This post was last updated on November 4th, 2023 at 08:14 am
In our smartphone-dominated world, it can be difficult to find a high-quality “dumb” phone. I know because, for nearly two years, I used a device that would often crash or “freeze up.” While feeling disappointed, I thought these problems were the price I had to pay for living without a smartphone. Thankfully, I’ve recently been proven wrong. I switched to a phone that’s great for practicing digital minimalism: the Sunbeam F1.
Years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of buying a high-end flip phone because the low-end phones worked perfectly fine. For seven years, I used a small, nondescript LG flip phone. I appreciated it but, honestly, took its dependability and amazing battery life (nearly two weeks!) for granted. As I wrote in an October 2020 post, I only stopped using it in 2019 because my carrier at the time was closing its 3G network.
Navigating the new flip-phone world
As I looked for a new “dumb” phone, I just assumed every flip phone would be like my little LG. What a mistake! I bought an Alcatel phone and immediately regretted it. The Alcatel must have sensed my displeasure because it seemed to crash only when I had an important call to make. And if it wasn’t crashing, the operating system would take too long to transition between functions.
Then about three months ago, I decided enough was enough. That’s when I learned about Sunbeam Wireless and its line of $195 F1 flip phones: the Dandelion, Daisy, and Orchid.
I reached out to the Missouri-based company, founded by Sterling Martin and Nelson Hoover in 2018, to inquire about their product. Full disclosure: They gave me a device after learning about my website and commitment to digital minimalism. In a note, Martin asked me to “please provide an honest review, whether positive or negative, as they are the best kind.”
Admittedly, my Alcatel experience had set the bar pretty low. It wouldn’t have taken much to impress me. But previous disappointments aside, I must say the Sunbeam phone exceeded my expectations. Indeed, in terms of functionality, it is a notch above that dependable LG device I had used for seven years. Time will tell whether it’s as durable.
Sunbeam phone makes functionality the top priority
Far and away, I’m most impressed with Sunbeam’s customized operating system. Like the flip phones of yesteryear, the Sunbeam OS runs smoothly and cleanly, quickly transitioning between tools. This OS respects your time. With its intuitive interface, it’s easy to find and launch the different tools.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about any unnecessary apps hiding somewhere and spying on you. Sunbeam doesn’t support internet browsers or apps, except the navigation and weather software that comes with the Orchid version.
I have the Daisy version, which includes calls and texts. (The Dandelion only allows calls.) The tools enhance the phone’s functionality without making the phone feel like it’s pretending to be smartphone. In particular, I appreciate the voice-to-text tool. Powered by Microsoft, voice-to-text is both fast and accurate. But if you prefer to type out text messages, the phone has a touchscreen keypad that I find easier to use than the phone’s physical buttons.
It’s important to note: Accessing voice-to-text requires data through your phone carrier, though this features consumes very little data. It also requires a Sunbeam Premium Services subscription of $3.50 per month (with a 30-day free trial). You’ll also need the premium subscription to also use the Orchid’s navigation and weather tools.
Sunbeam phone also great for privacy
In buying this premium service, you’re not only paying for the service itself but a high level of privacy, as Sunbeam outlines on its FAQ page. I asked Martin about the company’s privacy commitment, and here was his response:
“Our purpose is to help people live intentional lives with real relationships. So our primary goal is not privacy. However, many of our customers are not comfortable with social media and Big Data tracking their every move, many times for a profit,” Martin stated in an email. “And neither are we. So even though our primary goal is not privacy, we value the privacy of the customer and always choose the least-invasive option.”
I don’t use weather or navigation (Read: How to navigate without GPS), so I’m not too worried about Big Data tracking me. But my thought is, if you’re going to be a digital minimalist, you might as well invest in a phone designed to protect your privacy. Sunbeam leaves no question in my mind that they’re doing their best to shield users’ phone activity.
