Quark's

It was actually the Cat S22 flip that I found and instantly latched onto

Cat S22 Flip you say?

That's what I've been rocking the last year. Absolutely love this thing. That was me watching DS9 on it, not because it's the best way to watch DS9, but simply because I could lol

But yeah, exactly like you said, it was mostly calling, text, calendar, maps/navigation (Organic Maps), music player, bank app, Matrix, and email. The chat and email I could have gone without, but as my daily driver, they were pretty handy to have without being too intrusive. Bank app was a necessary "evil" since I bank with a small credit union and the nearest branch is 50 miles away - the only reason I needed it was to authorize the random payment that was out of the ordinary or remote deposit the odd check someone sends me (can't do either of those through the web).

The main thing about it, for me, was that it could do all of my basics/necessities without being good at any of the time sinks (doom scrolling, endlessly browsing the web, etc). It could do those things, but it was not a good experience and naturally limited the time spent staring at it.

Low-tech is the way to go

It really is. The only thing I've found limiting is that I do not have anything, Minimal Phone included, that can take a picture worth a damn. Thankfully my friends are shutterbugs and usually capture the good moments and share those. I should look into dedicated digital cameras like you said.