As a quick background, I first got a mobile phone in the 1990s. I didn’t particularly want one, but at the time I was a freelance draughtsman in London and the companies I worked for started insisting that bods like me had a mobile phone. The mobile really didn’t make a lot of difference with regard to the work I was doing. On every building site where I was doing a survey there was a landline in the site office.
So, up until the early 2000s, when I first landed in France, I had a mobile phone. Since then, for the best part of 20 years now, I have managed to live quite comfortably without a mobile phone.
For reasons I won’t bore you with, I now need a mobile phone. However, I don’t, under any circumstances want a ‘smart phone’ (for internet and all that stuff, when traveling, I have a very small and powerful laptop).
I’m looking for a very basic phone, unlocked, no SIM card, that will work in France and across Europe.
No laughing here. Definitely not the cheapest option, but look up Rob Braxman on Youtube (ugh). Find his own site and he sells “degoogled phones”. No apps, no location tracking (overt or covert) and no unnecessary sh*te, just a phone.
If too expensive, I’d go for one of the old Huawei’s like the ‘9 lite’, reconditioned on ebay.
Bon chance!
Late edit: On the issue of covert tracking what most don’t know, is that even with the phone in ‘airplane’ mode and location tracking switched off, there is still tracking taking place. I won’t explain the detail but it’s known as ‘passive bluetooth’.
What do you want from it? You can buy simple phones that allow calls and text only. They still make them and they’re cheap too.
eBay shows many for less than a tenner delivered if you don’t mind second hand. The Captain Scarlett of phones, the Nokia 3310 is available new for £70 or less.
Completely forgot about those old ones and didn’t even know they were still available. Thanks. I’m off to ebay to get one for phone calls while I’m out and leave my smart one at home.
