Are Novelty Phones Here to Stay?

Newer devices always cause a lot of excitement and as we head towards the holiday period where the next big flagships will look to be announced, the mobile market is in the stage of the year where it’s heating up again. One of the latest trends to emerge has been in the style of device that’s considered to be more novelty, or more enthusiastic leaning as folding and flip phones have started to emerge – whilst still in their early phase, they’re receiving a lot of press for being something so different, and with some pros and some cons it’s difficult to know where they’ll be in a shorter period of time, but are they here to stay, or look to fade away in the future?

(Image from pocket-lint.com)

Useability is important – Whilst the flip form is something that has bene long used in the past and has its place, the folding form is something a little different. In its resting state, it’s a bit taller and a bit slimmer than modern phones, and in its unfolded state it is much larger – this means that apps and features on the phone need to run in two different resolutions and is why so many apps don’t function too well on these devices. Useability in the comfort of home is able to work well too but being out on the road brings up more questions – remote working comes to mind here as when searching online for more information around lifestyle changes like becoming a digital nomad for example, mobile devices are a huge tip often given, and useability in situations like this will be key.

Cost is another big factor – Cost has come down significantly from the earliest options, but they are still very much enthusiast devices and carry teat higher price tag too, given usability is already something the devices don’t do too well, and other big features are much harder to come by too, can the cost be justified? This is something that will continue to change, but it’s hard to imagine costs will ever come down enough to remain competitive with more easy to use devices, and if they are able to if the features will match or be comparable to devices that have become much wider used.

For now, there will still likely be some other big devices that follow this novelty blueprint yet to be released as manufacturers experiment with new options, as of now they’re yet to really catch on – but are they here to stay? Likely for some time, but whether or not a wide enough audience will adopt the change to these devices to make them develop in a better and more usable way is yet to be seen.