Android’s history is littered with phones that featured inventive, cool ideas. Many of these ideas were truly great, but, unfortunately, phones are ultimately judged on how well they sell. Let’s strip away the financials and remember some phones that deserve more credit.
LG Wing (2020)
There’s a good chance you arrived at this article expecting an LG phone, and I’m not one to disappoint. LG was infamous for doing weird stuff with phones. Second screens, self-healing plastic, modular components, and, of course, the LG Wing and its swiveling screen.
The LG Wing had two displays sandwiched on top of each other. The top display was 6.8 inches, and it swiveled 90 degrees to reveal the 3.9-inch display underneath. This allowed for using two apps simultaneously, with one being in full-screen landscape mode. While it looked awesome, there really just wasn’t much purpose to it.
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Sony Xperia Play (2011)
Rumors of a “PlayStation Phone” go all the way back to the early 2000s, but Sony didn’t seriously start working on one until around 2009. The Xperia Play was eventually announced in 2011. It was more or less exactly what people had always imagined—a smartphone with a slide-out PlayStation controller.
Sadly, reality didn’t match people’s dreams. The Xperia Play was underpowered, didn’t have a great library of titles, and was exclusive to Verizon for five months. It simply wasn’t as good as Sony’s other portable devices, the PSP and Vita. Sony never made a sequel.
Samsung Galaxy Beam (2012)
Imagine you’ve got a YouTube video to show your friends, but it’s 2012, and the 4-inch screen on your phone just isn’t cutting it. What if you could project the video on the wall for everyone to see? That was Samsung’s idea behind the Galaxy Beam.
The Galaxy Beam had a built-in DLP 640 x 360 projector that could project a picture up to 50 inches at 15 lumens. When the projector was turned on, it would simply show whatever was on the screen. Picture quality was reportedly pretty decent with the phone around 30 inches from a surface. It came with a spare battery, but there was no kickstand or tripod connection point.
YotaPhone (2013)
At Mobile World Congress 2013, a relatively unknown Russian brand grabbed headlines with a phone that featured an e-ink display on the back. It was called the YotaPhone. The front had a boring 4.3-inch LCD display, but that secondary display got people excited.
The e-ink display had a few clever uses. It could mirror the main display, act as a customizable “dashboard” for notifications and widgets, and be used as the viewfinder for the rear camera. The idea was great, and Yota followed it up with the YotaPhone 2, but ultimately, both were too expensive and hard to buy.
Asus PadFone (2012)
Nowadays, you can plug most Android phones into a monitor, and you’ll see a desktop-optimized interface appear. But in 2012, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was released with the ability to transform to various screen sizes, and Asus took advantage of that with the PadFone.
The PadFone was a fairly typical Android phone, but it had a cool ability. When paired with the optional PadFone Station, it became the brains of a 10-inch tablet. It literally slid into a compartment on the back of a barebones tablet shell. Unfortunately, that little setup cost $1,300 combined, which greatly reduced the cool factor.
Project Ara (2013)
Project Ara was an idea that aimed to completely change the way we buy phones. Rather than upgrading your entire phone, you could upgrade individual parts. The intention was for Google to manufacture “endos” (a blank frame with magnetic connection points), and other companies would make components for it.
This was an extremely cool concept that captured the imaginations of every phone nerd. Components included displays, processors, cameras, batteries, secondary displays, and anything else you would need for a phone. Sadly, Ara never graduated past “project” due to high costs and manufacturing issues.
Nokia “Mountain View” Android Phone (Pre-2011)
In 2011, Nokia infamously announced that it would be adopting Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. However, Nokia had secretly been working on a “Plan B” Android phone in case things didn’t pan out. The phone was codenamed “Mountain View”—the city in California where Google is headquartered.
Not much is known about this phone other than it would have been an entry-level device. Back in 2013, it was reported that Foxconn produced 10,000 units. However, none of those prototypes have surfaced in the 13 years since. An Android-powered Nokia Lumia phone would have been extremely cool.
Great ideas don’t mean great sales
Android phones today are great, but the most interesting choice is between a foldable or flat design. The reality is that safe and predictable designs have the most mass appeal. Features like built-in projectors and slide-out controllers will always be for a niche audience.
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