When I consider what role I want technology to play in my life, I want to be in control. I want to know how and when my information is being used. That’s possible with the Sunbeam F1 because the company shares my values on mobile technology.
Read: This phone is so dumb, it’s brilliant: The Zero G
A device for the practical minded
There are, of course, other companies out there that share these values. What separates Sunbeam, in my mind, is not the privacy element so much as the company’s focus on functionality. Sunbeam didn’t spend years trying to design a “hip” device, or fashion accessory, like some other digital minimalist players. Rather, Sunbeam spent its resources on developing the operating system and the phone’s tools. My disappointment with many “dumb” phones is not so much with their hardware but their software, which many companies have treated like an afterthought.
Sunbeam phones are designed with an understanding of what type of customer they are serving. The hardware and software complement each other, and it’s worth noting that PC Magazine included the phone in its Best Products of 2021 list. The inclusion followed an upbeat review by Sascha Segan.
At Frugalmatic, practicality matters most, and the Sunbeam is a practical device above all else.
Downside of the Sunbeam phone
If I had a complaint, it would be the battery life. My Daisy version lasts about one day or so, depending on usage amounts, a far cry from the days when my LG ran for more than a week on a single charge. According to Sunbeam, the days of long battery life are over because of large energy requirements for processing VoLTE signals.
If you’re interested in trying the Sunbeam but aren’t sure whether it’s compatible on your network, Sunbeam provides a list of compatible providers. It works well on most major carriers and many small ones. I use Ting and have been pleased with the signal strength.
Support is important, too
With a Sunbeam phone, you receive support. If you have concerns or questions, you can count on the company to be responsive. It’s easy to take support services for granted until you have problem or question and need help.
And let’s face it, when you don’t have a smartphone and everyone else around you does, it can feel a little isolating. For that reason alone, it’s important to get a device that comes with quality support. I feel that Sunbeam recognizes the significance of forgoing a smartphone and wants you to be successful in your decision.
UPDATE: Almost two years of using my Sunbeam phone
As of August 2023, I’m still using the Sunbeam phone. I’ve dropped it a handful of times, and it’s survived the falls. It’s not considered a rugged phone, but it’s not flimsy.
The only issue I’ve had is the occasional software bug. Sunbeam does provide regular updates, which have fixed these bugs. If you notice any, the phone includes a feature to report them, and you can also email or call the company. I’ve personally reported two bugs over the past two years. In each case, a Sunbeam representative responded to me and offered help. Most recently, the company told me that the bug I had reported was a “known bug” and “will be repaired as soon as we create an update.” The patch became available about a week later.
None of the bugs have prevented me from using the phone, as I’ve always been able to find a workaround. The truth is, every program comes with bugs, from time to time. What’s important is how a company handles them. In my experience, Sunbeam issues timely software updates and promptly responds to support requests.
With the Sunbeam phone, you will receive notifications when updates become available. You can also manually check for them through the “Update Software” and “Update Firmware” menu options.
Read: 5 tips for dealing with ‘digital gates’
Q & A with Sunbeam co-founder Sterling Martin
Read excerpts from my Q & A with Sunbeam Wireless co-founder Sterling Martin below.
Frugalmatic: I understand some of the interest in your phone is for religious reasons and some of it for secular reasons. It sounds like you have a wide-ranging group of customers. Can you talk a little bit about what types of people are buying your phone?
Sterling Martin: Yes, you are correct about that. We do indeed serve a range of customers. The customers who use our phone for religious reasons tend to be Jewish, Mennonite, or Amish, although there are some exceptions. In some of the most conservative of these groups, it’s not really considered to be acceptable to use a smartphone. (There are exceptions for various reasons, including workplace.) These customers are looking for a phone that does not have a web browser or social media apps, but they still want the phone to be relatively fast to navigate: menus, access contacts, etc.
Another type of customer are those who simply prefer the flip-phone format (versus smartphone) and the tactile response of the buttons. These users tend to be older but can be younger as well. These customers might be religious or secular.
