Humans love to be unique. Be it through their fashion choices, eating preferences, the cars they drive or the devices they use, people want to stand out from the crowd. It might seem like a small thing, but having a unique mobile phone in today’s world is a fashion statement. It helps you set yourself apart from the crowd that loves their iPhones or run-of-the-mill Android phones. To help you in your quest to pick a unique phone, we have just the right buying guide for you.
One of the major reasons we decided to handpick some of the most unique phones in 2024 is the Boring Phone – a limited-run digital detox device conceptualised by the Dutch brewer brand Heineken and US clothing company Bodega.
Although this device is supposed to keep you immersed in the world around you rather than in itself, the Boring Phone is one of the most unique devices we have seen this year. It lacks basic modern-day amenities like third-party apps or support for online maps but it makes up for it with its one-off transparent design that even puts Nothing’s smartphones to shame. There is, however, a big catch and that is why we are looking at some other unique mobile phones you can buy in 2024.
With a mixture of cool feature phones, fancy smartphones and a few foldable devices, it seems the market has enough variety for lovers of unique handheld devices, provided they can live with a few compromises. Hence, without wasting another breath, let’s dive into our list of the most unique mobiles, like the Boring Phone, that you can buy in 2024.
Unique mobile phones that you can get your hands on in 2024
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Heineken and Bodega’s latest campaign revolves around digital detox and the Boring Phone is the means to implement it. Before you get confused, Heineken’s Boring Phone has nothing to do with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company.
Designed in collaboration with HMD, the Boring Phone promotes the idea of disconnecting from the digital world and engaging with your real social life. Heineken and Bodega believe the only way to do so is by removing all apps, emails and other modern-day internet-based services that keep us hooked to our smartphone screens.
However, Heineken thinks that boring doesn’t have to be dull. With a transparent outer shell and a flip phone form factor, the Boring Phone looks quite cool, especially with the visible green motherboard. The monochromatic display with the retro green backlighting adds to the charm of this device.
Since it is based on the Nokia 2660 Flip, you get a well-designed keypad, a 2.8-inch main LCD and a 1.7-inch cover display, 0.3-megapixel main camera, 4G connectivity, 3,5mm headphone jack, microSD card slot and a 1,450mAh battery with up to one week of standby stamina.
The only drawback to the Boring Phone, other than the lack of modernisation, is that only 5,000 of these devices will be made and all of them are reserved for giveaways.
(Image Credits: Heineken)
Price: HKD 798
We wish HMD and Heineken put the Boring Phone on sale around the world. Since that’s not the case, we recommend the Nokia 2660 Flip as its closest alternative.
While it misses out on the cool transparent shell, the Nokia 2660 Flip offers a choice of multiple colour shells and a premium design that makes it another digital detox icon. The 2.8-inch display on this phone comes with a colourful LCD panel but the rest of the features and specifications remain similar to the Boring Phone.
It is instantly recognisable as a Nokia flip phone and in a sea of boring glass and plastic slab smartphones, the Nokia 2660 Flip marks you different from the rest. Get this if you are planning a digital detox summer this year.
(Image Credits: HMD)
Price: HKD 479
Before the iPhone, it was Nokia’s XpressMusic lineup of feature phones that married a music player and a mobile phone. The Nokia 5710 XA, where XA stands for XpressAudio, tries to bring back the soul of those iconic music phones in a fun new avatar. While the dedicated red-coloured music playback and volume buttons on the side make a return, it is the back of the Nokia 5710 XA that hides its party piece – a hidden pair of true wireless (TWS) earbuds.
Sliding down the large rear panel reveals a pair of wireless earbuds that use the phone’s casing to charge themselves. This way, you always have a pair of TWS earbuds on you!
There is, however, a catch. While the phone supports 4G connectivity for VoLTE calls, you cannot stream music from online streaming apps. You need to download MP3 format audio files on a microSD card and plug it into the phone’s SD card slot to play them. There’s an FM Radio app for latching onto the radio channels in your city. Some other basic features include a 2.4-inch colourful display, a 0.3-megapixel rear camera, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and a 1,450mAh removable battery.
(Image Credits: HMD)
Price: HKD 2,599 onwards
If feature phones are too watered down for you to be unique, the Nothing Phone (2a) tries to achieve that in the smartphone form factor. Championing the cause of semi-transparent smartphones, Nothing cut down corners on the Phone (2a) with a new design and plastic material to attain a highly accessible price in the budget smartphone segment.
The rear is where the Phone (2a) shines, quite literally! Look past the intestine-inspired rear pattern and those Glyph lights make the phone stand out. The lights are functional and try to do their bit with digital detox (notifications, call alerts and more).
The rest of the device is generously loaded for a budget smartphone. You stare at a 6.7-inch FHD+ OLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz that renders the minimalist yet functional Nothing OS 2.5 interface based on Android 14. Built around the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro chipset, it promises decent midrange performance. You get a pair of 50-megapixel image sensors for the rear camera system and the 5,000mAh battery promises a whole day’s stamina along with 45W wired charging support.
(Image Credits: Nothing)
Price: HKD 5,799
If you are still hung up on a flip phone but cannot let go of your smartphone features, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra comes up as the perfect recommendation. In the foldable flip smartphone segment where Samsung and Oppo offer rather boring options, Motorola’s Razr 40 Ultra oozes style.
While the Viva Magenta-dyed vegan leather back commands attention, it is the 3.6-inch external cover display that catches our fancy. Featuring a 144Hz OLED panel that amazingly wraps around the dual cameras, the cover display lets you access a miniaturised version of all the apps and games installed on the device. Hence, you don’t need to flip open the phone to respond to WhatsApp messages or check out the latest updates on X.
Flip it open and you are greeted by a massive 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. The Razr 40 Ultra uses a powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset that can handle most demanding tasks and casual gaming. However, with a small 3,800mAh battery and 30W wired charging, don’t expect great stamina on the move.
(Image Credits: Motorola)
Price: HKD 9,489 onwards
One should only buy the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro if mobile gaming is a serious business for them. With a unique design that screams your gaming intentions, the ROG Phone 8 Pro stands out from the iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
With a bold new design highlighted by an illuminated ROG logo, the ROG Phone 8 Pro is designed to accommodate a myriad of clip-on accessories to enhance the user experience. Asus has done away with the think display bezels and gone for an edge-to-edge 6.7-inch 1080p 165Hz OLED display protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The mighty Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is responsible for handling all the gaming thrown at it and the customisable pressure-sensitive triggers intend to make life easier for gamers.
You get up to 1TB of onboard storage and 24GB of RAM, which should alleviate any concerns about multitasking. A triple rear camera led by a 50-megapixel gimbal-based OIS system promises decent photography and the 5,500mAh battery should keep the phone alive for a whole day with gaming thrown into the mix.
(Image Credits: Asus)
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(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy Heineken)
