Do you remember how unique mobile phones used to be? Phones of today are no longer fun. The dreary slabs of glass, metal and plastic (vegan leather also in the mix now) are all about smart AI features and cameras so advanced that they might put the Hubble telescope to shame. But none of them stand out from the crowd!
Sure, the foldable smartphones provide some relief from the lifeless designs of conventional handsets but ask yourself whether they excite you enough to sit up and smile, just as they used to do in the past.
Call us nostalgia-smitten, but two decades ago, phone manufacturers were daring to experiment with jaw-dropping concepts. We had phones that folded shut and sprung back. There were phones with swivelling cameras or ones hidden behind manual shutters. We even saw uniquely shaped gaming phones and whatever the designers fancied at the time.
Even after the iPhone boom, manufacturers didn’t give up having fun with crazy designs. In the late 2010s when smartphones were cool, brands like Samsung and LG tried to excite the crowd with unique takes on generic phones. Later on, emerging brands from China, like OnePlus, made it a norm to come up with unique special edition smartphones.
Say whatever you may but the world was certainly fun in the old days (adjusting our rose-tinted glasses).
Hence, for old time’s sake, we decided to take a walk down memory lane and find out some of the most unique mobile phones to be put on sale. From the uber-cool Nokia N-Gage to the present-day iteration of the Motorola Razr flip phone, we have tried to cover some of the most unique devices that every enthusiast should witness at least once in their lifetime.
Buckle up and embark on a journey with us through some of the most unique (and bizarre) mobile phones that the world has seen and had the option to buy.
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11 unique mobile phones that were way ahead of their time
1. Motorola StarTAC Rainbow
Released in 1998
In the late 1990s, Motorola decided to spice up the dull-coloured mobile phone market with its StarTAC Rainbow, a phone that literally had rainbow colours on its body. With every panel painted in different colours, the flip phone stood out from every other phone that mostly came in black and white colourways.
Interestingly, the StarTAC Rainbow was put together by Motorola’s European design team who used leftover plastic to create this unique phone and bring some life into this growing segment.
Built in limited numbers (an estimated total of 125,000), the phone shared its features with the standard Motorola StarTAC. This 2G flip phone offered vibration alerts, a small display for seeing phone book contacts and a neatly laid out keyboard.
2. Nokia N-Gage
Released in 2003
Years before the Asus ROG Phone created a niche segment of high-end gaming smartphones, it was the Nokia N-Gage that captured the hearts of young gamers all over the world. It was a mobile phone that was specifically designed for gaming! In 2003, you had to have one of these to be counted among the cool kids.
With a unique horizontal layout, the N-Gage has a small display and a unique keypad layout for helping with gaming. While it looked cool, it was extremely awkward to use and the limited selection of games along with its high price tag made gamers prefer the dedicated handheld consoles from Nintendo.
A mid-life update, called N-Gage QD couldn’t save it and Nokia eventually pulled the plug in 2006.
3. Nokia 7600
Released in 2003
Nokia loved to experiment in the mid-2000s with funky ideas and the Nokia 7600 is one of the best examples. Released in 2003, the Nokia 7600 with its leaf-shaped form factor and a uniquely laid-out keypad looked funky. It had 3G connectivity, a 2-inch colour display and a 0.3-megapixel rear camera.
Despite having interchangeable back covers, the device was quite light at 123 grams. However, you bought a Nokia 7600 purely for its out-of-the-world design and not for its features.
4. Nokia 7280
Released in 2004
A phone for fashionistas! The Nokia 7280 was a piece of art and proof of Nokia’s insane engineering teams.
Meant to imitate a lipstick case, the phone had a sleek slider form factor housing a 0.3-megapixel camera sensor. The phone lacked a conventional keypad and Nokia made up for it with a rotating wheel inspired by the iPod’s click wheel, which could be used for navigation as well as dialling numbers.
The colour screen was small but once it went to sleep, it sort of acted as a mini mirror for makeup. The 2G connectivity wasn’t cutting edge but you had Bluetooth and expandable memory.
5. Samsung Matrix
Released in 2003
The Matrix franchise was pushing the boundaries of CGI in science fiction movies in the early 2000s, and Samsung decided to bank on the hype train by building a special edition phone. Released in 2003 to coincide with the release of The Matrix Reloaded, the Samsung Matrix, also known as SPH-N270, was a collector’s item for fans of the franchise.
