Phones have been one of the modern age’s premier inventions. It’s a computer in your pocket connecting you to the world, but in recent years, I feel that it’s starting to become a source of disconnection: the constant need to refresh Instagram, trading sleep for Netflix and using texting as a way to avoid face-to-face conversation. So because of these inconvenient byproducts of the digital age, I decided to do something brave. I made the bold decision to transition from smartphone to flip phone. One year later, I’ve become a flip phone connoisseur, so I’m here to give you the rundown of my flip phone life.

First of all, let me highlight all the amazing features of flip phones. The durability of flip phones may vary from model to model, but for the most part these babies are indestructible. If you’re ever in a bad mood and need to throw something, just throw your flip phones at the wall as a form of anger management and the phone will be just dandy; the wall won’t. Flip phone battery life is also to die for; depending on the model you’ll probably only have to charge once a week.

But the battery also houses one of the shortcomings of flip phones. On the off chance you need to charge the phone and you forgot the charger your in a tricky situation. Flip phones use android chargers, and sadly no one usually has an android charger. Another feature the flip phone does not excel at is the camera; the camera looks like it always has a layer of butter over it. The features of the flip phone may be what defines it, but the benefits of just having a flip phone is the real advantage.

Flip phones take dull tasks and make them extraordinary. For instance, the rush of flipping it open is therapeutic. That is, other than the few times when you open it one handed, lose your grip, and send it flying across the room. Not that I would know. Another advantage of flip phone life is all the babes. Legit so many girls talk to me just because I have a flip phone, they’re in awe of my brilliant piece of technology. First they take selfies to see if the camera works, then they call their own number to see if it actually goes through. Who needs pickup lines to get phone numbers when you have a flip phone? Getting their phone number isn’t really that great though considering I’m the worst at using my flip phone, but this also serves as a benefit. It makes me more elusive. If you don’t want to respond to someone you can just blame it on the flip phone. The thing that affects me the most, though, is how much less time I spend on social media as a result of my flip, but this kind of went out the window when I found the hotspot on my flip phone and started bringing my iPad to school.