Basic flip phones like the Sunbeam F1 have their own appeal in certain markets. Basic flip phones offer simpler and more intuitive features than smartphones. They’re ideal for users who prefer easy-to-use communication devices.
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Sunbeam F1 Review 2025
Classic Design
The F1’s touchscreen is useful in many ways. Most notably, it allows for a touch keyboard on such a small screen, which is surprisingly easy to use. While the keys are quite small, it’s far more convenient than other features like triple-tapping or the XT9’s automatic text messaging.
The Sunbeam F1 is a traditional black flip phone, measuring 4.3 x 2.2 x 0.83 inches (HWD) when closed and weighing 4.7 ounces (about 127g). The device is manufactured by the Chinese company APS, but the software is custom-designed for Sunbeam.
Display
The external 1.8-inch color LCDs battery life, caller ID, and the time. Inside, there’s a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240-pixel touchscreen. Yes, a touchscreen on a flip phone! There are volume buttons on the side, an SOS button at the bottom, and the best-looking keypad I’ve used on a voice phone in a while. The slightly recessed keys are made of solid black plastic. Both are large, clear, well-spaced, and have a nice clicky feel.
Hardware
The Sunbeam F1 phone features a Mediatek MT6739 processor running Sunbeam’s BasicOS, along with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a microSD card slot.
The F1 feels noticeably faster than stock Android or KaiOS phones, likely because the MT6739’s performance is closer to that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 than most Snapdragon 200 and 210 chips.
Battery
The 1400mAh battery delivered 5 hours and 45 minutes of talk time in our tests. Many VoLTE phones these days offer around 6 hours of use, while the DuraXV Extreme delivers 7 hours.
The removable back and battery are convenient, but not waterproof. However, like many other phones in this class, the F1 is made of plastic, making it much more resistant to drops than glass-encased smartphones.
Operating System
BasicOS is a heavily hacked version of the open-source Android 8.1, featuring a very simple, tab-style launcher. Many features have been removed.
Google services are not included, and the few cloud services available are provided by Microsoft, the Weather Company, and Sunbeam’s own private cloud.
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