HMD's Nokia 2360 Flip Lets Family Set Up a Senior's Phone Remotely Over SMS, but It's 2G Only

HMD's new Nokia 2360 Flip is a dual-screen 2G flip phone that a relative configures through the free Family Assist app by text message, with an SOS button that calls one number and texts five contacts, and it can't connect anywhere 2G networks are gone, the US included.

By Chris Pirillo · October 30, 2026 · 5 min read

Chris Pirillo at a kitchen table sending settings from his smartphone to an open burgundy flip phone with an orange SOS button — Illustration: LockerGnome

HMD pitches the 2360 Flip as the phone that “arrives ready to use.” The trick is Family Assist, an app for Android and iPhone that “lets you set up and manage Nokia 2360 Flip remotely, all via SMS, no data plan needed on their side.” From the app, a relative can add contacts, set reminders, adjust the volume and configure the SOS button. HMD’s footnote adds that “Standard SMS rates may apply on the managing device.”

The SOS button is on the back. “Hold it for three seconds — it simultaneously calls a pre-set number and texts up to five emergency contacts,” HMD says, with a footnote that it’s “not a substitute for public emergency services.”

The phone also has a locked-down mode, and it isn’t remote. School Mode, which HMD says “strips it to clock and emergency calls only,” along with whitelist-only calls and texts and blocking individual apps like the camera or games, is “set with a Family PIN on the Nokia 2360 Flip before you hand it over.” HMD’s line for it is “No app needed.” Those controls live on the handset, not in Family Assist.

The rest is classic flip phone. A “Large 2.8” screen” inside, a “1.77” external screen” that “shows caller ID,” a removable battery, IP54 “splash and dust resistance” that is “Not suitable for submersion,” and three colors: Charcoal, Burgundy Red and Teal.

The catch is the radio. GSMArena noted October 30 that the phone “only supports 2G connectivity,” which “will limit its usability in regions where 2G networks have been discontinued.” In the US that’s everywhere: T-Mobile switched its 2G network off August 3, and Android Authority reported that “Other carriers have long since transitioned away from 2G.” HMD’s own sibling, the Nokia 2660 Flip, has 4G.

	Nokia 2360 Flip	Nokia 2660 Flip
Network	2G	4G
Remote setup from a relative’s phone	Yes, Family Assist app over SMS	Not listed
School Mode, whitelist, app blocking	Yes, set on the phone with a Family PIN	Not listed

HMD hasn’t said what it costs. GSMArena says the company “has yet to reveal its pricing and availability details,” and HMD’s page says only “Variations on offering may apply. Check local availability.” It also doesn’t say which countries it’s aimed at, or how long the 2G networks it depends on will be around in them.

Steal this

Check the network before you buy a phone for someone else. When a basic phone is cheap and simple, read the spec line for 2G, 3G or 4G before anything else. Kind of like buying a car that only runs on leaded gas. Search your country and carrier name with “2G shutdown” and skip any 2G-only phone if the answer has a date in it.
Set up an older relative’s phone before it leaves your hands. When you’re giving someone a phone, the contacts, SOS numbers and restrictions are easier to set across a table than over the phone later. This is like labeling the light switches before you move out of your parents’ house. Spend 20 minutes with the new phone and the person using it, test the SOS button with them, and write the PIN down somewhere safe.
Test an SOS button before you count on it. When a phone promises to call and text contacts, make sure every number on the list actually picks up. Kind of like a fire drill. Hold the button with each contact warned in advance and confirm every text arrived.

The best guess, with medium confidence, is that HMD aims the 2360 at markets where 2G still covers rural areas well, and keeps the 2660’s 4G for everywhere else. With lower confidence, Family Assist shows up on a 4G model next, since SMS-based setup doesn’t depend on which network carries it.

More Hardware