Commodore's New Flip Phone Focuses on 'Digital Detox' and Blocks Social Media Apps

The retro phone has a physical T9 texting button layout, the ability to run most Android-based apps and a social media blacklist.

Tyler Graham Writer

Tyler is a writer for CNET covering laptops and video games. He's previously covered mobile devices, home energy products and broadband. He came to CNET straight out of college, where he graduated from Seton Hall with a bachelor's degree in journalism. When Tyler's not asking questions or doing research for his next assignment, you can find him in his home state of New Jersey, kicking back with a bagel and watching an action flick or playing a new video game.

When Tyler's not asking questions or doing research for his next assignment, you can find him in his home state of New Jersey, kicking back with a bagel and watching an action flick or playing a new video game.

You can reach him at [email protected].

Expertise Video gaming, computer hardware, laptops, home energy, home internet

4 min read

The company responsible for the Commodore 64, the best-selling desktop computer model of all time, is back. And Commodore's latest unveiling feels appropriately retro: a "digital detox" flip phone called The Commodore Callback 8020.

Commodore's Callback 8020 announcement blog attributes the phone's simple throwback design to the "screen break" trend, writing that it's for customers who want a "calmer, more intentional phone."

The Callback 8020 promises to pare back distractions and doomscrolling. It has limited touchscreen availability and no browser access. It has no work apps, no email and no AI. Social media apps are completely blacklisted from the onboard Commostore. The company has developed "patent-pending" technology that prevents users from sideloading the offending apps.

"When you're done using it, you snap it shut -- a deliberate endpoint instead of another invitation to scroll," the company wrote.

A representative for the Commodore International Corporation didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

A dumb phone revolution?

Despite the simplicity of the Callback 8020, Commodore International says the phone is somewhere in between a smartphone and a dumb phone. It "does everything you want, nothing you don't."

The phone has many modern features. It runs a continually updated Linux-based operating system called Sailfish OS. Commodore promises that, aside from the apps on the blacklist, the Callback 8020 can run "99% of Android apps," including apps like maps, music, rideshare, camera, games, podcasts and voice notes.

The Callback 8020 also has a 48-megapixel camera, a MediaTek Helio G81 processor, 32GB of storage, a headphone jack and a replaceable battery. The phone's outer dome has toggleable LED lights so you can receive text and call notifications.

David Lumb, managing editor of CNET's mobile team, said the new flip phone is part of a wider trend of companies making phones for people who want to unplug without being completely out of touch. But he's not convinced it will attract a wide range of users.

"The Callback makes a lot of compromises that might irk modern phone users," Lumb said. "However nostalgic it is to lack a touchscreen, folks might get fed up navigating with only arrow buttons and typing texts with the T9 layout."

The phone's screen does have touch capabilities, but they only turn on when an app that needs touch controls is loaded. Lumb also pointed out the hefty $500 price tag, a tough ask for a phone with fewer features than competitors at the same price.

CNET senior writer Jeff Carlson said the Callback 8020 was almost certainly designed for people who have fond memories of using the original Commodore products. But he still has concerns about the flip phone and isn't convinced that many people want the T9 texting button layout.

One turnoff for me is the apparent widespread use of AI-generated visual assets in Callback 8020's marketing materials. The use of generative AI seems to run counter to the company's embrace of nostalgic hardware design principles and Frutiger Aero-themed visuals. The fine print on the Callback 8020's product page says that "some product images are renders" and that "some screen images are simulated."

The Commodore comeback

If you haven't heard of the Commodore as of late, that'd be understandable. While the brand was a major name in the computing industry in the 1980s, it collapsed in the '90s and has since faded into obscurity.

In July 2025, the Commodore Corporation brand and its intellectual property were purchased by YouTuber Christian "Peri Fractic" Simpson (who owns and operates the popular Retro Recipes channel) and multiple other investors. Simpson founded a new US-based company, the Commodore International Corporation, alongside talent from the original '80s-era Commodore team.

The latest iteration of Commodore seems to be delivering on the promises that Simpson made in his acquisition announcement short video, where he said that Commodore will reboot "not just as a retro brand with next-gen ideas, but as a digital detox brand, picking up right where we left off in the '90s."

The brand launched two "breadbin" desktop computers, the Commodore 64 Ultimate and Commodore 64C Ultimate, that revamp the company's most famous product for the first time in four decades.

The Callback 8020 is the first phone the new Commodore corporation has unveiled, but it's not without precedent for the computer company to grab for a small handhold in the mobile industry: The previous owners released the Commodore PET in 2015.

The Commodore Callback 8020 will be available for preorder for $500 on June 30. Certain colors raise the price up to $640. The first Callback 8020s are expected to ship by the end of the year, but no shipping date has officially been announced.

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TYLER GRAHAM

Writer

Tyler is a writer for CNET covering laptops and video games. He's previously covered mobile devices, home energy products and broadband. He came to CNET straight out of college, where he graduated from Seton Hall with a bachelor's degree in journalism. When Tyler's not asking questions or doing research for his next assignment, you can find him in his home state of New Jersey, kicking back with a bagel and watching an action flick or playing a new video game.

When Tyler's not asking questions or doing research for his next assignment, you can find him in his home state of New Jersey, kicking back with a bagel and watching an action flick or playing a new video game.

You can reach him at [email protected]. See full bio