Whats the advantage of either vs a basic "nokia" phone for £50~ ? they aren't very big these days, and the most distracting they can be is actually receiving a call or text. I "downgraded" to one of these 6 years ago. Bonus features include up to 2 weeks battery, practically indestructible compared to smartphones (which means even less distracting)...
it's the phone that literally makes me forget it exists until I actually get called, that has to be the least distracting possible while still having a phone.
The only thing I like about this is the size... that makes it even easier to forget about.
Yet this is still all about aesthetics for $300. Cheap basic credit card sized phones already exist [1], sure it doesn't last as long, but it's only £10 and doesn't require another smart phone to function properly.
Using a feature phone instead of a smart phone for a daily driver is a different decision than having a second device with less distractions that is used sometimes instead of carrying a smartphone.
These have setups for call forwarding and the Apple Watch has SMS forwarding. They are designed to be a second device.
Their second generation device that this article is talking about is advertised as being independent. In which case a cheap feature phone is a valid comparison.
it's the phone that literally makes me forget it exists until I actually get called, that has to be the least distracting possible while still having a phone.