On Wed, Sep 28, 2022 at 12:33 PM, Gene wrote:

If really all you want to do is make calls, you don't need speech and you may save a lot of money when buying a phone.

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Gene,

I have to argue this, and I'm not going to go out and research all carriers, I'll stick with Tracfone.

All of their available flip phones, save one, are $19.99, and the exception model is $39.99.

The low end smartphones start at $29.99, the next one up is $39.99, and there are others under $50.  All of those are brand new.  If you're willing to go with refurbished, and Tracfone offers these devices (probably returns that are reboxed), you can get prices on the lower end smartphones that are less than a brand new flip phone, and some low-mid-range/high-lower-range devices for barely more than a new flip phone.

Flip phones are cheap, absolutely speaking, but not relatively speaking, because they have become a niche market.  Cheap smartphones for very basic needs are still very inexpensive, and have gotten more so over time (like most computer technology, and lets face it, a smartphone is a true microcomputer that has a phone feature).
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Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

   ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.