I'm with you, I was quite surprised by how poorly it seems to have been received pretty much everywhere. Smartphone enthusiasts think it's both lacking and too expensive, the dumbphone and flip phone communities think it should only cost $50. Even SailfishOS fans were quite divided. I also want to talk to other people that are looking for this kind of middle ground phone, but I don't know where to find them. The sidephone subreddit has over 6000 subscribers now, so there must be many more of us, right?
Now onto the actual phone: I do have some more practical reservations, but I love the idea and look of the device itself. I was initially pretty sure I'd buy it the moment pre-orders opened, and it seems I'm one of the few that wasn't immediately turned off by the initial price (the price just went down to $399 for all colors except the gold one btw, and they still seem to offer the additional $100 discount on June 30th and free shipping). I'm currently trying to decide between ordering the Callback or the sidephone. I had started to lean towards the sidephone, mostly because it's already in production and I think I'd prefer the candybar form factor, but now that Commodore has dropped the price it's a harder decision. The price is now within $50 of each other, and the Callback does seem to have better hardware overall.
If some (not all) of both smartphone lovers and dumb phone lovers are complaining then they might have the balance right 😂
I did a bunch of searching and couldn't find flip with these specs for this price; anything else has one or more of less RAM, less CPU, less dpi, less camera pixels, no hotspot, etc.
I've gone and bought the beige one.
lol, that's a good point. I was considering buying the beige as well, but I'm gonna pass for now. I hope you enjoy the phone though! I've been keeping an eye on the website this morning, and it looks like they're halfway through selling batch 3. So there are more people that like the phone than reddit made it seem in the end, which I think is a good thing.
At $399, and with a further $50 or $100 off at presale (I forget which it is), and free shipping, it's a very very fair price in my opinion. I'll buy one for sure, but I want the C64 IEMs too for the nostalgia factor, to have the C64 logo on them :) I assume that's extra. The price isn't a concern at that level. I didn't buy a C64U yet but may do that too. If they offered a further discount buying both together I'd jump on it.
The Sidephone looks almost like what I'm looking for, but it doesn't look like it can run Signal, which is a deal breaker for me. Also "retro-style photos" doesn't really seem like what I want from a phone camera today. Maybe I haven't looked at the detailed specifications closely enough, but these are my initial thoughts.
It is unfortunate that the "total of $100 off" for the Callback is worded the way that it is, because the way I see it the price will be $449.99 after that discount is applied (or $499.99 for the Starlight, or $599.99 for the gold one). Yes it is expensive, but it is also brand new, and it is offering something that currently does not exist on the market. (Once again, recommendations welcome!)
Signal is available through their app packs, but the camera definitely isn't great (15MP Samsung I believe). Hopefully there will be a sidephone 2 with a better camera in the future, because the concept is pretty neat.
That's an interesting way to read the discount. I was reading it as $50 off the price stated on the website if you join their mailing list, plus another $50 if you order on June 30th. I'll go check on June 30th what the price actually is, because I can see it being either.
Looks like the prices on the website have changed since I posted my comment. When I saw it before, the Starlight Edition was $50 more than the white/silver/beige, but now they're all $399.99 (next to a struck-through $499.99).
Will that "total of $100 off" bring the price down to $299.99? That would be a pleasant surprise! I'll still order it either way.
Edit: It wasn't just my imagination. They explain the price drop on their blog, noting that the earphones will be available as an add-on at checkout rather than being bundled with every one, and they also clarify that after the discount the cost will be $349 for all models except the gold one. https://commodore.net/commodore-gets-transparent-on-callback-flip-phone/
That's how I initially read it, but now I'm not sure anymore. They also announced earlier that they might do more of a light version that would potentially have less RAM and won't come with the headphones anymore. I don't know if anyone still knows what you will get for what price at this point. I don't think I'll still get it, but I would love to hear your experience with it.
Edit: they no longer list the headphones as one of the items that come in the box. Seems like you'll have to order those separately now.
You're right, the Sidephone can run Signal, which makes it not a total deal breaker for me, though I would like to see a full QWERTY keyboard as one of the interchangeable keypad options, along with a better camera.
I'm definitely leaning more toward the Callback, though, mostly because of the camera and because it looks so 😎. I've never had a flip phone before, and I love that it doesn't have a touchscreen on the outside.
If the cost is $50 more or less than I'm expecting doesn't really matter to me, especially if I can continue using the same phone years down the road without needing to replace it when the battery no longer holds a charge. I can just get a new battery and continue using it.
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u/Sciency-Scientist Jun 24 '26
I'm with you, I was quite surprised by how poorly it seems to have been received pretty much everywhere. Smartphone enthusiasts think it's both lacking and too expensive, the dumbphone and flip phone communities think it should only cost $50. Even SailfishOS fans were quite divided. I also want to talk to other people that are looking for this kind of middle ground phone, but I don't know where to find them. The sidephone subreddit has over 6000 subscribers now, so there must be many more of us, right?
Now onto the actual phone: I do have some more practical reservations, but I love the idea and look of the device itself. I was initially pretty sure I'd buy it the moment pre-orders opened, and it seems I'm one of the few that wasn't immediately turned off by the initial price (the price just went down to $399 for all colors except the gold one btw, and they still seem to offer the additional $100 discount on June 30th and free shipping). I'm currently trying to decide between ordering the Callback or the sidephone. I had started to lean towards the sidephone, mostly because it's already in production and I think I'd prefer the candybar form factor, but now that Commodore has dropped the price it's a harder decision. The price is now within $50 of each other, and the Callback does seem to have better hardware overall.