The first flip phone to be released in Japan was the au EZZ one from KDDI, which went on sale in March 2004. The next year saw a couple of other models being launched from NTT DoCoMo as well as KDDI. In 2006, Motorola’s Razr V3 was released. It became immensely popular, both in Japan and abroad.
Now it looks like flip phones are coming back big time, but this time, they’re not made by Japanese manufacturers, who’ve pretty much given up on the category. Instead, it’s foreign companies that are leading the charge with brands such as Flipout, Double-T, and Vodafone Smart. Motorola has also released the Flipout in Japan, and so have other companies such as Sharp and Kyocera. Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Folder is likely to give flip phones a further boost in Japan.
The benefits of having a physical keypad on your smartphone don’t end there though; they are numerous.
1) Durability
Glass-covered smartphones such as the iPhone, Galaxy S and Xperia arc/s are extremely susceptible to scratches. The screens on most models (iPhones excluded) and all recent Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones can be easily scratched if you put them in your pocket together with your keys or coins, for example. If you’re not careful when taking out your phone, the glass can also crack if it comes into direct contact with surfaces such as concrete floors.
There’s no denying that smartphones are exquisitely designed and many people want to show their phones off proudly, but this makes it even more important to protect them from scratches and cracks. I’m not sure how many iPhones have been ruined by scratches and cracks, but the number must be massive.
Flip phones don’t have any such issues since they’re usually covered with hard plastic or metal, which doesn’t scratch easily. Even if your phone accidentally slips out of your hand and hits a hard surface, chances are that nothing on the screen will break (e.g. Xperia X1, E66 ). The only downside is that flip phones are slightly thicker than smartphones, so they do tend to break your jeans pockets more easily.
2) Non-glass screen
Just like you wouldn’t want a window next to your bed or sofa where mosquitoes can enter and leave at their leisure, you don’t want a glass screen next to your face when you’re using your phone. Sure, it’s nice and big, but the risk of scratching isn’t worth it.
All touchscreens scratch much more easily than regular non-glass screens such as those found on flip phones and regular feature phones (e.g. Sony Ericsson R600 , Panasonic X700 ). While you do have to be careful with your smartphone, it’s not as easy to scratch or break its screen compared to a flip phone.
3) Better battery life
Some smartphones can’t even make it through a day of normal usage, let alone an entire weekend without dying. This includes the iPhone 4 and 4S, HTC Desire S and Sony Ericsson Xperia arc/s (Xperia ray excluded). It’s such a pain having to bring your charger everywhere you go.
If you run out of battery between charges, you can easily replace the battery in most flip phones. Some models even let you replace the battery with a spare one when you’re on the road (e.g. Motorola RAZR ).
4) Cheaper
There are some smartphones out there that cost more than $1,500 (e.g. iPhone 5 ), which is insane . While you can get a great phone for under $200 these days, the same does not apply to smartphones.
Due to their sophisticated hardware and glass screens that have to be replaced whenever they break, most high-end smartphones are more expensive than regular flip phones. Even low-end touchscreen smartphones usually cost less than $300 unlocked without a contract (e.g. Motorola EX115 ).
5) Better reception
To get the best reception, you need to use a phone with an external antenna (e.g. Motorola V3 RAZR). Most smartphones (such as the iPhone and HTC Desire Z ) nowadays have their antenna inside, which means that your 3G signal can be affected by your hand or any nearby objects.
When you have a smartphone, unless the phone’s antenna is on the outside somewhere, high-quality reception is almost impossible to get. The inside of smartphones are crammed with components (e.g. cameras) that interfere with signal strength and drain battery life at the same time (ever wonder why your phone doesn’t last as long as it used to?).
6) Physical keyboard
Physical keyboards might be a thing of the past, but they still have their uses. They offer better precision when you type, and you don’t have to worry about fat-finger typos either. When you’re wearing gloves, it can be difficult to type or dial a number with a virtual keyboard.
Most smartphones don’t have an easy way to add a physical keyboard anymore, but you can still get phones that come bundled with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard such as the Motorola Milestone 2 and LG Optimus Black.
