Commodore and Jolla partnered together to bring the Commodore Callback 8020, a new flip phone for those looking to keep it simple.
Smartphones are designed to be mindlessly seamless, keeping people around the world more connected than ever before. While keeping in touch with people provides peace of mind, Commodore and Jolla have introduced a new flip phone that keeps the smartphone experience simpler—the Commodore Callback 8020. The brand behind the best-selling computer of all time returns to the phone market, running on Sailfish OS, the European operating system built by Jolla on the Nokia MeeGo lineage. Pre-orders of the latest Jolla phone will soon be available, as the two companies showcase their partnership on July 8, 2026, in Helsinki, Finland.
In a time where privacy and data breaches are more rampant than ever, the Commodore Callback 8020 looks to be one of the first answers to keeping the smartphone more practical. It also does not look too terrible either. I remember using the Nokia “Brick” back in the 1990s/early 2000s. Commodore noted this is a cellular device “built for calm”, and is “a phone that lets people step away from endless feeds and notifications, while still doing what they need. With the phone running on Sailfish OS, this also allows privacy from Big Tech surveillance.
“The Commodore Callback is designed as an antidote for the damage that modern ‘always-on’ culture has wreaked on us, and that antidote doesn’t end with our commitment to blocking social media and browsers at the system level,” said President & CEO, Commodore, Peri Fractic. “Privacy has been trodden on and exploited all too often in the last 20 years. With the Commodore Callback, your data stays yours. And in Jolla, we’ve found a partner that understands our vision for safer personal technology and has already built the ideal OS to power it.”
As much as I love growing an audience on social media, it can be overwhelming at times. Many content creators and social media users always talk about burnout and content fatigue. Also, feeds can be filled with so much misinformation, so this simplified phone could be a solution or crutch to lean on when we are a little too connected.
“The Commodore team went through all the alternatives, and then they found Jolla’s Sailfish OS and loved the design and the privacy in it,” said CEO and co-founder of Jolla, Sami Pienimäki. “Peri approached me, and here we are: launching an iconic phone, with an iconic brand, on an iconic OS — and an amazing, growing community behind it. Who would have thought?”
Many people use social media to build businesses or to stay in touch with family members. I am very curious to check this one out and see which apps still work with it. The Commodore website explains that the Callback does not include access to social media apps, web browsers or work and email apps. There is no touchscreen, so texting is harder, and there is no easy way to get notifications without flipping it open. The modern take is that it can still run 99% of Android apps without Android installed, such as WhatsApp and WeChat. It also has worldwide network coverage and access to earphones. It is unclear if that means it does not have Bluetooth.
As bleak as it may sound, this may not make even a dent in the smartphone market, but I am hopeful there will be enough people interested in this concept. As AI use grows, it has only flooded the internet with more noise. And the phone does not look half bad, especially compared with where the flip phone started. CGMagazine will be following the Commodore Callback 8020 and its impact on the cellphone market.
