Gadget of the Week: uTilili learns new tricks

Telkom has written a symbolic love letter to uTilili, the basic button phone that has survived two decades of cracked screens and exhausted batteries.

The name imitates the sound of a ringing phone and is used affectionately for the cheap, durable feature phones still found in kitchen drawers and handbags across South Africa.

There really is a love letter, and it begins:

“Long live Tilili

The phone that refuses to die…”

But the symbolic love letter is as close to a loving tribute as gadgetry gets: Telkom has created the Citrus L05, a smartphone so basic, it is likely to be confused with its ancestors.

In effect, it is Telkom’s attempt to send uTilili to smartphone school without changing it beyond recognition. It retains the physical keypad and long battery life of a traditional feature phone, while adding 4G, a 2.8-inch touchscreen and apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Uber. Front and rear cameras meanit is geared to video calls and the inevitable blurry family photos.

Telkom says around 20-million South Africans still use 2G phones, often still throwing around slang like uTilili or uBhopopo. With mobile networks gradually retiring their older infrastructure, those users will eventually need new handsets. At R299, the Citrus L05 offers one of the cheapest routes from 2G calling into the world of WhatsApp and other everyday apps.

What is it?

The Citrus L05 combines a numeric keypad with a 2.8-inch touchscreen. Users can dial numbers and type messages with physical buttons, then tap and swipe their way through apps.

Its shape most closely resembles the Nokia 3310 released in 2017, itself a revival of the original 3310 from 2000. The rounded casing, small screen, central navigation control and curved rows of number keys all recall that design. The L05 adds a touchscreen and a far wider range of software, but anyone who used the old Nokia will appreciate the thinking behind it.

The physical keypad is central to its appeal. Each number has its own clearly defined button, while the green and red call keys remove any doubt about how to answer or end a call. This will feel familiar to users who still find a full touchscreen difficult to navigate, particularly when virtual controls change position from one app to another.

Menus can be scrolled with a finger, apps can be opened with a tap, and icons resemble those used on regular Android phones. Although the small surface demands careful tapping, especially around crowded controls, it keeps the route into an app reasonably familiar.

WhatsApp makes the best case for the device. It has become a basic means of communication for families, schools and small businesses, leaving conventional feature-phone users outside much of day-to-day communications. Voice notes also reduce the need to type long messages on the numeric keypad.

It provides access to family groups, voice notes, photographs and video calls without demanding a full-sized smartphone.

Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Uber extend the L05’s usefulness, although the small display limits how comfortably they can be used. Video and social media expose the limits of the format. A 2.8-inch display gives TikTok and YouTube very little room, while maps and other detailed interfaces ask for more effort than they would on a normal smartphone.

Calling and messaging remain the L05’s strengths.

The phone connects to 4G and includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Its cameras are basic, with the 0.3MP resolution suited to functional snaps and video calls more than photographs worth keeping. Anyone expecting smartphone-quality images has misunderstood both the device and its price.

A 2500mAh removable battery is generous for a phone with such a small screen. It charges through USB-C, saving users from hunting for one of the elderly cables normally associated with feature phones. The battery can also be replaced when it eventually loses capacity, extending the usable life of the handset.

The L05 supports two SIM cards, but the main 4G SIM slot it is locked to the Telkom network. Dual-SIM capability therefore offers less freedom than it appears to provide, unless both connections are on Telkom.

How much does it cost?

The Citrus L05 costs R299 from Telkom stores and participating retailers. It comes with a Telkom SIM and a 1.5GB WhatsApp bundle.

The low price is partly tied to that network lock. Buyers gain an unusually capable phone for the money, while Telkom gains – or keeps – a prepaid customer.

Does it make a difference?

Millions of South Africans still rely on 2G handsets because smartphones cost too much, use too much data or feel too complicated. As networks prepare to close their 2G services, many of those users will have to replace phones that still serve their needs. A cheap 4G handset with familiar buttons makes the change easier and provides access to services that increasingly assume everyone has WhatsApp.

For an older person wary of smartphones, a first-time connected user or someone needing a cheap spare phone, it offers a remarkable amount for its price. Can you say uTilili? uBhopopo? This phone can.

What are the biggest negatives?

• The small screen restricts apps and video.
• The 0.3MP camera provides only basic image quality.
• The handset is locked to Telkom.

What are the biggest positives?

• The R299 price makes 4G and WhatsApp widely accessible.
• Physical buttons ease the move from a 2G feature phone.
• The removable 2500mAh battery charges through USB-C.

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge.