Smartphones have become an essential for life. Almost everyone carries a smartphone these days and they have plenty of useful features packed to make life simpler. But every now and then a smartphone pops out with a feature which makes you do a double take. Some of them are useful and some of them are just gimmicks. Let's look at a few of those features.
1. Micromax blow to unlock
The Indian smartphone company has been very successful in producing phones of low cost with decent hardware. Their Canvas series has been the most popular one. But in Canvas 4 they introduced a very strange feature for unlocking the phone. You can blow near the bottom of the phone to unlock it. That does NOT sound right!
2. iBall Andi Projector phone
Watching movies and videos on the phone is very commonplace. But a projector on phone? iBall Andi 4a came with a projector which allows VGA (640 x 480 pixels) projection.
![iball projector]()
3. Freedom 251
If you'd look at this phone, you'd find specs of a lower end smartphone. What is the weird feature here? The price. This phone is priced at a crazy ₹251 (Almost $4). The phone hasn't started shipping yet, but it has been in pre-booking and a center of a lot of controversies. If the smartphones can be produced at this price. People would buy one every few days.
![freedom 251]()
4. Yotaphone with a dual display
The Russian phone makers came up with a unique solution of dying battery of smartphones. Instead of adding some extra battery or fast charging technology they included a display on the back on the phone. This always on e-Ink display acted like a full blown android phone. Although this phone caught a lot of attention, it didn't turn out to be a consumer success because of the price point and the availability.
![yotaphone]()
5. Nokia's tear shaped phone
Nokia has surely produced some amazing handsets in the past. But there have been occasions that they have gone completely bonkers. In 2003, they released a phone named Nokia 7600. The keyboard was so awkward to type for people that Nokia had to abandon the product.
![nokia 7600]()
6. Samsung eye scrolling
World's no.1 smartphone company has also done a fair share of experiments on their part. In the 4th iteration of their famous Galaxy series they introduced something called smart eye scrolling. Through this feature, users can scroll up or down the article by looking up or down. They used the sensors in the front to track the movement. But when someone already has the phone in their hands is it really necessary?
![samsung galaxy s4]()
7. Micromax bling mirror
Mircomax was at it again when they launched their phone Micromax Q55 codenamed bling. The phone had Swarovski studded keys and a small square design. The phone aimed at women had one feature that was really strange. An actual mirror. One the back of the phone when you put the slider out there was a mirror behind the screen. Surely Micromax did some self-reflection on the design front.
![micromax bling]()
8. LG G Flex
Curved TVs are surely good. They claim to enhance the viewing experience. But phones with the curved screen? Not so sure. LG came out with LG G Flex in 2013 and following up with LG G Flex 2 in 2015. Neither of them took path breaking strides in the smartphone market.
![lg g flex]()
9. Haier Pen phone.
A lot of people like their phones to be small and easily pocketable. So Haier went lengths to make that happen. They released a phone named P7 pen phone. It was literally in the shape of a pen. You had to navigate using the joystick and the D-pad on the phone and number keys were pretty small too.
![haier p7]()
Which one do you think is the most strange?
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1. Micromax blow to unlock
The Indian smartphone company has been very successful in producing phones of low cost with decent hardware. Their Canvas series has been the most popular one. But in Canvas 4 they introduced a very strange feature for unlocking the phone. You can blow near the bottom of the phone to unlock it. That does NOT sound right!
2. iBall Andi Projector phone
Watching movies and videos on the phone is very commonplace. But a projector on phone? iBall Andi 4a came with a projector which allows VGA (640 x 480 pixels) projection.
3. Freedom 251
If you'd look at this phone, you'd find specs of a lower end smartphone. What is the weird feature here? The price. This phone is priced at a crazy ₹251 (Almost $4). The phone hasn't started shipping yet, but it has been in pre-booking and a center of a lot of controversies. If the smartphones can be produced at this price. People would buy one every few days.
4. Yotaphone with a dual display
The Russian phone makers came up with a unique solution of dying battery of smartphones. Instead of adding some extra battery or fast charging technology they included a display on the back on the phone. This always on e-Ink display acted like a full blown android phone. Although this phone caught a lot of attention, it didn't turn out to be a consumer success because of the price point and the availability.
5. Nokia's tear shaped phone
Nokia has surely produced some amazing handsets in the past. But there have been occasions that they have gone completely bonkers. In 2003, they released a phone named Nokia 7600. The keyboard was so awkward to type for people that Nokia had to abandon the product.
6. Samsung eye scrolling
World's no.1 smartphone company has also done a fair share of experiments on their part. In the 4th iteration of their famous Galaxy series they introduced something called smart eye scrolling. Through this feature, users can scroll up or down the article by looking up or down. They used the sensors in the front to track the movement. But when someone already has the phone in their hands is it really necessary?
7. Micromax bling mirror
Mircomax was at it again when they launched their phone Micromax Q55 codenamed bling. The phone had Swarovski studded keys and a small square design. The phone aimed at women had one feature that was really strange. An actual mirror. One the back of the phone when you put the slider out there was a mirror behind the screen. Surely Micromax did some self-reflection on the design front.
8. LG G Flex
Curved TVs are surely good. They claim to enhance the viewing experience. But phones with the curved screen? Not so sure. LG came out with LG G Flex in 2013 and following up with LG G Flex 2 in 2015. Neither of them took path breaking strides in the smartphone market.
9. Haier Pen phone.
A lot of people like their phones to be small and easily pocketable. So Haier went lengths to make that happen. They released a phone named P7 pen phone. It was literally in the shape of a pen. You had to navigate using the joystick and the D-pad on the phone and number keys were pretty small too.
Which one do you think is the most strange?
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Contact HuffPost India