Modern smartphones are all quite similar in terms of their design if we think about it. They all have a relatively thin body, a big display in the front, and one, two, three, or even four cameras in the back. They have very little in common with some of the past mobile phones, which were often shocking and weird and stood out from the crowd. We have decided to introduce you and in the case of some of you reintroduce you, to the craziest and wackiest mobile phones history has seen: 

Siemens S55 (released in 2002)

This model of the mobile phone might not look that unusual you might say, but that is only until you realize it comes with a rather interesting accessory in the form of a detachable camera. That’s right, you can attach a camera to the port at the bottom of the phone and take photos at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels which was completely satisfactory back then in the era when multimedia messaging was a boom. 

Sony Ericsson P8000 (released in 2002)

If you were a lucky owner of a mobile phone in the first decade of the 20th century, you most probably owned either a phone from Nokia or Sony Ericsson. The Swedish-based company introduced the model P8000 with a touchscreen and a special pen so it can be considered one of the first smartphones. Its uniqueness however was in the fact that you could flip the part that contained the buttons for dialing. 

Samsung Matrix (released in 2003)

This particular phone has never been intended to be a mainstream phone for our everyday use. Samsung Matrix, known also as Samsung SPH-N270 was designed in cooperation with the crew behind the movie The Matrix Reloaded, and as such it was supposed to be released on the same date as the movie. It was introduced to the world as a collector’s item so it comes as no surprise that it does not feature any futurist technology

Haier P7 (released in 2004)

This unusual phone has a very narrow, but long body. For that reason, it has been compared to a candy bar on numerous occasions since they both have a similar shape. The display on this phone is likewise slim and very small with the ability to display only 64 x 128 pixels. Interestingly though, the battery itself was able to resist 6 days before needing to be charged again. 

Xiang Yan wang 3838 (released in 2008)

Now this mobile phone is something completely different. A Chinese company has come up with an idea for a phone that not only looks like a packet of cigarettes but also can hold up to 7 cigarettes inside its case. The device also apparently boasted a micro SD slot, camera, and MP3 player. 

C91 Golden-Buddha phone (released in 2009)

The C91 can be described as a luxury-looking round-shaped phone with an undeniable Buddhist design. It featured a 2.0-inch display screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, FM radio, dual SIM support, audio and video player, and microSD slot.

As you can see, in the quest to beat the competitors and bring an innovative device, some mobile phone manufacturers went way too far and instead of creating a well-functioning phone, they as a matter of fact created some very bizarre and questionable gadgets. On the other hand, it must be said that as the years passed, these phones have become desirable collector’s items.