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Article created by: Vėja Elkimavičiūtė

There’s something incredibly satisfying about the way phones were designed back in the early 2000s. Whether it’s the nostalgic effect for all of us 90s babies, the plethora of buttons, or perhaps the fact that you never feared dropping them down a flight of 500 stairs, those little (sometimes not-so-little) devices sure made our childhoods more interesting. 

So let’s use a metaphorical time machine to look back on some intriguing designs that make us look at our reflective touch-sensitive blocks of technology with a sense of disdain, with us asking, “Where did it all go so wrong?” 

If you’re curious to learn more about modern-vintage (not sure if that’s a category, but it should be!) phones, make sure to check out this Bored Panda article right here. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites, dearest Pandarandas, and let’s get this phone rolling! 

#1

My Grandma Gave Me This Old Phone Today As A Housewarming Gift. It Quacks When It Rings. I Was Terrified Of It When I Was A Child, So That’s Why She Gave It To Me

Wooden duck-shaped phone with keypad, showcasing one of the craziest phone designs ever created by designers.

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    #2

    Siemens Xelibri 8

    Silver and gold old-fashioned crazy phone with odd shape and small screen showing mobile interface and chain.

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    #3

    Nokia 7600

    Unusual Nokia phone held in hand with an unclear design, showcasing a unique layout and crazy phone concept.

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    #4

    Motorola Aura A Premium Phone

    Hand holding a Motorola flip phone with a circular screen and numeric keypad, showcasing unusual phone design.

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    #5

    Nokia N-Gage

    Two unusual Nokia N-Gage phones held in hands, showcasing unconventional and quirky phone designs by designers.

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    #6

    Samsung Serenata

    Unusual Samsung Serenata phone with a circular control interface and modern design on a wooden table.

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    #7

    Nokia 7380

    Unusual Nokia phone with circular button design held in hand against red background, showcasing crazy phone design features.

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    #8

    I Finally Got An Xperia Pureness

    Unusual Sony Ericsson phone design with a small elevated screen and traditional numeric keypad held in hand.

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    #9

    Samsung Sph-N270

    Samsung phone with a rugged, unusual design featuring large buttons and a built-in speaker, showcasing crazy phone design choices.

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    #10

    Siemens Xelibri

    Hand holding a vintage Aliba flip phone with an unusual round design and pink details, showcasing crazy phone design ideas.

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    #11

    My Old Phone Has This Unusual Button

    Old HTC smartphone with a Facebook button, shown on a sheet with tabular data, design looks confusing and outdated.

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    #12

    Two-Faced Samsung

    Hand holding a vintage Samsung flip phone with an unusual dual-screen design, showcasing crazy phone designs.

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    #13

    Newgen C620

    Two unusual vintage flip phones held in hand, showcasing bizarre and confusing phone designs from past decades.

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    #14

    Toshiba G450. The Weird Little Phone

    Hand holding a Toshiba phone with an unusual circular keypad design, showcasing crazy phone designers' unclear thinking.

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    #15

    Samsung Serene

    Unusual vintage phone with a rotary dial and flip screen showing insert SIM message on a fabric background.

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    #16

    Virgin Mobile Lobster 700tv

    Retro Lobster mobile phone with unusual TV button and chunky design, showcasing crazy phone designer ideas and innovation.

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    #17

    This 20-Year-Old "Modern-Looking" Landline Phone

    Retro office phone with large buttons and a small screen, showcasing unusual design from crazy phone designers.

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    #18

    Fly Z300

    Vintage crazy phone design with unusual flip style and small colorful screen, showcasing unexpected phone creativity by designers.

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    #19

    Found My Old Cell Phone With Optional Clip On Chatboard For Easier Texting

    Vintage Ericsson phone with an attached full QWERTY keyboard, showcasing unusual and crazy phone design.

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    #20

    Motorola Startac Rainbow

    Hand holding a colorful Motorola StarTAC phone showcasing a unique and crazy phone design from designers.

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    #21

    Motorola Flipout Mb511

    Unusual design of a Motorola flip phone with a square touchscreen, keyboard, and bold yellow color, showcasing crazy phones.

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    #22

    Simens SK65

    Vintage Siemens phone with sliding QWERTY keyboard laid out next to a retro Casio digital watch on concrete surface.

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    #23

    Cool Old-School Crank Phone At My Work

    Vintage wooden wall phone with metal bells, crank handle, and old-fashioned mouthpiece showing crazy phone design.

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    #24

    The Nokia 3650. First Phone With A Video Camera. It Helped Establish Symbian Os In The Consumer Market

    Blue Nokia phone with an unusual circular keypad design showcasing crazy phone ideas by designers.

