• Most smartphones are pretty similar, despite all the company tribalism; they take photos,
get you on the internet and, if you’re really weird, call people. So what phones have been
made that are actually a bit different? And where did the designs come from? Here’s
the fifteen weirdest smartphones ever. 15 - Nokia 7600
• This phone was designed to target the fashion market, presumably to increase handbag
sales as you’d need an extra one to carry it around. It had a 0.3 megapixel camera,
which was pretty good at the time, increasing its fashion appeal. However, the peculiar
teardrop shape was notoriously hard to deal with, making it necessary to do most things
with two hands. 14 - Nokia 7280
• And if you thought Nokia stopped there on the fashion line, think again. In 2004,
they released the 7280, which was almost unrecognisable as a phone. It looked like a robot lipstick
and the display turned into a mirror when not in use.
13 - Changhong H2 • This hyper-advanced phone will be coming
out soon, priced at around $500. The thing that sets it apart is a molecular identification
system that allows it to look at the chemical make-up of a material. You might think, “cool,
but I’m not about to start scanning rocks” but this technology will let you see the freshness
of food, check medicines and even learn stuff about your own body.
12 - LG G Flex • LG tried to tackle two issues with this
original design. Firstly, they wanted a screen that drew you in more and secondly, they wanted
a phone that was more comfortable to hold. The answer was to make a curved phone and
the LG G Flex did actually help on both these fronts. It was pleasant to hold and the screen
was very immersive. 11 – Motorola Flipout
• At first glance this looks more like a chunky smart watch than a phone but the flipout
had a keyboard that slid from behind the screen and allowed you to type on it a little like
a blackberry. As a messaging tool it worked perfectly but the screen was only 2.8 inches
so it wasn’t much use for browsing the internet 10 – No Phone
• The No Phone got almost 1000 backers and raised over $18,000 when it launched on Kickstarter.
Now, this might not sound like a lot for a piece of modern technology but the No Phone
was in fact a just a phone shaped lump of plastic that did nothing other than take up
space in your pocket. At least the battery life was incredible.
9 - Samsung Serene • Bang & Olufsen made their name making
some of the highest quality speakers for the commercial market. So, it’s no surprise
that when they partnered with Samsung for a smart phone, the result was pretty music
focussed. But at almost $1300, it was way too expensive and was really just a chunky
flip phone with few features. 8 – Monohm Runcible
• The Runcible by Monohm raised almost $300,000 during it’s round of crowdfunding and when
you look at it, it’s easy to see why. Inspired by the look of old pocket watches, it’s
a perfect circle, with the camera right in the middle of the hardwood case. The developers
also worked to make it all open source so people could edit it as they wanted.
7 - Toshiba G450 • This would get lost in a handbag until
the end of time since it’s less than 4 inches tall, 1.5 inches wide and ¾ inch thick. It
also only weight 57g. The dial buttons are split up in a very unusual way, with 1-6 on
one dial and 7,8,9,0 on another. And even after hours of using it, you’ll probably
wish you HAD lost it as it’s like trying to text in Klingon.
6 - Vertu signature touch • This phone might not look too different.
It’s a pretty standard shape, although it does have some interesting design elements,
with a leather back and titanium frame. However, this series starts at over $10,000 and some
are double that. Aside from all the expensive materials, the most interesting feature is
that you get a 24 hour concierge service that can organise almost anything you need, even
getting you in to seemingly booked out restaurants and events.
5 - Vertu Signature Cobra • Now let’s bring some balance to the
force. Vertu’s rich people phones have not always been so appealing and they once made
one of the ugliest devices of all time. This bling monstrosity was made of gold and had
a crystal snake wrapped around it. Despite costing over $300,000, it looked like it came
from a cheap market stall. 4 – YotaPhone
• The YotaPhone 2 is the first ever dual screen smart phone and cleverly combines a
regular screen with an e-reader surface on the back. And this isn’t just for e-books,
you can go for days without a charge if you use the digital paper screen, even while browsing
the internet and using Facebook and Twitter. It’s also great if you want to have conversations
with yourself. 3 – Moxi bendable
• A Chinese star-up called Moxi has said it will release a bendable phone that will
have a functioning touchscreen that you could wrap all the way around your wrist. However,
despite talking it up in 2016, the device has not made it to market yet and they are
not the only company working on this kind of tech. LG has already shown an 18 inch rollable
screen so others may soon follow. 2 – Project Ara
• There’s another smartphone that may not be available any time soon but this one
came from tech masters Google, so it’s surprising that they’ve given up. The core idea is
to have a modular phone, where users can swap out sections like the camera and the battery,
so they can customise their device to fit their needs and their budget. But Google said
they couldn’t make it cheap enough so it’s one for the future.
1 - Golden Buddah phone • When you think of Buddah, you picture
calm, peacefulness, maybe a big belly. But the Golden Buddah phone doesn’t really represent
these qualities. At $1750, it was the most expensive handset in China in 2009 and it’s
not exactly subtle; it’s basically an engraved gold egg. But it does come with a virtual
prayer room so you can ask forgiveness for buying it.