2020 has been a year, and it's totally understandable if you've missed out on a few phone launches amid the chaos and headline-grabbing events. This confusion has certainly made its way to the smartphone industry, but in some ways phones have always been on the outside, and some are even stranger than usual. 2019 may have been the year the foldable made its debut, but in 2020 we have a rollable phone in mind (courtesy of TCL) and a swivel phone in our hands (thanks LG). Of course, we also had our first clamshell folds, the Motorola Razr bringing the iconic foldable phone into the modern age, and Samsung hot on its heels with its own Galaxy Z Flip. We also got our first glimpse of the next big thing in smartphones: goodbye notches and hole-punches, hello under-display selfie cameras. And finally, not all advancements are next-generation technology; sometimes it's enough to include old features, like stylus pens, in the most unlikely places. So here are our favorite weird phones that debuted in 2020, roughly in the order they appeared, some we got our hands on and some still too futuristic to hit the market.
![OnePlus Concept One]()
(Image credit: future)
OnePlus ConceptOne
The OnePlus Concept One was by far the most exciting phone at CES 2020 in January. While it quickly became clear that the experimental phone would never be sold in stores, the Concept One was an interesting approach to fixing something that phone makers hadn't yet seen as a problem: hiding phones' rear lenses. phones with adjustable glass. OnePlus referred to sports car windows as the inspiration for the glass; pass a current through it, and it goes from translucent to deeply shaded. Concept One makes this change automatically when you open the camera app, and the glass strip on the rear cameras subtly changes from opaque to transparent. You wonder why OnePlus isn't rushing this into all of its phones, but there are some design considerations: whether the glass strip would obstruct the cameras if it gets scratched or the mechanism fails. We barely had time to hold the phone and test the (very functional) effect on our own, but we couldn't tell if this technology is ready for the mass market. We hope so: the phone's design is too stagnant.
![motorola razr 5g]()
(Image credit: future)
Motorola Razr
While we got our hands on the Motorola Razr at the end of 2019, delays led to its launch in early 2020, and while the clamshell foldable captured the public's imagination, it didn't seem like a big sell. Which is a shame considering the design innovation it took to make the Razr work: a hinge that so esoterically folds the plastic screen to prevent it from crumpling, while also incorporating microphones. -Brushes to automatically sweep away particles so they don't. Don't delete works. And, yes, the Razr has managed to cram a fully functional smartphone into a form factor twice the size of a typical phone's footprint. Sadly, it's significantly more expensive than flagship phones without offering more features; even being able to turn the Razr off to end a phone call doesn't justify the price increase. Some design flaws have been fixed in the Motorola Razr 2020 refinement released at the end of 2020, but even that doesn't beat the only other foldable foldable released this year, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. But the Razr was the first on the market and in our hearts. Also, taking a selfie with a folded phone the size of a mint box is great.
![Moto G Stylus]()
(Image credit: future)
Moto g stylus
Motorola has been releasing an admirable G-series budget phone for years, often four or more models at once that differ slightly in specs and price. But in 2020, the latest generation launched something new, or rather, something old, because the Moto G Stylus packs one of the oldest features in mobile computing. The LG Stylo series has carried the torch of the budget phone with a stylus for years, but the introduction of the Moto G Stylus makes it a trend. No longer limited to pricey Samsung Galaxy Note flagship phones, the G Stylus is a powerhouse with decent specs and a surprisingly responsive stylus given that it's unpowered. While that means it doesn't have the advanced connectivity features of Samsung's S Pen (like gesture control or a shutter button), it still has stylus functionality at a great price.
![LG Wing 5G]()
(Image credit: future)
LG Wing 5G
One of our favorite phones this year is the LG Wing 5G, which is also one of the weirdest. Remember the old Sidekick phones that twisted? This is the modern version, though instead of displaying a keyboard, the LG Wing's top screen rotates to reveal... another, smaller screen. It's actually pretty cool: in concept, you can watch something on the big screen while chatting or doing independent tasks on the small screen. Have you ever needed to do a simple search or find directions but didn't want to get out of the video or show you were watching? The LG Wing offers a more discreet space than traditional smartphones, and all with an addictive swivel motion. You'll get more screen area with an actual foldable, but in LG's latest fashion the wing is cheaper, similarly priced to the best flagships... but half the cost of 'a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 , For example. The run isn't without its issues, and it takes work to switch between apps on the big and small screen. But for the value and the 'wow' factor, the LG Wing 5G is a rare treasure that we didn't expect in 2020.
![Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2]()
(Image credit: future)
Samsung Galaxy ZFold 2
``But wait, didn't the original Galaxy Fold come out in 2019 and isn't it just an iteration? Yes, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 doesn't play around with the formula of its amazing predecessor, but there's one improvement to note: The external screen has been enlarged to go from edge to edge. The Z Fold 2 works like a full-fledged smartphone, then when unfolded it doubles as a small tablet. More importantly, this means that three quarters of the phone's surface area is a touch screen. It's pretty wild to pull off; It wouldn't take much more innovation to do the same for the glass back cover, extending touch functionality to every inch of the foldable surface. The Huawei Mate Xs and other foldable "exteriors" more or less already do this, as their single large external screen rolls from front to back when the device is folded in half. But if we can make both sides functional by touch, we could have some very strange and very responsive devices. Next, we'll have to figure out what to do with all that extra screen area we're not looking at but can still touch.
![ZTE Axon 20 5G]()
(Image credit: ZTE)
ZTE Axon 20 5G
We've seen several concept phones come up with a new solution to the notch and pinhole problem: Instead of placing the selfie camera in a screen cutout or pop-up section, simply tuck it under the screen. Of course, a special screen would be needed to allow the camera to shoot through the display, and the ZTE Axon 20 5G is the first we've gotten our hands on to pull it off. Haven't you heard of that? The ZTE Axon 20 5G was announced in China back in September and has just launched in the UK, but it's unclear when (or if) it will arrive in other countries. We can't wait to test the ability of the 32MP front camera to take photos under the screen; otherwise, it's designed to be a cheaper/upper-mid-range flagship phone with a Snapdragon 765G chipset, up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and a quad rear camera.
Oppo's strange folding ... and rollable
No list of weird phones would be complete without the devices we've seen (or heard about) not being released for years, if at all. Some of them are drastically different from conventional phones and perhaps too strange to appeal to consumers. Consider Oppo's concept designed in association with Japanese design studio Nendo: a foldable with a triple hinge. < p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today we are introducing two new design concepts produced in collaboration with the largest Japanese design studio, nendo. First, there's the "slider phone," which features a triple-hinge folding screen system. #OPPOxnendo pic.twitter.com/r6YNrc2EmPD December 14, 2020 It's not the only non-traditional weird phone being teased this year. Rumors of a TCL rollable phone have swirled throughout the year, most recently in an allegedly leaked video showing a working prototype of a phone with a screen that slides out to the sides. Oppo had also shown off a design for a rollable phone and may be closer to unveiling a usable device: the company showed off the Oppo X 2021 in late 2020, though the company clarified that it was a concept phone, and probably won't be. sold as is on the market. Still, it's promising, as Oppo showed off a functional design: a 6.7-inch OLED display to start with, but the phone's body slides to the sides to enlarge the screen to 7.4-inches. And while we haven't seen it, we've also heard of the LG Rollable, a rollable phone that, if leaked, could cost $2,359 (about $1,775, AU$3,130).