Since it was based on a basic feature phone, it lacked the coolest features of the time (like a camera, internet connectivity and music player). However, the special edition wallpapers along with the unique design elements made the phone appealing to fans of the franchise (and Keanu Reeves).
6. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness
Released in 2009
Way before Nothing made transparent (or rather semi/pseudo transparent) designs cool, Sony went ahead by leaps to embrace transparency with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness. The phone flaunted a 1.8-inch transparent monochromatic LCD display that looked straight out of science fiction. Sony also designed a unique user interface that was legible against a transparent backdrop.
While this display tech seemed futuristic, the rest of the phone was pre-historic in many ways. It was essentially a basic feature phone with internet connectivity and lacked common features like GPS, camera and expandable storage. For USD 1,000 though, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness was solely for those who appreciated looks over substance.
7. LG G Flex
Released in 2013
The LG G Flex popularised the idea of a smartphone with a curved design. Not curved edges but an entire phone that is curved.
LG said at the time that the unique design of the G Flex made it comfortable to hold against your ear and even trouser pockets loved it. It also flaunted a ‘self-healing’ rear panel that could address minor scratches on its own!
Other than the unique shape of the device, the LG G Flex was a fully functional high-end Android smartphone featuring a Snapdragon 800 chipset (flagship of the time), a 6-inch 720p p-OLED display, a 13-megapixel main rear camera and a 3,500mAh battery. Sadly, the LG G Flex didn’t find many takers due to its high price.
8. Samsung Galaxy Zoom
Released in 2013
The Galaxy S24 Ultra may impress everyone with its zooming capabilities but most of that is dependent on digital trickery. Back in 2013, Samsung released a phone that could optically zoom up to 10X. Yes, 10X optical high-quality zoom.
The Galaxy S4 Zoom was essentially a smartphone strapped to a digital camera with a retractable 10x optical zoom lens. Back then, it was unbeatable in terms of zooming capabilities and appealed to photographers who wanted the best of both a smartphone and a digital camera. The 16-megapixel sensor performed nicely for the time and even in 2024, it holds up well against the likes of Samsung’s modern-day flagships.
Sadly, the Galaxy S4 Zoom had nothing to do with the standard Galaxy S4, the latter having superior specifications and delivering a better user experience. Nonetheless, it was one of the most unique mobile phones at the time and doesn’t look out of place even today.
9. Yotaphone
Released in 2013
The YotaPhone popularised the short-lived trend of dual screens until the foldable display technology came out. The first generation YotaPhone experimented with an e-ink display stuck to the rear panel. Since e-ink displays sip very little power, the YotaPhone’s secondary display could show notifications, and time. It also allowed one to read e-books on the e-ink display, thereby threatening the market of e-readers.
A YotaPhone 2 came later with larger screens and upgraded specifications. Sadly, the market didn’t warm up to the idea of a dual-screen phone and the YotaPhone was pulled off the shelves.
10. OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition
Released in 2017
Out of all the OnePlus special edition phones, the OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition stands out as the most unique one to be ever created and put on sale. Based on a standard OnePlus 5T, the Star Wars Edition featured OnePlus’ signature sandstone pattern in a shade of white that was reminiscent of the desert on the planet Crait.
The red accents on the Alert Slider and the logos made it look exquisite. OnePlus had also designed a special edition packaging box with a custom case and unique collectables. The phone also offered a special Star Wars theme with custom wallpapers to celebrate the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
11. Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
Released in 2023
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is one of the unique mobile phones that you can still buy brand new. Although it competes in the premium flip-style foldable smartphone, the Razr 40 Ultra stands out with its unique cover display design. The 3.6-inch p-OLED display features a refresh rate of 144Hz and once unlocked, you can run any app or game on this miniature screen. This allows you to quickly access your messages, photos, social media apps and other urgent tasks without having to flip open the phone.
When you have to flip it open, you get greeted by a 6.9-inch 165Hz OLED display that offers a near-stock Android experience. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset offers enough performance for all your smartphone needs and the 3,800mAh battery should offer enough juice to make it through an entire day.
It even comes in trendy Pantone colourways.
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(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy Persona Mockups via Unsplash)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Which is the most unique mobile phone in the world?
Some of the most unique mobile phones in the world include the LG G Flex, Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung Matrix, Nokia N-Gage and me.
