The Commodore Callback 8020 Is a Digital Detox Phone That Isn’t Dumb
Commodore, the iconic computer brand of the 1980s, is once again back for your attention—slapping its name on the hottest trend: digital detox. After a
Commodore, the iconic computer brand of the 1980s, is once again back for your attention—slapping its name on the hottest trend: digital detox. After a brand reboot (again) and the faithful recreation of the original Commodore 64 personal computer (again), the company's next product is a smartphone with the everyday essentials, but without the apps most adept at hogging your attention. The Commodore Callback 8020 is not the first Commodore-branded phone (that would be the Pet from 2015), but it’s the first to feel unique and interesting. It might look like a dumb Nokia phone from yesteryear, but this flippy gadget has access to modern-day Android apps because it runs the Linu based Sailfish OS from the Finnish company Jolla.
The Callback’s front screen shows the date, time, and battery status, but no notifications. Flip it open, and you're greeted with a custom interface that can run apps like Uber, WhatsApp, and Spotify. What it can't run are distracting apps that pull you away from life, so no social media, no browsers, and no email, and definitely no Slack. Commodore CEO Christian “Peri Fractic” Simpson says Commodore may have gone quiet in the ’90s, but it’s ready to enter its Y2K era by going hard into early-2000s technology, which just so happens to be en vogue right now. The Commodore Callback 8020 in the transparent Starlight Edition. Courtesy of Commodore “A lot of people are trying to go back to slightly simpler tech and maybe trying to ditch their smartphone on the weekend," Simpson tells WIRED.
“We found that for the people buying the C64, that very much resonated with them. So we positioned ourselves as a bit of a digital minimalist brand.” Simpson points out that the new Commodore 64 Ultimate, the company’s throwback desktop PC released in 2025, has a word processor so people can write distraction-free, much like on a typewriter. Commodore has a manufacturing partner in Shenzhen to build the phone. (Commodore wouldn't share the name of this partner.) The Callback has a MediaTek Helio G81 processor, includes a 32-GB microSD card and custom-designed in-ear monitors from FiiO. Yes, there's a headphone jack and an “audiophile-grade” digital-to-analog converter in the Callback. The battery is removable and replaceable, and an LED light on the front can alert you when notifications come in.
The phone also has an FM radio tuner. The camera has a 48-megapixel Sony camera sensor that, on paper, seems to be able to snap decent pics. Commodore has also built a retro camcorder mode with procedurally generated filters, making it look like your video footage came straight from the '90s. The screen supports touch capabilities, though the company says this is disabled by default.
The BriefWire