What everyone needs to know about Samsung’s transparent phone – and other weird Android designs

Samsung are developing quite a reputation for unusual ideas. After their foldable phone hit the headlines in 2019, they’ve since gone one step further by acquiring the patent for the world’s first ever transparent handset.

Like something straight out of your favourite sci-fi movie, the see-through device would be a huge step for smartphone technology after flawed attempts by LG and Sony Ericsson in the past. But how would it work? After all, wouldn’t a transparent battery be impossible?
Here’s a look at the thinking behind the device, and other wacky Android efforts of the past.

The transparent phone

The easy answer to the battery conundrum is that only the phone’s screen would be transparent, and this would be achieved with an OLED display. Each pixel would allow light to pass through it, so whatever is behind the device, such as the user’s hand, will be visible. The display could be flat or flexible, so that it works in whatever the phone’s position is.

While some people might get excited by this idea, it’s important to stress that it is only that: an idea. Samsung only have the patent and designs for such a product, rather than any concrete production plans, and handsets like this often fail to materialise.

However, transparent mobiles on the market would be a technological breakthrough, and could lead to other translucent commodities, such as tablets and laptops.

The ‘indestructible’ phone

For people who have a habit of dropping their phone, the ‘indestructible’ Cat S60 might have seemed like a godsend when it was announced by Caterpillar Inc. in 2016. The company is famous for making sturdy tools and equipment, after all.

The device was surrounded by a stainless steel and carbon fibre frame, making it drop-proof from around 2 metres. It also came equipped with little gold switches that, when flipped, helped to protect its speakers from water, making it waterproof up to a depth of five metres. It resisted heat up to 55c, the freezing cold down to -25c, and even had a thermal camera that allowed it to see in the dark – like a cat you might say.

There were downsides, however. The phone was predictably bulky, around 1.5 times the weight of the iPhone 6C, and its performance wasn’t the best. The screen wasn’t great for playing mobile games or online casinos, although this was good news for users trying to minimize their on-screen time or overcome problem gambling.

All in all, the phone was a moderate success. Favoured by dads and builders the world over for its robust design, it impressed many people with its special features. Perhaps Caterpillar will give us an even more pumped-up version in the future.

The round phone

Many people might say mobile phones aren’t supposed to be round. The classic oblong design feels comfortable in our hands, why mess with it?

Well, the Samsung Galaxy Round doesn’t look that round; it just feels it. What was more unusual was its curved display that made it feel round in your hands, and Samsung claimed that increased the phone’s ergonomic comfort.

The design was similar to the LG G Flex, but aimed to be a step further than that, offering greater capacity and performance. Unfortunately for Samsung, the Galaxy S4, released at a similar time, was a bigger hit with consumers and the curved screen craze quietly fell out of favour.
Still, at least Samsung tried.

The multi-coloured flip phone

The FlipOut was suitably named because somebody at Motorola must have ‘flipped out’ when they were choosing colours for the device. Released in a variety of garish tones, such as bright yellow and dark green, the company designed the handsets to appeal to teenagers.

The problem was the ‘flip’ had been done previously and simply fell out of fashion. Also, the full QWERTY keyboard was too small to use and, importantly for adolescents, the camera quality was poor.

That said, it was cheap so at least their target market could afford to buy it, rather than breaking the bank for the newest iPhone. But when something isn’t ‘cool’ then often teenagers won’t buy it.

The phone with two sides

Ever wanted a smartphone combined with an eBook? While most devices let you download a Kindle-style app to do that, the YotaPhone built the tools on each side of the device. The user would simply flip the phone over to switch between browsing the internet and reading their favourite book.

The Kindle side was made from ePaper, so that it wouldn’t drain the battery so much: you could also check the time, calls and messages without starting up the main AMOLED technology.

However, the YotaPhone was expensive, and the dual-screen option felt a little gimmicky. Why pay all that money when you could just access your reading app on the same screen? The product never caught on, but that doesn’t mean to say that similar, more practical ideas might be popular in the future.

What next?

Smartphone technology has come a long way over the last decade or so, but we’ve probably only scratched the surface of what phone companies could achieve, especially with the widespread use of 5G in the near future. There’s talk of devices boasting multi screens so users can do several things at once, and even stretchable phones that can be shrunk and expanded to suit the user. Phones may be unrecognisable 10 years from now, so for the meantime we can only imagine what lies in store…

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