Classic gaming brand Commodore announces its next product: a flip-phone that blocks social media and browsers

The next Commodore-branded product has been announced, and it’s not a gaming device.

The Commodore brand has been sold numerous times over the years, and in 2025 it was acquired by Christian ‘Peri Fractic’ Simpson. Last year it announced an FPGA recreation of the Commodore 64 home computer called the Commodore 64 Ultimate, and now it’s revealed its second product – a phone designed to block social media.

The Commodore Callback is a flip phone which is designed to fit somewhere between a smart phone and a ‘dumb’ phones, with Simpson noting: “The smartphone is still too smart. And dumb phones are, well, too dumb. So we built a bridge between. That’s the Callback.”

Whereas most flip phones don’t have any smartphone capabilities, the Callback does feature some smartphone apps including WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Google Maps and Uber, as well as a music player and a 48MP Sony rear camera.

Its built-in DAC will support HD audio and lossless files, and the phone will come with HQ IEM earphones, as well as a selection of ringtones based on Commodore 64 SID music.

Social media apps, however, are “blocked at the system level”, with Commodore claiming the phone is “designed to be not just school friendly, but human friendly”.

An FAQ section asking if the block can be turned off replies: “No. Callback is built around these blocks. That is the point.”

Addressing the reason for blocking web browsers too, it says: “Because the browser is the back door. Most social media, feeds, video sites, news spirals, and endless searches are still available through the web. Blocking only the apps would leave the main temptation intact.

“How many times have you opened a browser to search up something quick, then been intentionally presented something else to click and half an hour later, you forgot what you wanted to search for?”

In a statement, Commodore CEO Peri Frantic described the Callback as “a modern phone with none of the apps that make you anxious – ads, algorithms, feeds, a browser, a bottomless inbox, or the office chat that follows you home. Was any of that truly for you anyway?”

He added: “Oh, and of course it can emulate a Commodore 64, with a few carefully chosen Commodore games and SID chip ringtones, because how could we not?”

The Commodore Callback will use a customised version of Linux-based Sailfish OS, and was designed in collaboration with Sailfish’s engineering team Jolla.

The OS is designed to be compatible with 99% of Android apps in theory, though obviously because a large percentage of these apps require touchscreen – something the Callback doesn’t have – their functionality may be limited.

Commodore says the phone’s flip closure and T9-style button texting “adds mindful friction to usage”, and the lack of touchscreen means “an end to doomscrolling”.

Pre-orders for the Commodore Callback will start on June 30 at 9am BST, with those who join the waitlist getting $50 off the total price.

Launch colours will include the gold-coloured Founders Edition (which has a 24 karat gold-plated Commodore key and costs £520) to the transluscent blue Starlight Edition (£447) and the cheaper BASIC Beige, SX Silver and ProtoPET White (all of which are £410).

The timing of the Callback’s announcement may be fortunate for the new Commodore, given that earlier this week the UK government announced that it would be implementing a ban on all social media, but that it wouldn’t include apps like WhatsApp.

In theory, the Callback – which Commodore calls “school friendly” – could be one solution for parents who still wish to be able to contact their children at school.