The Galaxy Z Flip 6 helped cure my doomscrolling addiction
A month ago I decided to slap my SIM card inside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and do a long-term review of the flip phone form factor in general.
The idea was to see where flip phones stand in the wake of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 announcement, what the current drawbacks are, and what these devices are doing right.
A couple of days into this experience, I realized something. Using a flip phone has instantly changed my smartphone habits in different and very interesting ways.
First, the good. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 cured my doomscrolling addiction almost completely. What is doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling on PhoneArena? No, seriously - put the phone down | Image by PhoneArena"
Most of you are probably quite familiar with the term, but it has changed since its inception. Originally, doomscrolling was defined as the act of repeatedly consuming negative or distressing news and social media content, often for extended periods.
Nowadays, it involves mindlessly scrolling all kinds of content, from stand-up comedy to people getting wasted on motorcycles to cats doing weird things (of course).
Without getting into too much detail, this mechanism is tied to our dopamine reward system.
Basically, when we see something interesting, funny, or engaging (it could be negative as well), our brain fires some dopamine to reward us for getting that information. Tens of thousands of years ago, such information might've been crucial to our survival.
Social networks and other internet outlets know about this mechanism and exploit it to the fullest. That's the main reason infinite scroll (where elements constantly load as you scroll down) was invented.
So, you end up wasting hours just swiping reels or stories, or whatever type of platform you're hooked to – it's basically the same mechanism in the core of all of them. How did the Galaxy Z Flip 6 help?
To unfold or not to unfold, that is the question! | Image by PhoneArena
Ever since I put my SIM into the Galaxy Z Flip 6 , my smartphone habits have changed completely. After just a day or so, I found it too cumbersome and tiring to constantly open and close the thing in order to stay true to my doomscrolling habits.
I used to check my phone several times per hour, even with no notifications whatsoever. Just for the sake of getting that dopamine kick from some online content. A quick Instagram check, a Facebook scroll, a Tinder swipe or two (or 100, I know, I know).
Somehow, however, the act of opening and closing the Galaxy Z Flip 6 was enough of a deterrent to keep me from doing all of the above every hour. Am I actually more lazy than addicted? That's an interesting thought. When a flaw becomes a feature
This 3.4-inch cover screen is not suited for doomscrolling | Image by PhoneArena
One of the main reasons this worked so well is that the cover screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is not very capable. I'm being a bit harsh here, but in my opinion, it's too many actions to complete even the simplest of tasks.
Unlocking the phone from the cover screen isn't working very smoothly; then you have to swipe and scroll to get to notifications and tap to see them, and I wouldn't call the experience smooth or rewarding.
I know you can download and install Goodlock to breathe some new life into the cover screen, and it's just one click affair, but the need to do so just goes to show that the cover screen is not great in its default state and this is a patch.
The other thing is that 3.4 inches is just too small. You just can't doomscroll on the cover screen of the Z Flip 6 . Watching videos is weird and straining (even if you manage to get Netflix running), and reading text for an extended period of time is dreadful.
In this case, though, a flaw suddenly turned into a feature. The physical effort needed to open the Galaxy Z Flip 6 , coupled with a not-so-capable cover screen, has helped tremendously with my phone addiction.
We're now very close to the official announcement of the successor – the Galaxy Z Flip 7 – and I'm pretty sure Samsung has improved the cover screen to match what Motorola has been doing with the Razr lineup in the past couple of years.
So, I'm gonna repeat this experiment once the Galaxy Z Flip 7 comes out and share the results. And also try the same exercise with the Motorola Razr Ultra to see if the same effect would be present with a more capable cover screen.
The Razr Ultra looks like a good candidate for further testing | Image by PhoneArena Prior to this little experiment with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 , I was planning to get a dumb phone and do some kind of digital detox.
But it's too big of a compromise, especially in my line of work. I need to be able to do some work on the go if I have to, and going down the dumb phone route is not an option.
I found the modern flexible screen flip phone, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 specifically, the perfect balance. It works for me. I might never return to candy bar phones as a personal daily driver.
What about you? Have you found flip phones to have this specific impact on your smartphone habits? Is it just me? And is there a niche to market such phones as smartphone-detox-friendly? Please, share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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