Skip to main content

5 weird phones I wish were as popular as the Nothing Phone

More than almost any other smartphone right now, the Nothing Phone 1 has done an incredible job of making the tech world go head over heels for it. On the one hand, it’s easy to see why. For months, Nothing has been pitching its smartphone as something different in the industry. This is partly thanks to a transparent back, which reveals many of the Phone 1’s internal components that would otherwise be hidden. The Nothing Phone 1 also features over 900 LEDs across its backside that can be used to display incoming calls, charging status, and more. It’s different, unique, and doesn’t look like an iPhone or Galaxy S copycat.

But the Nothing Phone 1 is far from the first weird smartphone we’ve ever seen. Weird phones have existed for years, with many of them coming and going over the last decade. The only difference is that they didn’t receive the same level of attention as the Nothing Phone 1 — despite being objectively more interesting. Here are five fairly recent examples of weird smartphones that deserved to be every bit as popular as the Nothing Phone 1 is today.

Recommended Videos

YotaPhone

Yota YotaPhone 2
Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends

The hallmark feature of the Nothing Phone 1 is the LED lighting on the back of the phone. These strips light up to show the phone’s charging status, incoming calls, and when the reverse wireless charging function is being used. It’s a neat party trick, but you know what’s more interesting than ambiguous LEDs on the back of a phone? Having a second E-ink display.

That’s exactly what we got with the YotaPhone. Released in 2012, the YotaPhone looked like a standard Android phone from the front. It had a 4.3-inch LCD display, a front-facing camera, and an earpiece for taking phone calls. Nothing out of the ordinary! But when you flipped the YotaPhone over, you were greeted by another 4.3-inch display — this one using E-ink technology. That E-ink display could be used for checking notifications, viewing your calendar, browsing RSS feeds, reading e-books,  and more — all without ever using the main LCD display.

Yota went on to launch the YotaPhone 2 and YotaPhone 3 in the following years, but eventually went bankrupt in 2019. While availability issues and a hefty lawsuit ended up being the demise of YotaPhone, it also failed to build nearly as much hype within the tech community as the Nothing Phone 1 is doing. I admire what Nothing founder Carl Pei is trying to do with the Phone 1, but I’d take an e-ink display on the back of my phone over bizarre LEDs any day of the week.

Nextbit Robin

The Nextbit Robin smartphone lying face-down on a table.
Simon Hill/Digital Trends

One of my biggest complaints about the Nothing Phone 1 is how all the design focus went on the back of the phone. From the front, it looks like any other Android handset, hole-punch camera cutout included. The Nextbit Robin is another smartphone that placed a great emphasis on unique design, and it did so for the entire package.

The main way Nextbit achieved this was with the Robin’s shape. With a completely flat frame and sharp edges, the Nextbit Robin looked unlike anything else on the market, and still does. The back of the phone complemented the aesthetic with a turquoise and white two-tone design, while the front contrasted the Robin’s sharp lines with circular speaker grilles flanking both ends of the display. No matter what angle you looked at the Nextbit Robin from, it was distinctly different from any of its competitors.

Nexbit was successful enough to draw the attention of Razer and was quickly acquired by the gaming company about a year after the Robin’s release. And while Razer retained some of Nextbit’s DNA with the Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2, the best design decisions were lost in translation. The Nextbit Robin is a device I can still distinctly picture nearly seven years later. Based on what I’ve seen so far, the Nothing Phone 1 will probably fade from my memory before the year is over.

Asus PadFone

An Asus Padfone X.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Whenever I have a chance to write about weird smartphones, I’m always going to mention the Asus PadFone. On its own, the Asus PadFone was a standard-looking Android device. It didn’t have a flashy design, unique camera housing, or any stark visual traits. But the phone itself was only half of the equation.

Every Asus PadFone also came with a companion tablet. The “tablet” was really just a larger display with a slot on the back for the phone to dock into. When attached, the PadFone powered the tablet display and brought all of your apps, games, and files to a bigger screen. Although the execution was far from perfect, having one device act as the brains for a pocketable phone and a larger tablet remains one of the most unique designs I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, that mixed execution and lack of consumer interest saw the PadFone series come and go over the course of about two years. Devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Oppo Find N have made the PadFone pitch mostly redundant in mid-2022, but it remains one of the most memorable devices I’ve ever used.

LG Wing

Someone holding the LG Wing, showing off both of its screens.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Of all the weird phones that have failed, the LG Wing is one of the freshest examples and is among the strangest phones I’ve ever held. Announced in September 2020, LG’s idea behind the Wing was to make the “world’s first 5G swivel smartphone.” What did that mean? On the surface, the LG Wing was a standard-looking 6.8-inch handset. But with a quick flick of the display, it swiveled upwards to reveal a secondary 3.9-inch screen below it.

