For those who might just feel it is more valuable to own unique products than to share the same features will millions of other phone users, here are a few of the existing or soon to be smartphones that pride themselves to come with unique abilities or to have emerged out of a special concept altogether.
Turing Phone, the king of secure smartphones
Although worrying the customers that have pre-ordered this device – by delaying the delivery date and by failing to upload live photos – the Turing phone authors (Turing Robotics Industries – TRI) aimed at producing an end-to-end encryption phone that would ensure ultra-secure communications.
Based on decentralized authentication and direct communication between similar Turing phones, this device is meant to be a part of a protected communications system. At first its operating system should have been Android 5.0, but TRI later announced dropping it for Sailfish OS.
Another special feature is the device body material. Liquimorphium is a liquid metal created by CalTech as an alloy of includes zirconium, copper, aluminum, nickel, and other elements said to ensure higher durability than steel and titanium provide, as well as resistance to shocks, corrosion and various types of breakage.
*Seems like soon the qualities of this phone will be tested live after all, since the customers are expecting shipping starting with July 12th, according to a recent update.
BlackBerry Priv
These slider smartphones coming from BlackBerry (which does not operate on their system, but instead employs Android 6.0) launched in November 2016, surrounded by quite a decent amount of online buzz.
With a 1440p AMOLED display, a hidden hardware keyboard, a slightly elongated shape and a wavy carbon fiber back, the phone was generally well received, but it didn’t manage to push BlackBerry back on its popularity trampoline it used to have. The critics were harsh on the vintage appearance, the hardware shortcomings or the “vestigial” keyboard, as ArsTechnica called it.
However, if someone wants to flaunt a smartphone that probably not many of his/hers peers own while also re-affirming some BlackBerry nostalgia, they might give a try to this rather controversial device, which comes at a price of over $650. Mind you, there are some sources who even deem it “an exciting release”.
Motorola Droid Turbo
This Android phone also starts from $600, being exclusive to Verizon. It sports a turbo processor and a 3900mAh battery life of 48 hours. The display is a 5.2″ Quad HD Super AMOLED™ Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 Display with 2560 x 1440, 565 ppi, its storage capacities are of either 32GB or 64GB for the Black Ballistic Nylon version.
This device looks sleek, learns to anticipate the users’ needs and fight background noise with Motorola’s noise cancellation technology. The body material consists of ballistic nylon or metalized glass fiber reinforced with Kevlar.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
Perhaps you are a more adventurous type of person or you know such a person – their smartphone match is in that case the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active, the ruggedized version of Galaxy S6 flagship.
Without looking exaggeratedly thick, these smartphones pack a lot of resilience features, a heavy-duty processor, an adaptive screen and a designed Samsung Pay flawless compatibility, all operation on Android 5.0 and storing whatever files you might need into a 32GB storage space, with the help of an up-to-12/15 hours battery life (depending on what type of Internet connection is employed).
Available only on AT&T, this smartphone was criticized by CIO in its 2015 review for lacking a fingerprint reader; apparently, it should have come in a bigger storage version, too. Its full retail price is currently of $594.99 or $694.99 for the 64GB version.
LG G Flex
LG proudly boosts the world’s first curved battery with the LG G Flex, a mobile phone designed to match the human face contours.
This 2013 smartphone has a Curved P-OLED capacitive touchscreen and a protective Corning Gorilla Glass 2 layer. The talk-time battery life is of up to 15 hours, the OS is evidently Android and price-wise AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile offer it for approximately $680.
The LG G Flex 3 is expected to launch in 2016, featuring the Snapdragon 820 chipset (the LG G Flex 2 had a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor), as rumors have it. “A more premium price point” is also anticipated, that’s to say in the vicinity of $500.
BlackPhone 2
This BlackPhone comes from the Silent Circle Company and has the same purpose as Turing Phone’s – protecting the users’ important data via enhanced cyber-security features. Developed by the subsidiary SGP Technologies, it was released in 2014 at the introductory price of $629. BlackPhone 2 came on the market in 2015 and for US$799 it comes with a larger screen and a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon Octa-Core Processor.
Deemed by CNet in 2015 as “the most secure smartphone you can get your hands on today”, the BlackPhone 2 is in fact an Android phone with a twist, in that it operates on Silent OS, previously PrivateOS. This allows a higher level of customization that satisfies the more privacy-concerned users.
These smartphones also have an encrypted-by-default memory that necessitates a passcode to decrypt, and it anonymizes communications. Without exploring its access control features furthermore, it is undoubtedly a phone that offers an optimal level of confidentiality for the everyday users.
Marshall’s London Phone
This smartphone is special because it comes from a music hardware producer company. We are talking about a famous brand that diverted its renown into the smartphone business and delivered a high-quality product.
Digital Trends reviewed the London Phone and gave it a 3 out of four stars for its unique design, fantastic audio abilities and excellent battery life. The two missing stars were lost on account on its expensive price, poor screen and average camera. Talking about the price, at the time we gathered our information, there was one brand-new London Phone on Amazon going for $989.00, featuring a considerable difference from the GSM Arena-estimated $585 price.
The phone is intended for music and therefore it has two speakers and two stereo jacks – the design details reiterate the audio vibe surrounding this device. It is indeed quite a unique phone to have and it probably enthralls the music passionate.
For other interesting smartphones, you may also check this PhoneArena 2015 selection. Then again, perhaps 2016 will see a few one-of-a kind smartphones released on the market, too.