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We traded our smartphones for flip phones for 4 days—and learned that ditching modern technology is harder than it sounds

Cnbc · · 1953 words · By Megan Sauer; Renée Onque
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What to know about We traded our smartphones for flip phones for 4 days—and learned that ditching modern technology is harder than it sounds

For many people who got their first cellphones in the late 1990s or early 2000s, flip phones were chrome and neon portals into pop culture and newfound social circles with your peers.

Claims checked 6
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

For many people who got their first cellphones in the late 1990s or early 2000s, flip phones were chrome and neon portals into pop culture and newfound social circles with your peers.

Why it matters

Now, the digital world — a constantly accessible gateway to millions of other people, information on every subject and breaking news from around the world — feels frustratingly cluttered to a growing number of those same one-time flip-phone enthusiasts.

Common ground

Some Gen Zers and millennials use apps or hardware to block their access to social media, set their smartphone screens to grayscale, or purchase "dumb phones" that can't access the internet.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/16/we-switched-to-flip-phones-for-4-days-as-a-smart…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5
verified Verified 1
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Claim 1: “in another study, participants who were enthusiastic to swap their smartphones for dumb phones reported more psychological benefits than participants who felt neutral going into the one week experiment, found researchers from Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence consists of general psychology snippets and unrelated Facebook posts about study sessions; there is no mention of a specific study by Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison regarding dumb phones.
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web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · Psychology research, including the Harvard Study of Adult Development, shows that human connection is one of the strongest predictors of well-being and resilience. These 10 stories reveal …
https://www.facebook.com/brightside/posts/psychology-researc…
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web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago · #study #studywithme #studywithme #motivation #aesthetic just a quiet 1.5-hour study session 📝📖 small progress still counts#study#studywithme#studywithme#motivation#aesthetic Ngoc Anh and …
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1318226749754281/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · Ready Study Go - Togo, Lomé. 9,417 likes · 503 talking about this · 83 were here. Réussir votre projet d'études à l'international ! AVI, logement, assurance, billet, suivi, projets
https://www.facebook.com/readystudygotogo/
info
Claim 2: “two CNBC Make It reporters — Megan Sauer, age 29, and Renée Onque, age 26 — hid their iPhones from themselves and bought flip phones to use for a four-day experiment”
SINGLE SOURCE
Web results confirm that Renée Onque is a reporter for CNBC Make It, but there is no evidence in the provided search results regarding a specific four-day flip phone experiment conducted with Megan Sauer.
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web search NEUTRAL — View organization page for CNBC Make It.Interesting to see that reality shows can make people more empathetic. Well done Renée Onque!
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/renée-onque-038894150_excited…
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web search NEUTRAL — CNBC Make It. Markeiz Ryan, 36, left a military career behind to build a new life in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after being honorably discharged in 2019. He earns around $4,000/month and pays $850/mont…
https://www.tiktok.com/@cnbcmakeit/video/7182311239740165418
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web search NEUTRAL — Renée Onque was a reporter with the health and science team and part of the winter/spring 2022 newsroom intern class. She is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City U…
https://www.wsj.com/news/author/renee-onque
info
Claim 3: “Reddit's "r/dumbphones" forum has 185,000 weekly visitors, as of Friday afternoon”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence consists of general descriptions of Reddit and its homepage, but contains no specific data regarding the visitor count or weekly traffic for the r/dumbphones subreddit.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Reddit (/ ˈrɛdɪt / ⓘ RED-it, formerly stylized reddit) is an American proprietary social news aggregation and forum social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit
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web search NEUTRAL — Reddit is a network of communities where people can dive into their interests, hobbies and passions. There's a community for whatever you're interested in on Reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — The heart of the internet Reddit is home to thousands of communities, endless conversation, and authentic human connection. Whether you're into breaking news, sports, TV fan theories, or a never-endin…
https://redditinc.com/
info
Claim 4: “Just two weeks of blocking internet access on smartphones boosted mood, restored attention or improved well-being for 91% of participants in a small February 2025 study conducted by researchers at organizations including the University of Alberta and Georgetown University.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence includes general university rankings and a LinkedIn post about a gift to the University of Alberta, but contains no mention of a February 2025 study on smartphone blocking or the 91% statistic.
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject features 55 narrow subjects across five broad subject areas. This year's rankings are our biggest yet, with over 1,900 institutions incl…
https://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings
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web search NEUTRAL — Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other…
https://www.quora.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — University of Alberta. 376,030 followers. 1w. Report this post. A $93.5-million gift, the largest in university history, will continue a decades-long partnership advancing research in women’s and chil…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/university-of-alberta_a-935-m…
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Claim 5: “Carissa Véliz, an associate professor of philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim is completely irrelevant, consisting of basketball statistics for the Los Angeles Lakers, with no mention of Carissa Véliz or the University of Oxford.
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web search NEUTRAL — Checkout the latest and historical year by year stats of Los Angeles Lakers along with the list of all time top 12 players and more on Basketball-Reference.com
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/
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web search NEUTRAL — Los Angeles Lakers list of players. Los Angeles Lakers Players Location: Los Angeles, California Team Names: Los Angeles Lakers, Minneapolis Lakers Seasons: 78; 1948-49 to 2025-26 Record: 3653-2515, .…
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/players.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Checkout the latest Los Angeles Lakers Schedule and Results for regular season, playoffs and more on Basketball-Reference.com
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/2010_games.ht…
verified
Claim 6: “Anastasia Dedyukhina, director of Consciously Digital Institute”
VERIFIED
Multiple independent sources (LinkedIn, the Consciously Digital official website, and ICF) confirm that Dr. Anastasia Dedyukhina is the founder/director of the Consciously Digital Institute.
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web search NEUTRAL — · Experience: Consciously Digital Institute (CDI) · Education: CTI · Location: London · 500+ connections on LinkedIn.View mutual connections with Dr Anastasia. Dr Anastasia can introduce you to 8 peop…
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anastasiadedyukhina
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web search NEUTRAL — Consciously Digital Institute started as an attempt of one person to find her own balance and tame her smartphone. Back to 2015, our founder Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina, had a senior job in tech sector in…
https://www.consciously-digital.com/founders-story
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web search NEUTRAL — Anastasia Dedyukhina, PhD, a is a TEDx speaker, author of the best-selling book Homo Distractus, and a recognized thought leader in digital well-being. Her research, speaking, and writing focus on how…
https://coachingfederation.org/person/anastasia-dedyukhina-p…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.