You could watch a YouTube video while browsing Twitter, look at a digital receipt while also using a calculator, play a game while reading a how-to guide — the possibilities were endless. And when you didn’t want or need the secondary screen, the LG Wing looked and felt like a (mostly) normal smartphone.

On paper, a dual-screen device like this is more interesting than one with a few LEDs and a transparent backside. But that’s not at all what happened. The LG Wing got some initial buzz, but was quickly pushed to the wayside and dismissed as being “too weird.” Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone 1 has remained in the spotlight for months on end.

Palm (2018)

A Palm (2018) phone in someone's hand.
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Yes, the Palm phone from 2018. This bizarre reincarnation of the fabled Palm brand was downright bad for a multitude of reasons. It had abysmal battery life, a lackluster camera, was exclusive to Verizon, and could only be used if it was connected to another smartphone. At $350, there was no justifying its high price.

But despite those problems, I can’t help but wish for a future where the Palm phone was executed properly — and had a good marketing push that really made people aware of it. Whether you’re heading off on a weekend getaway or want a small phone to take with you on a run, the idea of having an ultra-compact device still capable of most modern smartphone tasks is really appealing.

The weird road is a dangerous one to travel

Looking back at these phones — phones that were arguably much more interesting than the Nothing Phone 1 — I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for Pei’s passion project. The Nothing Phone is fun and weird, especially compared to an iPhone 13 or Galaxy S22. But time and time again, the market’s shown us that weird phones are rarely successful ones.

Pei’s done a phenomenal job of getting people excited for the Nothing Phone 1. But with more recent announcements of an invite-only buying program and no U.S. availability, things are already shifting in the wrong direction. If an E-ink display couldn’t save the YotaPhone and an unforgettable design wasn’t enough to keep the Nextbit Robin around, I struggle to see how a few customizable LEDs will help the Nothing Phone 1 succeed where its more interesting predecessors have failed.

Joe Maring
Joe Maring has been the Section Editor of Digital Trends' Mobile team since June 2022. He leads a team of 13 writers and…
Nothing’s CEO just told us when to expect the Nothing Phone 3
Nothing Phone 3a

There has been a lot of speculation around the Nothing Phone 3, but in an Ask Me Anything thread on X, Nothing's CEO just confirmed its launch window: quarter three of 2025. Considering today is not April Fool's Day and Carl Pei runs the company, we can't think of a more reliable source for information on this. The launch window also lines up with previous releases; the Nothing Phone and Phone 2 both launched in July, and it looks like the third in the series is likely to follow.

The Nothing Phone 3 will be the company's third release this year, following the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro. Nothing also revealed images of the CMF Phone 2 Pro with a new, redesigned look, and more information on the handset will be shown on April 28 at its global launch event.

Read more
New Nothing phone arrives on April 28, but not the one you expect
The back of the CMF Phone 1.

Nothing has announced the launch of its next smartphone, but anyone expecting it to be the Nothing Phone 3 will have to be patient for a while longer, as its next phone falls under the CMF by Nothing brand. It’s the CMF Phone 2 Pro, and it’s coming at the end of April with a collection of new earbuds too.

On April 28, 2025 Nothing will announce the CMF Phone 2 Pro, its second smartphone, along with the CMF Buds 2, CMF Buds 2a, and CMF Buds 2 Plus. In case CMF by Nothing is new to you, it’s Nothing’s value-focused line, made to bring great design and fun hardware to more people. It can be all-too easy to ignore this type of brand when flashier devices catch our eye, but that would be a mistake with CMF by Nothing’s current range. For example, we really liked the CMF Phone 1 when we used it, along with Nothing’s excellent CMF Watch Pro 2 too.

Read more
Is it OnePlus or Nothing? I try two brilliant bargain phones to find out
A person holding the OnePlus 13R and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro.

I’ve been using, and very much enjoying, the OnePlus 13R for the last week. But it got me thinking, I spent several weeks with the Nothing Phone 3a Pro recently too, and it’s cheaper to buy than the OnePlus phone. This was a chance to look closely at two phones which I've liked very much to find out if it's worth buying the more expensive one, or if you can save a bit of money and pick up a bargain. What's more, the two phones also share a common, but unusual link between them, just to spice things up even more.
What’s the connection?
OnePlus 13R (left) and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The unusual connection linking the two together is Carl Pei. Pei co-founded OnePlus, and after moving on from the company he founded Nothing. The Nothing Phone 3a Pro is the brand’s most recent release, sitting slightly higher in the range than the Nothing Phone 3a. The brand thrives on brilliant marketing, some of it straight out of the original OnePlus playbook, and goes to great efforts to build a healthy, vibrant community around its products.

Read more