Despite the sophistication of modern smartphones and tablets, there remains a distinct market for quirkiness and weirdness in new devices.
In some cases, these attributes are coupled with a leap forward in technology, in other cases not so much.
Take, for example, the Minimal Phone, a phone with a touch of Blackberry, as it bears a QWERTY keyboard, It also has an E-ink screen, which means it should operate for days without needing a recharge, especially with its 3000mAh battery.
There are plenty of people backing the Minimal Phone. It is a graduate of an Indiegogo campaign that raised US$600,000 and is now being manufactured and sold for US$399.
Sure, including an E-ink screen is power-saving, and having a hard keyboard speeds input up, but this device is not the first to do it by any means.
We’ve seen this combination of E-Ink screen plus keyboard on Amazon Kindles for years. And we saw an E-ink screen as part of a smartphone included in the Russian developed YotaPhone released in 2010.
To confirm its old-world charm, the Minimal Phone doesn’t bother with a colour E-ink screen, just an old fashioned black and white one. The camera lens specs are nothing to write home to mother about either: 16MP on the rear and 5MP at front.
Other homely comforts include a fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C charging port, and 4G LTE. There’s no 5G. It does support WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC (Near Field Communication).
To me, it sounds like a device that offers you a digital detox without you needing to leave it at home.
Nevertheless, some folks are counting the sleeps before their Minimal Phone arrives, starting in March.
Quirkiness can break out at the top end of the market too. Take Samsung’s highly rumoured trifold foldable phone which may launch this year or early 2026. It was displayed as a concept phone at CES 2025.
Unlike the Minimal Phone, this device and others in the tri-foldable format are at the cutting edge of tech.
Trifoldables are basically foldable phones that have been extended from two screens to three screens and have a rationale – a super wide screen. A few of them are in the works.
Huawei’s Mate XT, for example, is expected to offer a screen which is 10-inches wide with both folds opened. Yet it will fit in your pocket with both side screens closed. According to reports, it will launch in a few days.
There is a rumour perpetrated by seasoned Korean leaker Yeux1122 now that Samsung’s version will be called the Galaxy G Fold, and his tip is a January 2026 release.
Honor is another manufacturer with a trifoldable in the works.
One possible downside is that trifoldables could end up being rather thick in your pocket with the three screens fully folded.
