Dumbphones are currently cool again – especially around younger people – and digital detox is also a thing, so it is actually plausible again to not have a smartphone.

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The article says that you can send it in to be recycled. Idk, but if you get a voucher for sending it in to use for buying the next one (or another product) people might actually do it and it is not as bad as throwing it away. A rechargable battery would also degrade over time and since it can only be a tiny one… Also there is a chance people might use it to tinker.

However, I agree that this design choice (resulting in the low price) is very questionable to say the least.