Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

It's 2015, and Samsung is actually making a new flip phone

Surprisingly, it actually looks pretty impressive

Doug Bolton
Tuesday 17 November 2015 15:53 GMT
Comments
The SM-W2016 boasts two 3.9-inch screens, one on either side of the opening top half
The SM-W2016 boasts two 3.9-inch screens, one on either side of the opening top half (SamMobile)

With the rise of increasingly large smartphones, flip phones have unfortunately gone out of style.

There's nothing more satisfying than hanging up on someone by aggressively snapping your phone shut, and those versions with a mini-screen on the front predated Galaxy S6 Edge-style 'peek' technology by years.

Fortunately, you'll soon be able to experience all this once again, because Samsung is making a fliphone. Yes, seriously.

Early images and specs of the phone, which is being named the SM-W2016, have been uncovered by the industry insiders at SamMobile. It's a smartphone at heart, but packaged in a much more retro design.

It's even got a physical keyboard! (SamMobile)

The Android phone has two screens (one either side of the opening top half), an octa-core 64-bit processor with 3GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

The phone might look like it's straight out of 2004, but it actually rivals many leading smartphones in terms of hardware.

With a glass and metal design reminiscent of the Galaxy S6, it could prove pretty popular.

It's actually quite difficult to buy a phone these days that isn't a buttonless smartphone - leaving people who prefer a physical keyboard (they still exist, as the Blackberry Priv shows) without many options.

The market for this phone might be fairly niche, but if it satisfies users' nostalgia and actually works it could be a success.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in