Finally, some customers are concerned about their digital footprint, as well as wanting to place some intentional limits on the amount of social media in their lives. For these users, the Sunbeam F1 is a good choice because it prevents them from having 24/7 access to the endless scroll (aka doom-scrolling) that is prevalent on many social media platforms.
Read: Should you give your child a smartphone?
F: Why did you decide on the classic flip-phone style for the Sunbeam F1?
SM: Good question. Quite frankly, we wanted to make a device with a QWERTY keypad when we started out. But after discovering that virtually all the manufacturers have moved away from these formats, and that starting a project “ground-up” would be very expensive, we decided to start with a flip phone. We know that even if we develop a QWERTY device later on, there will still be customers who want a flip phone. And since the flip phone is less expensive for our first product, it was a natural fit.
Frugalmatic: I find the debates over which features to include on minimalist devices fascinating. You’ve created three different types of phones—the Dandelion, Daisy, and Orchid—to give your customers a choice over which type of features to access. What inspired you to offer these three versions, instead of just one version offering all features?
SM: Well, our concept is to simplify the process as much as possible for the customer and have a product that fits their needs right out of the box. We have some customers that are buying the phone for a parent with dementia, and they do not want anything popping up or confusing them, such as incoming spam text messages. For these folks, the Dandelion is a good fit.
But quite frankly, texting is a major part of most customers’ daily phone experience, so we needed a version with texting. For someone wanting the functionality of a traditional flip phone of days gone by, the Daisy is a good fit. It offers calling, texting, and a number of tools like calculator, calendar, etc., but that’s about it. For someone who only wants the functions, and nothing more, the Daisy is great. Finally, we’ve added Maps and Weather to our Orchid version. Navigation is almost essential for some people, which is why we’ve made the Orchid version.
F: Your company prioritizes privacy and doesn’t include software on the device that tracks user activity. Why is that so important to you and your customers?
SM: Our purpose is to help people live intentional lives with real relationships. So our primary goal is not privacy. However, many of our customers are not comfortable with social media and Big Data tracking their every move, many times for a profit. And neither are we. So even though our primary goal is not privacy, we value the privacy of the customer and always choose the least-invasive option.
For example, in our experience we’ve found that if we wish to provide a good voice-to-text feature on our phones, we will need to work with a large company that has a powerful voice transcription engine. We’ve partnered with Microsoft for our voice-to-text service, which is extremely accurate and powerful. Not all of our customers like Microsoft, but we believe that our implementation of it is a good balance between a solution that works well and keeping the customer’s data private.
I have had an LG flip phone for many years, and I love it — but it’s 3G so the time of reckoning has come. The Sunbeam looks great, and I love the company’s ethos, but I have one question (not being technologically savvy): is there any practical concern about the phone not being able to receive text messages? The Sunbeam website says, in the FAQ that “One of our many helpful customers has informed us that “Chat Features” needed to be disabled on a Pixel device in order to send text messages to a Sunbeam F1. (We haven’t reviewed this ourselves yet, but it seems that when “Chat Features” are enabled the Android smartphone is attempting to send messages via RCS, which is not supported on the F1).” I do not to be able to reliably receive text messages. Thank you!
Hi Don, I don’t text a lot, so I’m probably not the best person to say whether there are any issues with Sunbeam’s texting feature.
Glad to find your review in here and it’s especially good to see 2022 responses to it. I’ve been searching for a new flip phone for my sister since even the Jitterbug flip has too much going on for her (and it does have its issues, including expensive service). This helps me get closer to making a Dandelion decision for her.
That’s good to hear. One additional thing I’ll mention here that I didn’t include in this review is that I’ve downloaded several updates to my Sunbeam phone since I started using it last year. This is a good sign because it means the company makes upgrading the software a priority.
Hello, Andrew! I have recently gone through a process of looking for a new phone and considered several “freedom phone” options (to use a term you coined in one of your other posts). Ultimately, I too decided on the F1 Orchid as the device that would best fit my needs out of all those currently available. Reviews of the phone are still pretty scarce, so reading yours was especially helpful. Thank you!
