Who makes a decent dumb phone these days that's maybe even waterproof, but is NOT a smart phone? Easy texting would be a plus but not necessary. We've tried one so far but it was a total dud. The millennial clowns staffing the retail places cannot understand the phrase "not a smart phone" when making recommendations.

The boy could use a phone, but at age 12 a smart phone is basically a portal to hell.

Thanks

Jitterbug

Had good luck with a few nokia's over the years , I'll be getting A PHONE when my stupid phone wears out due too verizon trying to force me into a new smart phone .
Might just get one of the 'buy the minutes used phones' I almost never use a phone now that my younger brother passed away .

Samsung Convoy...

i pay 75 a month unlimited everything, hot spot, with my i-phone, can't see paying almost as much for a dumb phone.

I have an LG Exalt flip phone LONG obsolete, but available on the bay. It's on the pay-as-go Verizon plan for $15 a month. I use it so seldom that I have over $700 in air time accumulated. But it's there for emergencies and such. It's not text friendly, though. Just the old numerical pad. I dread the day when it dies and I'm forced to go to a smart phone.

An old IPhone off Craigslist. I had a dumb flip phone for years and I was the dumb one for not realizing what more a decent, yet older IPhone could be doing for me. Mine is a 5 series and it still takes pictures, texts effortlessly, rings, talks, spell checks, finds places, looks up stuff... The ATT flip phone didn't work at the lake, but the US Cellular 5 does. Rather glad that I finally saw the light and got with 21st century technology. Don't fight it, join it. If it is for the kid, you can put parental restraints on what they can access. I gave my flip phone to the wife's son for his girls to use in an emergency, but it went in a drawer never to see the light of day. A kid wants the electric devices and would be a laughing stock with a flip phone.

Check out the DuraXE by Kyocera. Very durable and sharp looking flip phone with lots of internal storage if your boy likes music or podcasts. Link below.

https://www.kyoceramobile.com/duraxe/att/

I'm bailing on Jitterbug. At his house ATT worked just fine for my son but my flip Jitterbug flopped.

My Tracfone smart phone is plenty dumb.

No, see he's 12 and has no need of a smart phone. Parental controls may be an option but I'll have to look into that. Nonetheless the idea of such money for an easily lost/broken item fails to generate enthusiasm. That DuraXE looks pretty good.

3g service is going to be history soon....

3G service going bye bye

Edited to fix link

There's no technology being poured into flip phones in 2019 so you can forget shopping for an optimal version.

If you are concerned about his losing it just buy a pre-pay/burner phone from Wal-Mart.

50 dollar burner phone and 25 dollar phone card

You can get a phone for free or nearly free from Tracfone but the minutes are kind of expensive.....so look at them and similar. Never heard them called "burner" phones but have heard em called drug dealer specials! I've used one for a while and beat the daylights out of several......they are pretty tough One of them fell out of my pocket while mowing and got ran over by my finish mower. Obviously that one did not make it but the worst part was I had to re enter the contacts manually but I was out less than $10 for a replacement.

I am one of the few people left on the face of this earth that does not massage the glowing rectangle. Doctor office visits are surreal.......everyone and I do mean everyone else is massaging the glowing rectangle. Hell, even social occasions. Everyone says hey how are you and next thing you know.....they are all sitting quietly massaging the glowing rectangle ignoring the heck out of each other. At age 54 all this amuses me. At age 12 I imagine not having your own glowing rectangle is going to be a character building experience.

No kidding. You could commit murder and walk out of almost any crowded place without ANYbody seeing you because they're all "massaging their glowing rectangle". (GREAT phrase, btw.)

That's what I've got. Had it a couple and no complaints. I get no joy out of looking at internet stuff on a phone so I don't even want a smart phone. It is not inexpensive, but I've killed a couple of lesser phones by dropping them in water or otherwise getting them wet. This one has withstood water. It's military grade.

Well, here's another one. Got better things to do with my time.

Phones will eventually go full circle, just like cable went to Netflix and rifles back to 270’s.

Parking for horses is just around the corner too.....

I get laughed at from time to time because of my flip phone. It's been called a can on a string, etc...., but it does everything I need it to. Because of the others in my family, I might need to upgrade to a "smarta%@" phone before long, especially if the 3g is going away. I like a flip phone because you can answer one while driving without looking at it.....you just open it up and say hello. These newer phones require too much "fiddling around" to do anything on them.

I have a flip phone, 7 years old, says Samsung and Verizon on it. Great phone.

Poobs offered to sell me this one.

Volume was an issue for my bad ears with most flip phones. Cheap phones have low volume.

When my previous Samsung seemed to need a new battery, the Verizon person in town advised me that the 3G was going to be discontinued, but the next newest Samsung Convoy was 4G capable and also would be able to use the next generation (5G) when it arrived... So far, it's been stellar..

Smart or dumb, why does a 12 year old need a phone at all?

Yep....After only 6 months with a smart phone & the mobile hotspot, I'd never go back to a "regular" type phone.....the mobile banking app alone is a godsend for me...my phone SAVES me more money than it costs.....easily....

I went to the skin Doc recently for a 6 month check up and there was about 12 people in the waiting room. Everyone except me was on their cell phone.

Same reason a 16 year old "needs" a car.

Because he has a job and needs comms.

The CAT B35 has an audience here...but they won't let it loose...

Trac phone flip phone, Can be found on sale for about $10.
Same as a pocket of quarters when I was his age.