We’ve seen a plethora of strange, wonderful, and forward-thinking phone designs over the years. Some even make the glass in your pocket look positively dull. Some were just plain strange, while others were as unsightly as offal truck residue. They all had one thing in common: they all made it into stores and, in some cases, people’s hands. So come celebrate some of the strangest, wackiest, and, we admit, ugliest phones from the last few decades with us.
1. Samsung P300
The Samsung P300 was a small phone that looked like a calculator. It was an unusual design choice from a company that had previously created some pretty good-looking phones, but it certainly stood out from the crowd.
2. C91 Golden-Buddha Phone
The C91 Golden-Buddha phone debuted in 2009. This clamshell phone was made of luxury gold and featured Buddhist stylings centered on a swastika, a symbol of divinity and spirituality. Despite its odd appearance, the phone wasn’t all that bad on paper. It featured a 2-inch screen, a 1.3-megapixel camera, dual SIM support, and other features.
3. Haier P7
In 2004, the Haier P7 was an extravagantly constructed lollipop bar-styled phone. It had a relatively small and slender screen with only 64 x 128 pixels, a 0.3-megapixel camera, and an unusual design. However, it can operate for up to six days on a single battery charge, which is a bonus.
4. LG G Flex
Back in the day, we had a lot of good things to say about the LG G Flex. It was an interesting phone with a unique shape that was meant to stand out from the crowd. We thought it was too large, too expensive, and too oddly shaped to be popular at the time, but it was still something special.
5. Virgin Mobile Lobster
The Virgin Mobile Lobster was a television phone in 2006, which meant it could be used to watch tv. It was considered a miracle at the time, but it is now almost obsolete. The Lobster was equipped with a DAB digital tuner, allowing it to watch terrestrial television while on the move. Unfortunately, the message was difficult to find and the lobster was underdone.
6. Microsoft Kin
The Microsoft Kin was a commercial failure. Its release was delayed due to operating system issues, and pricing issues, and it appears to have been put on hold due to the upcoming release of Windows Phone 7.
7. Motorola Flipout
The Motorola Flipout was a small phone with a square design and a flip-out screen, thus the name. This phone’s highlights were almost certainly a proper QWERTY keyboard and a satisfying swivel action. We liked it even though it was a cheap phone.
8. Nokia 7280
It popped up to be a space-age piece of gear that rightfully belongs in Star Trek or Doctor Who rather than in your pocket at first glimpse. The Nokia 7280 was created to be a stylish device and a fashion icon. It had a screen that trebled as a mirror, fabric accents, and even a dial pad with no numbers. It was more of a fashion item than a practical and useful device, but it gazed.
9. Nokia 7600
The Nokia 7600 was the company’s first 3G handset. It had an unusual jewel-shaped design, a large (for the time) screen, and a keypad that was spread out around the screen’s edges. When we first saw the Nokia 7600, we thought it was a little strange, but it quickly grew on us.
10. Pantech Pocket
The Pantech Pocket, released in 2011, was an unusually shaped device with a 4-inch 4:3 display capable of displaying 600 x 800 pixels. It was enjoyable but not particularly memorable.
