The phone shipped fast and was as described. There's quite a markup from other websites like ebay and temu, but those websites often show photos of several completely different phones in the same listing. Y2Kphones has photos that are all clearly of the correct phone and it listed all the helpful specs, so it was a good buyer experience.
As for the phone though, I probably wouldn't recommend it. It mostly works, but here are the bugs I've found so far:
- Notifications: there's a toggle for "vibration with sound", but turning it off it does nothing, it still vibrates.
- Lock screen: there's another toggle for "roaming clock", which I assume refers to the second clock on the lock screen that's on Korean time. Once again, turning this off does nothing. Hilariously, there's glimpses of this in some of Y2Kphones's promotional videos, but it was too quick for me to notice.
- Weather: LG servers are no longer supported, so the inbuilt weather widget on the EasyHome version of the home screen doesn't work. I got Lawnchair for the home screen instead.
- Internet connection: sometimes if I send texts for too long a period of time, the phone suddenly decides it's super busy and it stops properly sending messages (and presumably also receiving them). This is easily fixable by restarting the phone, but it's a bit of a hassle.
- Text size: some apps force the text to a size which would be ok on a normal sized phone, but is terrible on this tiny screen. Usually apps have text size options so you can fix this within the app, but if they don't, you're stuck with it.
In summary: LG put absolutely no effort into the software, it's hilarious. I imagine the Samsung Folder 2 MIGHT be more carefully designed, but I haven't tried it to confirm.
The bugs initially put me off using this phone, but then, not joking, I woke up one morning and my iphone was totally fried. The universe was telling me to commit! So here are the positives I've discovered in 2 full weeks of using it as a daily driver:
- Typing: not as hard as it looks if you download Traditional T9 from the app store.
- Messaging: All the usual apps work just fine!
- Notification LED: Exciting.
- Small size: Ok, when it's unfolded this phone is comically long. But it weighs nothing because it's all plastic, and it folds up into the perfect pocketable unit.
- Y2K swag: I can't deny it, this phone is a head turner. It's only been two weeks, but my friends laugh at me every time I pull it out, like "still going?" I like to think people on the bus think I'm mysterious, but I'll never know. Pair it with an mp3 player for maximum vibes. There's even space for a dangly charm if you want to fully embrace the *aesthetic*. If you love attention, this phone is for you, and if you hate even the thought that someone might look at you in public, the desire to hide this ridiculous phone might help to curb your scrolling habits.
- The sounds: oh my god, the sounds. With my internet access now highly restricted, opening and closing this phone is now my daily entertainment. bloop? bloop. bloop? bloop. I love her so much.
In conclusion: If you want a dumbphone-adjacent experience but still want access to Whatsapp etc, this phone might be the one. If you want to scroll tiktok on a flip phone for the aesthetic, for god's sake stop watching Y2K's promotional reels and go outside, this phone will feel like a prison to you. For me? My life is forever changed, and I may never use a high quality phone again. Long live the flip phone.