All fashionable telephones look the identical, but it surely wasn’t at all times like that. Android has produced among the most revolutionary, distinctive, and outright odd telephones over time. These are the weirdest.
10
LG G5 (2016)
The thought of upgradable, customizable cellphone {hardware} has appeared in prototypes and ideas many instances over time. One of many few gadgets to really make it to market was the LG G5.
The modular cellphone featured a “Magic Slot” on the backside, into which you would connect an enhanced digital camera module or an improved speaker system. Sadly, the cellphone did not accomplish that properly and the add-ons had been too costly, so different mooted equipment like a 360-degree VR digital camera by no means arrived.
9
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini (2010)
Within the early days of smartphones, the “smaller is best” mindset of the dumbphone period was nonetheless influential. That led Sony Ericsson to make the Xperia X10 Mini, a cellphone with a 2.5-inch show and a footprint smaller than a pack of playing cards.
Maybe in recognition of the truth that you could not actually sort on a display screen that small, there was additionally an X10 Mini Professional with a slide-out bodily keyboard.
3-inch variations adopted a yr later, earlier than the idea was consigned to historical past as everybody realized that large screens had been the best way to go.
8
Samsung Galaxy Beam (2012)
Samsung has by no means been afraid to throw concepts on the wall to see what sticks. One basic instance is the Galaxy Beam, an everyday 4-inch Android cellphone with a built-in projector.
It was a distinct segment thought to start with and was made worse by mediocre efficiency. The projector may solely output 15 lumens of sunshine, in comparison with the 1000 or extra of a typical home projector, which means you’d have to sit down in whole darkness to have the ability to see it correctly.
7
YotaPhone (2012)
The YotaPhone was a very distinctive tackle the thought of a dual-display cellphone. On the entrance was an everyday 4.3-inch IPS display screen; on the again, an e-ink show. It meant you had two gadgets in a single: a cellphone and an eBook reader.
However that was about it. The e-ink display screen wasn’t large or ok to switch a Kindle, so the thought did not catch on.
6
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (2011)
The Xperia Play was an early instance of the specialist Android gaming cellphone. Behind the 4-inch show was a slide-out recreation controller with a d-pad, touchpad, and the 4 basic Ps buttons. It additionally had left and proper triggers to finish the total gaming expertise.
The thought was most likely forward of its time, with out sufficient quality Android games to make it work. Gaming phones never went away, although, and you should purchase one of many best game controllers to show any Android gadget into a robust gaming handheld.
5
Samsung Galaxy Spherical (2013)
Bear in mind the brief trend for curved TVs? It was pushed in no small half by Samsung and LG, and each firms needed to show they may make curved telephones as properly.
The LG G Flex curved from prime to backside, so it arced comfortably round your face when making a name however did not slot in your pocket very properly.
Samsung went the opposite method. The Galaxy Spherical curved backward and forward. It was extra snug in a pocket and was praised by some for its ergonomics. However as an precise cellphone, the advantages weren’t sufficiently big to make the thought stick.
4
Nokia 9 PureView (2019)
We’re used to seeing telephones with a number of cameras, however not like this. The Nokia 9 PureView had 5 of them.
They weren’t all totally different focal lengths, although. They had been designed to shoot concurrently, with the software program merging all of the ensuing pictures collectively. The thought was that each one the pictures mixed would create a single picture with a lot larger element and far larger dynamic vary. Alas, it labored higher in principle than in apply.
3
Motorola FlipOut (2010)
Motorola examined out some unusual type components in Android’s early years, earlier than selecting the identical slabs that everybody else made.
The FlipOut was a totally sq. cellphone with a bodily keyboard that rotated outwards from the nook. It was a really odd design—positively not one of many best-looking phones—and a little bit of a throwback to the BlackBerry gadgets that had been nonetheless clinging on on the time. Unsurprisingly, it did not final very lengthy.
It was a part of a very unusual one-two from the corporate in 2010, which additionally included the Moto BackFlip, a small but extraordinarily chunky gadget with a keyboard that folded out from the rear.
2
LG Optimus 3D (2011)
An much more short-lived pattern than curved TVs had been 3D TVs, and it made its method to telephones, courtesy as soon as extra, of LG.
The LG Optimus 3D was a traditional 2D Android cellphone more often than not, however by a fast button press, you would activate the 3D show and a custom-made interface by which you would get pleasure from specially-created 3D video games or YouTube movies. There was additionally a dual-camera setup that would shoot stills and movies in three dimensions.
HTC obtained in on the act a yr later with the Evo 3D, and professional video digital camera model RED tried it with the Hydrogen One in 2018, however 3D telephones by no means managed to turn into something greater than a gimmick.
1
LG Wing (2020)
The LG Wing is the one cellphone on this checklist from this decade. The period of wacky Android designs is lengthy gone.
The Wing was a curious different to the folding telephones that had been rising across the similar time. It regarded like a traditional Android cellphone from the entrance, however you would rotate the display screen to disclose a second, smaller show beneath it.
It was an attention-grabbing experiment, and apparently supplied a number of multitasking advantages. However, let’s be trustworthy, a tool like this was by no means going to take off. LG give up the cellphone enterprise not lengthy after.
Many people complain that each one telephones look the identical lately, but as this checklist reveals, when producers do attempt one thing totally different, it is hardly ever successful. Uncommon type components are clearly a factor of the previous, though we still have hopes for rollable tech. Within the meantime, manufacturers like Nothing try to stand out from the crowd.