The 10 Strangest Android Phones Of All Time

Since the days of the original Motorola DynaTAC, mobile phones have taken on many forms with various combinations of style and function. Some novel ideas incorporated into handset designs have changed the way we interact with technology, while others fundamentally changed our behavior in day-to-day life. Along the way we've seen some masterpieces, some duds, and a whole bunch of oddities in-between. Today we're taking a look at the 10 strangest Android phones of all time.

After some of the earliest mobile phones introduced us to communications by text (SMS, that is), the next most massive game-changer in mobile phone technology came with the touchscreen. The introduction of touch-screen-based operating systems, such as Android, laid bare the notion that a phone is just a device used to make phone calls. It opened up a whole new territory of possibilities. However, there is truth to the adage that just because you can do something does not mean you should. Over the relatively brief time humanity's been making mobile phones, some makers of these pocket-sized marvels have missed the mark.

Sometimes a typically stellar phone maker drops a giant stinker in our lap and has their PR department attempt to spin a dud into a Christmas wish list topper. While we may like to think of some ill-fated attempts to fill a niche that didn't exist to be a thing of the past, a couple of these are still on sale today. Regardless of their origin or market success, here we have a collection of the most odd Android phone oddities ever made.

Samsung arguably rules the roost in the business of smartphone manufacturing, at least as far as innovation goes. Many of its products set the bar for the whole industry, and these novel innovations can become commonplace from high-end phones down the line to budget options. By 2012, the basic functionality of the smartphone was firmly established, and manufacturers were toying with new features to add and expand the capability of their devices. With DLP projector technology also advancing and becoming more compact, Samsung decided it would be the next big thing for its Galaxy line of smartphones. While it appears that there could be plenty of practical applications of this feature, it had its pitfalls as well. 

The projector used a good deal of power and shortened battery life significantly, and the picture quality was somewhat lacking. While it certainly appeared to be a fun and useful way to use your phone, users found, as SlashGear's Galaxy Beam review notes, actual scenarios where it was the ideal piece of technology turned out to be far fewer in reality. Being that it is a Samsung product, the quality and design were never in question, but its actual usefulness wasn't apparent enough to meet the cost, and that is likely the reason it failed to be continued for more than a couple of years.

When most people think of high technology, Russia is not the first to come to mind. However, the Soviets sent the first man to space, and they continue to build some of the most advanced fighter jets on Earth. Still, the Russian Federation is not particularly well known for electronics. Enter the YotaPhone in 2012, a Russian-designed and not-so-Russian-built mobile phone with most of the standard features and functions found on any phone, and a couple that weren't. The YotaPhone's claim to fame is its dual-screen setup. It wasn't foldable, and didn't have another odd sliding or moving display like the LG Wing.

The YotaPhone has two screens: one up front, another on the back (via GSM Arena). Even better, the front is a typical LCD screen, and the rear is a monochrome e-ink screen like that of a Kindle. As representatives of YotaFone suggested during our original hands-on experience, the functionality of the rear screen (the e-ink panel), was meant to be used much the same as one would with a Kindle – mostly for reading.

While it seems to function perfectly well as a Kindle does, YotaPhone couldn't overcome the hurdle that is the less than pleasurable experience of trying to read significant amounts of content on a screen that fits in a pocket. The Russians broke into the market with a device that nobody was asking for, attempting to solve a problem nobody had. It was strange. And it is no more, as its maker declared bankruptcy in 2019.

Motorola's history spans back to the early 1900s (via Brittanica), and along the way, it has produced dozens of innovative and groundbreaking communication devices. With a company producing so many advanced communication products at the same time as it makes mundane, everyday products, it is bound to release the occasional oddball. And in an industry with technology quickly accelerating with an often off-track sense of direction, the mobile phone is the ideal vehicle for delivering a product that puzzles.

Motorola introduced the Flipout in 2010, a time when smartphone forms were still very much in a state of flux. While some companies, such as Apple, went all-in on touch screens, others held onto their physical keyboards, trying to find novel methods to incorporate them into new models. The Flipout tried to be the best of both worlds in a strange new way. The screen was small, but because it sat atop the keyboard when closed, it was bulky. The hardware was decent for the time, offering Android 2.1, GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1, but the form factor was just odd. In the end, mobile phone makers went another direction, and this model hit a dead end and was discontinued.

The first Android phone entered the market in 2008 and quickly started gaining ground on its rivals. With the open-source nature of Android, manufacturers were free to develop phones and customize the OS to their liking. They were also free to explore a multitude of setup and hardware arrangements, and it appears that is exactly what Motorola did when they introduced the Backflip in 2010. 

The physical keyboard was still en vogue in 2010, and phone makers tried incessantly to keep them around by using unique integrations and placement of keys of all sorts. It seemed that Motorola, seeing the sliding mechanism other manufacturers used at the time, decided trying something unique would be the way to go – they went with a hinge.

With a traditional hinge, the phone would open up like a book – this, too, might've been a bit too simple for Motorola. So Motorola took the wild approach of placing the keyboard on the back of the phone and making it open... a different way. Adding to this totally normal design choice was another idea to place a touchpad on the back of the screen to move a pointer around like a mouse on a laptop. The lack of any phones with this form factor in today's market is proof enough that this particular design was just too strange for a second-generation.

Since the advent of video games, there has been a continual push to put them into more compact and accessible forms. From the original Nintendo Game and Watch handhelds to the Sony PSP, handheld video game devices have long been an integral part of the video game market. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a company would integrate physical gaming controls into a device that would be found in the pocket of most people anyway. It should also come as no surprise that Sony, the company responsible for one of the most successful gaming consoles ever made, would be behind it. 

The Xperia Play, originally rumored to be called the "PlayStation Phone", was a slightly odd conglomeration of mobile phone and handheld video game console elements. Given that this came from Sony, the resemblance to the PSP should be no surprise. What was surprising was the choice to eschew the PSP or PlayStation moniker and release this device without a series of high-quality PlayStation game classics right out the gate. 

Perhaps that is what prevented better sales success. However, it may be this odd pairing of phone and game system that has prices on the used market inching up as it moves further into vintage gaming territory with each passing year, and allows it to live on with hobbyist support long after it's been abandoned by its makers. The spirit of the "gaming phone" that was born with this classic weirdo lives on with devices like the Xiaomi Black Shark, the ASUS ROG Phone, a series of Red Magic devices, and the Razer Phone.