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Tony Stark aka Iron Man is one of the richest character in MCU. Each time he shows up in a movie he uses high tech armours and other equipments.

In Avengers: Infinity War he uses nanotechnology in his armour. When Banner told Tony to call Captain aka Steve Rogers, he takes a flip phone to call.

He could have used any modern technology mobiles why a flip phone? What is the significance of that in the movie??

Flip Phone enter image description here

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  • 3
    Because the Rule of Cool. Slamming one closed in anger isn't as cathartic as slamming down an old landline landline, but a lot better feeling than pressing the red dot on a piece of glass.
    – RonJohn
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 16:24
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    It only looks like a flip phone; wait 'til it unfolds three or four times more...
    – DJohnM
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 21:54
  • Remember, he had nanotech? Obviously, that thing could morph.
    – user939
    Commented Jun 23, 2018 at 21:10

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He could have used any modern technology mobiles why a flip phone?

That flip phone was originally sent to Tony by Captain America, at the end of Captain America: Civil War.

Per the events of Captain America: Civil War, the Avengers had broken up as a whole, and Captain America was considered by the government to be a fugitive. Towards the end of the film, Capt. sends this phone to Tony (delivered by Stan Lee), with a note that included the following at the end:

“So no matter what, I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I’ll be there.”

enter image description here

That being said, Tony had nothing to do with the selection of the phone because it was sent to Tony by Captain America, to serve as a hotline for if/when things get really bad.

It's a basic flip phone because they're arguably more durable and less vulnerable to malfunctioning than the average smartphone, and the battery perhaps lasts longer too. Also, if the only needed function of the phone is to place a call - and it is - then, Captain America didn't need to get a smartphone (or equivalent).

It could be argued though, that..

since Captain America's phone # is clearly visible to Tony (and the audience at one point.. 615-sth-sth), then, Tony could have just saved Capt's number into his own system, instead of carrying the flip phone around (unless there's special security features also applied to the phone).

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    also possibly not too advance compared to what Capt' has used himself and probably less tracking tech inside (ie. Location Services on phone for Find my Phone, something SHIELD-Hydra would no doubt have used)
    – Memor-X
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 4:05
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    Probably worth mentioning the term burner.
    – chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic-
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 4:40
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    As a simple answer for "why not save the number?", it might be for a Burner Phone that Cap has set to "Do Not Disturb", with only the number for the phone he mailed to Stark on the Whitelist of numbers that can get through. IIRC, some American phones used to have the number tied to the physical phone rather than a removeable SIM-card?
    – Chronocidal
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 8:32
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    One possible "special security feature": That phone has a phone number that is given as Caller ID to the recipient. It is quite possible that any other phone calling that number would get no answer.
    – Stig Hemmer
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 9:06
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    This answers the question well, so I’ll just add my comment here. The question assumes that a flip phone is bad. No, they are great. They are having a come-back right now. You can even get quite expensive ones. I have used them recently when I wanted a separate phone for a separate number. Putting that SIM into a smartphone just wastes money and means you are carrying a slower, more fragile phone that needs to be charged ten times more often.
    – Amy Dee Dempster
    Commented May 2, 2018 at 10:14

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