismiss the time warning,
05:31 it'll make you aware of how much time you're spending on an app,
05:34 and having awareness is a great place to start.
05:36 If you are on Android, there are many launchers that are designed to be minimal
05:40 and grab less of your attention.
05:41 This is Indistract Minimalist Launcher by Indistractable.
05:44 By default, it makes your home screen monotone,
05:46 and all apps are listed by name without icons.
05:48 It also shows you how much time you've already spent on that app in one day.
05:52 On iOS, there are similar apps, one of which is Blank,
05:54 which allows you to create minimalist widgets for your home screen.
05:57 It too takes away app icons, which should grab less of your attention.
06:01 Both of these apps come ready-made with the option to subscribe for more features.
06:05 This one's crazy, and I'm not sure anybody would actually do this,
06:08 but what if every night you reorganized your apps,
06:10 so that your muscle memory to where your Instagram app is
06:13 wouldn't work when you instinctively open your phone and go to scroll?
06:17 I think someone should make an app that does this.
06:19 It'd be only for the very brave, but I'm ready.
06:22 So if that exists, let me know down below, and if it doesn't,
06:24 I mean, somebody's gotta build that.
06:27 Someone's gotta create that hell for all of us.
06:29 There are more practical solutions as well,
06:31 like not bringing your phone into your bedroom, or using a physical alarm clock,
06:35 or asking a roommate or partner to hold you accountable
06:37 when they see that you've been scrolling for hours.
06:40 I do have to send this Z Flip 5 back, which is sad,
06:42 but I hope to still use my screen less in 2024.
06:46 So what are your resolutions? What are y'all doing?
06:48 Anyway, thank you so much for a great 2023.
06:51 I appreciate you so much.
06:53 I feel like this year I have gotten so much more comfortable
06:56 with this whole content-making thing,
06:58 and I know for you folks, you might be like,
07:00 "Becca, you've always been comfortable,"
07:02 but I don't know, something clicked this year for me.
07:04 So thank you so much for being along for the ride.
07:07 Thank you for watching all these videos, for allowing me to do this.
07:10 I appreciate you so much, and I am wishing you nothing but joy and good health,
07:15 and I don't know, just the best 2024 possible.
07:19 I appreciate you so much.
07:20 Okay, happy new year, y'all.
07:22 Be well.
07:22 Bye!
07:23 Oh no.
07:28 Oh god.
07:29 Oh my god.
07:31 That was so embarrassing.
07:36 Oh no.