Nokia phones
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 9 dumb phones by recommenders
People recommend Nokia phones for their sturdiness, replaceable batteries and long battery life, though critics say the software is weak and the phones lack modern features.
People recommend Nokia phones for their sturdiness, replaceable batteries and long battery life, though critics say the software is weak and the phones lack modern features.
39 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 29
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 74%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 29 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Sturdy, survives drops
“They looked fantastic, legitimately didn't require a case, and held up very well.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” “The S40 devices were awesome, sturdy, trusty tools.”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “The Myth of the ThinkPad” “Dropped it a hundred times, still worked.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Playa Phone” - Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”
- Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “GLM 5.2 and the coming AI margin collapse”
Replaceable batteries, long battery life
“I never had to buy a new battery for all the nokias I owned all the way until Nokia the company died.”
Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)” “As much as I like the Nokia I had that went weeks without a charge”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Pixel Watch 5” “Nokia phones used to be good phones with replaceable batteries”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027” - Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “The AI boom is making the cheapest smartphones disappear”
Good phones overall
“Nokia phones were the best, with the best sound systems.”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Nokia Design Archive (2025)” “They were the gold standard when it comes to phones”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Tech sucks: You have to vote with your wallet, or nothing will change” “Ericsson and Nokia making really good phones”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Lidl Introduces the European Payment Method Wero in Germany” - Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “The history of Casio watches”
Good sound quality
“the nice sound a friend's cool new Nokia phone made on incoming SMS messages”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “The 'absolute magic' of Morse code that still connects people globally” “Nokia phones were the best, with the best sound systems.”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Nokia Design Archive (2025)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Buggy, weak software and apps
“they have obnoxious bugs, they drop calls, and lack basic modern-day compatibility features”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Commodore Made a Digital Detox Phone That Isn't Dumb” “the Symbian OS or KaiOS they use is lacking in many aspects”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Commodore Releases Flip Phone” “the apps and services just didn't work that well”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Nokia Design Archive (2025)” - Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Nokia Design Archive (2025)”
Missing US bands and modern features
“they have obnoxious bugs, they drop calls, and lack basic modern-day compatibility features”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Commodore Made a Digital Detox Phone That Isn't Dumb” “non-Android Nokia phones don’t support enough US cellular bands”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone” Preinstalled bloatware and Facebook
“they installed any bloatware just to keep their sales numbers high”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Nokia's 14 Years of Mobile-Phone Supremacy Ended in an Afternoon” “I was very upset to find FB and similar on recent Nokia products.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What's a good "semi-dumb" phone/watch for kids?” Behind the iPhone
“too slow and bureaucratic and could not adapt to the iPhone”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Jolla phone – a full-stack European alternative” “Their handsets were just janky compared to the slick iPhone”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Nokia Design Archive (2025)”
Other dumb phones people recommend
The four most recommended other dumb phones, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimal Phone 2 | 34 | 26 | 57% | 2 | — | — |
| Commodore Flip Phone | 31 | 16 | 66% | 6 | — | — |
| Nokia phonesThis page | 29 | 10 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Commodore Digital Detox Phone | 14 | 11 | 56% | 1 | — | — |
| Mudita Kompakt | 8 | 2 | 80% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
36 of the 40 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I loved my phone with physical querty keyboard (nokia)”
“popping out batteries to pop in another. Was perfect.”
“the apps and services just didn't work that well”
“Nokia phone are quite sturdy”
“Nokia phones were the best, with the best sound systems.”
“Their handsets were just janky compared to the slick iPhone”
“Nokia were bad at software, honestly.”
“I was very upset to find FB and similar on recent Nokia products.”
“Dropped it a hundred times, still worked.”
“As much as I like the Nokia I had that went weeks without a charge”
“They were the gold standard when it comes to phones”
“Ericsson and Nokia making really good phones”
“I have fond memories of my Nokias, but it never felt like the had supreme hardware vs JP.”
“they installed any bloatware just to keep their sales numbers high”
“the nice sound a friend's cool new Nokia phone made on incoming SMS messages”
“i did the next best thing and got a nokia brick phone”
“Damn, that Nokia is a tank!”
“they have obnoxious bugs, they drop calls, and lack basic modern-day compatibility features”
“the Symbian OS or KaiOS they use is lacking in many aspects”
“HMD (Nokia) still manufacturers some of them that even come with GPS, etc.”
“non-Android Nokia phones don’t support enough US cellular bands”
“Nokia phones used to be good phones with replaceable batteries”
“as if supporting Xi regime was somehow better than buying in USA.”
“expose the AT command set over a USB tty, yet still be useful as a handset”
“I've had a couple of Nexuses, a few of the Pixels, with a Nokia in the mix too.”
“too slow and bureaucratic and could not adapt to the iPhone”
“I never had to buy a new battery for all the nokias I owned all the way until Nokia the company died.”
“I find the UI to be surprisingly well designed a lot of time”
“On both my nokia and my blackberry it was far far better”
“The S40 devices were awesome, sturdy, trusty tools.”
“They looked fantastic, legitimately didn't require a case, and held up very well.”
“calls will all go to both phones”
“for being able to just write without typoing all the time”
“HMD under NOKIA brand went almost out of business due to adding notches to their phones”
“File transfer worked well on Nokia devices and was pretty stable.”
“their Nokia phones were pretty good”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.