I was pretty happy with my Samsung Galaxy J3 smartphone, but the end of G3 service forced me to search for a new device. So I did some research and picked out a budget smartphone to purchase. Got home with the thing, tried it out, could not stand it. Too much preloaded software (mostly Google), too many cameras (three), too heavy and awkward to hold comfortably for use as an actual PHONE, and a large screen that came so close to the edges of the device that it felt like it was trying to pop out into the real world. And it wasn’t like I had much choice in these design features: virtually all the budget phones I had looked at were basically this same size and style, same type of screen, same proliferation of cameras, etc., as if these were all things anybody in his right mind would want. Reflecting on all this helped me to understand that tech companies have a vested interest in creating a “style” or “trend” so that people would want to buy the latest and greatest. To this end, rather than offering a good range of different sizes and features, which would be best for the consumer, large phones with lots of cameras are now “in,” marketed as innovation by all the biggest manufacturers. That way, many people who don’t really need or want a new phone can be PERSUADED that they need or want one. Being a graduate student, I remembered that I once read some abstruse theory about how advertising and marketing enables companies to create “manufactured needs” in the minds of consumers. I think the smartphone phenomenon must exemplify what the author was trying to describe.
Anyways, I was thinking about how these companies use fear of missing out to manipulate people in this way, and also how social media, YouTube, and even news outlets structure their websites and apps in such a way as to keep people scrolling and clicking for as long as possible, and I got pretty angry. When I stop and think about it, I really, really dislike the prospect of living in the kind of society that these developments seemingly point to. I decided I didn’t want to ride this bandwagon anymore, hence the decision to distance myself from the smartphone trend as much as I can by using the Orchid as my primary phone. It’s a matter of personal principles: what do I want my life to be about? What kind of values do I want to stand for? Even such an ostensibly small matter as the type of cell phone one selects can be considered in terms of these questions.
Unfortunately, I can’t ditch the smartphone altogether. My university still requires weekly COVID tests as a condition of enrollment, and these tests must be processed through a smartphone app provided by the university–because everyone has/wants a smartphone these days, right? (Sadly, there’s not much diversity of thought at my university in general–but that’s a whole other story.) My plan is to use a smartphone to run the university’s app over wi-fi and for the occasional other use, but to keep my SIM card in the Orchid 90% of the time or more.
So that’s how I stumbled upon your website while searching for reviews of the Sunbeam F1 series. Speaking of which, I would like to applaud you for what you’re doing here. It’s refreshing to see! Any effort to help people be more thoughtful and deliberate about their lives is worthy of commendation, in my opinion, especially in this age of shallowness and political tribalism. Best wishes in all your endeavors!
Jeremy, I’m thrilled you found this site, and I’m glad this review could help you find a phone that better fits your lifestyle.
Also, you raise an issue that I’m growing more concerned about: The requirement to have a smartphone to go about our day-to-day lives. The COVID-19 testing app that you cited is a good example. I’ve heard of other tasks becoming tethered to smartphones, too, such as smartphone-only parking meters and smartphone-only laundromats. For me personally, I like to go to Green Bay Packer games, and they now only accept e-tickets. Unfortunately, I think functioning without a smartphone will only get trickier. I can completely understand why some people can’t give up their smartphones for practical reasons.
However, I like your system of using your smartphone’s WI-FI mode so you can keep your SIM card in the Sunbeam.
If you think about it, please check back here in a few months, as I’d like to know how putting aside the smartphone works out.
I’d been waiting to upgrade my flip phone to one that actually worked like they did in the past (as in holding a charge for more than 1/2 day and alerting you to a message). And I’d been holding out until I could find one that allowed voice to text for the calendar. I got the Orchid and it meets and exceeds what I’d been looking for for years. I am on the computer so much at work/home and I have a tablet so I just never felt a need for a smart phone, for one thing I’d never look up because I’d be on it all day long looking up every single thing that popped into my head (I love the tech world!). I can’t speak to going online with this phone as I never use my flip phone for that, this one included but I will share what I have learned.
