Alex Carson
#1 The Nokia 7600
This phone was released in 2003. It was the company’s second 3G handset. It was released way back before the Smartphone was released, and the smaller the phone, the better. The phone was shaped like a teardrop, and unfortunately, the phone didn’t do very well. People found that it was too hard to text on the phone because of the placement of the buttons.
#2 The YotaPhone
This phone was released in December 2013. It was original because there was a display on the front of the phone and on the back. The display on the back of the screen was always on. Unfortunately, you couldn’t put a case on the phone or else you would wouldn’t be able to use the back screen. This phone didn’t really get the attention that it deserved.
#3 The Motorola V70
This phone was released in 2002 and it was very unique. It had a strange rotary design. The keypad was hidden beneath a cover. To get to the keypad, you had to rotate the cover 180 degrees. Even though the phone looked cool and it was original, it never really took off. The fact that you had to turn the dial make the phone difficult to use. Also, it reduced the reliability of the phone. When the price of the phone went down, its popularity rose, but not by too much.
#4 The Samsung N270 Matrix
This phone was released in 2003 and it was designed to tie in with the Matrix Reloaded, which was the second in the Matrix trilogy. It was green on black, which was the same colors as the phones used in the movies. The phone had a spring-loaded earpiece, which people thought was cool. Also, you could say the name of a contact or their phone number and the phone would automatically dial. Unfortunately, you couldn’t text with this phone or access the web, which is the main reason why the phone didn’t get the attention that it deserved.
#5 Siemens Xelibri
The Siemens Xelibri wasn’t just one phone, it was a series of phones. Each of the phones in the series had a very odd shape. The creators hoped that people would see these phones as being fashionable, but they didn’t. The entire series was released in 2003 and after extensive advertising, they weren’t flying off the shelves. After they released the eighth strange looking phone of the series, the project was scrapped and these phones were never seen again.
#6 The Samsung Serene
This phone was released in 2005 and it was designed to be a fashion-conscious phone. The phone itself looked like a jewelry box and it had a circular keypad. The phone was designed by Bang & Olufsen. Unfortunately, there were design flaws that kept the phone from being popular. The first issue was the circular keypad. It made texting difficult. The second problem was the camera. It was mounted on the side of the phone, making it hard to line up the shot properly.
#7 The Samsung X830
This phone was released in 2006 when big phones weren’t considered better. It had a switchblade design with the number pad sliding in, under the display screen. Because of the phone’s skinny design, the keypad had a two-row design rather than the three-row design. Many people who had texting down to a science with a three-row design didn’t like this phone because it was difficult to relearn how to text.
#8 The Nokia 3250
This was a very unique phone. Unlike most phones in 2006 that split vertically, this one split horizontally. You could rotate the bottom to be in either phone mode or music mode. You could also switch the camera from the front to the back by swiveling the bottom of the phone. Many people didn’t like the fact that they had to constantly turn the bottom of the phone, so it never really took off.
#9 Toshiba G450
This phone was released in 2011 and it had a strange three-disc design. The disc on the top was the display. The two discs on the bottom were the keypads. The middle disc held numbers one through six. The disc on the bottom held numbers7, 8, 9, 0, the * button, and the # button. Regardless of the strange remote control design, it was a functional phone. It could be used as a phone, an MP3 player, a USB device, and an HSDPA modem.
#10 The Light Phone and the iPhone Gun
The light phone is the size of a credit card and it is designed to be your second mobile phone, for use only in an emergency. Since the phone is not tethered to your existing phone, you would need to activate a SIM card. It costs about $5 a month to use this phone in the United States.
The iPhone gun is a typical phone, but when it is folded up, it resembles a gun. This design never really took off. Apple realized that it might be very hard to market.
Bonus Phone
The Samsung Galaxy Beam
This is one of the most unusual cell phones ever made. The phone had a small projector inside, which allowed you to project everything on your screen onto the wall. Unfortunately, the limited battery life on the phone and the low resolution from the projector made this phone less popular than Samsung had hoped.
