Counterclockwise: celebrating the weird form factors of yesteryear

01 July 2018
With phones like the Oppo Find X and vivo NEX S hitting the market there is hope that the boring slab of a phone is not the only option.

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I have the Nokia 7280. Oh the joy of me strutting down the street with it. Even today people will always staring at me talking with a phone like that. That phone really is the center of attention. Despite of it age, it ages beautifully and celebrated like a carefully crafted Dom Perignon.

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    • nathanielZAFFRUEL
    • PUA
    • 02 Jul 2018

    I got to say, the Nokia E7. God I love qwerty keyboards. Why couldn't smartphone manufacturers build one? Like the good old days.

      • s
      • sr777
      • teq
      • 02 Jul 2018

      GSMArena is a chest full of old treasure. Keep up the good work guys.

        I wish that the "gaming" smartphones would adopt the Xperia Play form factor.

          I've used 16 phones from the ones in the pics, i've even used weirder looking phones :D

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            • Aadrian
            • Sk@
            • 02 Jul 2018

            Siemens had the Xelibri line of phones which where quite different too.

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              • Anonymous
              • gNS
              • 01 Jul 2018

              Nokia E7 - Best Landscape QWERTY Ever Done
              Blackberry Priv - Best Potrait QWERTY with Big Screen
              Xperia Play - Best Gaming Phone Design

                • r
                • ron
                • X$a
                • 01 Jul 2018

                can you guys do another article about wierd features like the tactile touch from blackberry storm

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                  • O S
                  • Nu7
                  • 01 Jul 2018

                  Nokia E7 and Blackberry Priv for Business
                  Sony Xperia Play for Games
                  Nokia N93i for Cinematography

                    Moto Razr V3 was excellent. External screen with time and date. BIG (compared to others) internal screen. The keys were a bit of a let down.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • F33
                      • 01 Jul 2018

                      YoloBS, 01 Jul 2018All i want a blackberry torch 9800 like phone with oreo go.... moreThe same thing happened to cars. Form factors evolve to meet the most popular demand. Look at cars from decades past. You see incredible variety. But as the market grows and evolves, trends are started, become popular, are mimicked, and the spiral of design closes.

                      It's capitalism at work. What sells is what gets made.

                        LG's new chocolate with 21:9 screen, with smaller bezels, would be really popular today. Though next gen of flip phones - foldable ones are form factors of tomorrow.
                        Also who knew you could have a watch with phone functionality with great looks.
                        All that form factors came back, but weirdest mobile form factor that is yet to come is intelligent glasses, though it was not stand alone device, it could be today, and surely will be soon. It is form factor I like the most, as it will be better to see(full human fov can be the screen and everyone want the biggest) and create content(without need to hold device).
                        This one would be the weirdest form factor, if I could include it as not stand-alone device(if I'm not wrong about that).

                          • t
                          • ttvdesign
                          • pwY
                          • 01 Jul 2018

                          Seems like there's quite a few folks remembering the Xelibri range from Siemens.
                          But does anyone remember the Haier pen-phones?

                            zillion, 01 Jul 2018Back in the last 90's, so many brands making a phone as sma... moreI had a Samsung N105, and the good thing was that you could use its antenna to clean your ears :D

                              Motorola Aura was the most beautiful then Sony Walkman W8xx series were the most fun

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                                • afshin
                                • amZ
                                • 01 Jul 2018

                                oh i really love aura i wish moto comapny continue the newer aura model faster than the older model but the same shape. and all body titanium and the color of phone doesnt change after to many clockwise act...

                                  in all seriousness i'd buy the sh*t out of the motorola flipout if it was available again today.

                                    All i want a blackberry torch 9800 like phone with oreo go.
                                    In these days all phone looks like iphone X. Wtf just happened with creativity,not eveyone like big phone. Some people prefer small phone 3-4 inch,some love pkb,some love slider. But they don't have any option anymore,every company copying the other company
                                    .

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                                      • Bliztor
                                      • KiJ
                                      • 01 Jul 2018

                                      I call it the Grand Era of Cellphone. Nowadays they are boring af. Not even Oppo Find X nor Vivo Nex have a chance against them. What a shame we won't have something like them anymore.

                                        Brandstifter, 01 Jul 2018Phone manufacturers in 2008: we have to research what custo... moreThat is so true :(((((

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