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    #25

    This Old Jaguar Still Has Its Car Phone

    Vintage car interior featuring a mounted retro phone showcasing crazy phone design from past decades.

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    #26

    2003 Nokia 6810. An Unbelievable 71 Individual Buttons On A Handset This Size

    Two crazy phones by Nokia with unusual dual-keyboard designs, showcasing unclear and quirky phone design concepts.

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    #27

    Motorola V100

    Retro blue Motorola clamshell phone with full QWERTY keyboard and small screen, showcasing unusual phone design.

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    #28

    My Beautiful Motorola V50. In The Dark Gray Color, Which I Think Looks Best. Great Phone, Very Small, Compact, Has Great Range, And It Still Works On 2g Networks

    Retro Motorola flip phone in closed and open positions, showcasing unusual design of vintage crazy phones from early mobile era.

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    #29

    I Found So Many Old Phones While Decluttering My Grandpa's Office

    A collection of vintage and early model phones showing unusual and crazy phone designs from different eras.

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    #30

    Nokia N-Gage

    Unusual Nokia N-Gage phone design with gaming screen and unconventional keypad layout, showcasing crazy phone concepts by designers.

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    #31

    Ericsson T60d. Limited Edition Spider-Man Version

    Ericsson phone with an unusual Spider-Man inspired design, showcasing one of the craziest phone concepts by designers.

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    #32

    Samsung Dual Flip

    Multiple angles of a vintage Samsung flip phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, showcasing unusual phone design features.

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    #33

    The Year Was 2010. I Was Being Handed Down This Phone From My Brother. Suddenly I Felt Like The Coolest Kid In the Class. This Is My LG KU990i

    Hand holding a vintage LG phone with camera lens on one side and touchscreen on the other, showcasing crazy phone design.

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    #34

    Introducing My 2009 Samsung Gloss Sch-U440

    Unusual Samsung flip phone with small external screen and full QWERTY keyboard, showcasing crazy phone design ideas.

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    #35

    Sierra Wireless Voq

    Person holding a vintage crazy phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, showcasing unusual phone design and layout outdoors.

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    #36

    During The '90s Motorola Service Centers Offered "Express Exchange" Loaner Phones To Customers While Their Phones Were Out For Repair

    Two vintage Motorola phones with numeric keypads and small screens, showcasing unusual and crazy phone designs.

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    #37

    Motorola 308 Startac

    Vintage Motorola StarTAC phone placed on wooden coasters, showcasing a classic and quirky phone design.

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    #38

    This Is The Google Sooner, Which Is A Prototype For The First Android Phone. It Runs A Super Early Version Of The Android

    Hand holding a vintage Android phone with a small screen and full QWERTY keyboard in an unusual design.

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    #39

    Nokia 7700

    White Nokia phone with an unusual design featuring a color screen showing 640 by 320 pixels and colorful images.

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    #40

    Nokia E90

    Nokia E90 crazy phone with full QWERTY keyboard and small screen, showing a Reddit page in a home setting.

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    #41

    I Still Like My Nokia 9110 Communicator

    Two vintage Nokia phones with unusual designs, one classic and one with a full QWERTY keyboard, showing crazy phone design choices.

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    #42

    Nokia 5510

    Vintage Nokia phone with an unusual split keyboard design, showcasing one of the craziest phone designs ever created.

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    #43

    Motorola StarTac 6000e

    Vintage Motorola flip phone with large keypad and small screen on a wooden surface, showcasing crazy phone design.

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    #44

    My Old Mobile Phone Is Cool. Samsung P300 From 2005

    Hand holding a small Samsung phone with an unusual square design and compact keypad showing crazy phone design.

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    #45

    My Phone's Battery And Main PC's HDD Both Started Failing At The Same Time, So I'm Relying On These Two A Lot More For The Time Being

    Retro crazy phone with a small screen and round buttons placed on top of an old computer tower in a dark room.

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    #46

    Sidekick II

    Vintage crazy phone with slide-out keyboard and touchscreen, showcasing unusual design and quirky interface elements.

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    #47

    My Old High School Cell Phone And The Phone I Got After It

    Two vintage phones with unusual designs, including a green Motorola and a silver Kyocera, showcasing crazy phone design.

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    #48

    Samsung P910 TV

    Samsung futuristic flip phone with rotating wide view screen showcasing unusual phone design features.

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    #49

    Sch-V870

    Square-shaped Anycall phone with a small screen and numeric keypad, showcasing unusual phone design by designers.

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    #50

    Nokia 9210

    Vintage Nokia phone with full QWERTY keyboard and small screen, showcasing unusual and crazy phone design.

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