Gen Zers buy flip phones. They might be onto something.

WHEN SAMMY Palazzolo comes out, people are constantly asking to see his phone. The 18-year-old often obliges, opening it and putting it back.

By the end of 2022, Ms. Palazzolo and some of her dorm mates at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were lamenting their smartphone addiction. “We were talking about how we [felt] like slaves to our phones, like robots that parade and parade endlessly, even when we’re at parties. The group came up with a plan to do something about it. The next day they went shopping with a flip phone at walmart. Ms. Palazzolo ended up with a $40 AT&T Cingulate flex.