Pros:
*This not only has voice to text for texting AND calendar but is also has a touch screen so you can more easily navigate choices.
* It includes a flashlight (I never would have thought of adding that, what a bonus!)
* Has a map program purchased separately on a SD card.
* You can actually see the icons on the screen! And it shows three bold icons on the front so I can easily see if the phone is charging and if I have a message (my other ones were unreadable and really defunct in those departments).
* Has a charger cradle that you just drop your phone into like some of the older Droids. It is so easy!
* Gives you the choice to answer upon opening the phone or after touching the answer button (my preference).
* Very intuitive navigation, you can teach yourself most everything very quickly, even the buttons have marks that help you immediately understand what they are for.
*The shape of this phone isn’t as streamlined as my last, which is a bonus because this one you can actually easily open (like the older flip phones). Because the top and bottom don’t close together totally flat you can thumb it open very easily (my past streamlined phone was very hard to open and I finally had to create a pull tab on one side).
*Customer service was quick with their callback and very patient and helpful (a huge plus for me!)
Cons:
Well, I really couldn’t find any cons but for the sake of balance in the pro/com columns I’ll add a few things here.
* The phone does have to be charged more than once a week which isn’t an issue because I actually get to use the phone rather than have it act like a paperweight (like my last few did and still they only held a charge for maybe a day). If I don’t have the Bluetooth on and if I’m not using the phone it will stay charged for maybe three days (not sure). In the past I always forget to charge my phone but with this one I put it in the cradle automatically, especially since I use it regularly now, so I haven’t really put it to the test for more than 2 day. Although, I did notice when I had something running (maybe Bluetooth or maps…not sure) it would lose charge a bit quicker.
* I couldn’t get my Verizon contacts to transfer over using Bluetooth, only the first four would transfer. The tech support was very responsive and supportive and worked with me but it still wasn’t happening. I was going to call Verizon next but then I realized that I’d purchased the map SD card so I put it in my old phone, transferred the contacts there, moved the SD card back to the Orchid, and viola they easily transferred over.
Lots of good points here that I didn’t make in my review. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
So, will this phone work with the 5G network?
Kathy, This is a 4G phone, so it doesn’t run on 5G network. You’ll want to make sure to get a 4G SIM card for it.
Just last week I got a sim card at my local Verizon store, and the card is backwards compatible to work between the 4G (F1) and verizon’s network. Service so far is excellent, no problems.
Thank you very much Andrew for taking the time to research this, speak with Sunbeam Wireless’s founders, and write this up!
I have purchased the Sunbeam F1 Orchid twice now! First in August and then again this month after I saw on their wonderfully up-to-date updates page that the Verizon SMS bug was squashed! It truly is a fantastic device with real purpose behind every design choice. I loved hearing about the QWERTY dilemma when the project was started as I’ve had the same question. One of my prior devices I’ve kept around for the last 8 years is a BlackBerry Q10, and with VoLTE becoming a requirement it’s out of the running now, that and BB10 is being shut down fully in Jan 2022.
I also love how this is not a $300 or more device; though the Light Phone II, Punkt MP02 and now Mudita Pure do have their high points the F1 just feels so much more practical for the every day buyer and has very useful features like contact whitelisting, stellar voice to text and the built in nav and radar are standout features. Particularly radar from someone who lives next door to Sunbeam’s Missouri based location over in storm/tornado prone Kansas and haven’t seen that feature on a dumb phone in many years.
Stellar thorough review here and I also appreciated Sascha Segan’s write up, great to see some more exposure for Sunbeam. Just waiting for them to be able to go a little more prime time as it’s very hard to find anything about them on something like YouTube minus Jose Briones own reviews. Great work!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.