You can complain all you want that smartphones are becoming increasingly boring, or you can take matters into your own hands and work with what you have. Despite the general stagnation in design and the prevalence of dull plastic-glass-titanium rectangles, it is possible to find unusual options for almost any budget.
We searched for original yet relevant models and selected the most attractive and unusual ones.
Nothing Phone
Perhaps in 2025, this is the most obvious choice when it comes to smartphones with non-standard designs. The Nothing brand was launched by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei with the aim of moving away from established traditions with a bunch of lines and giving users simply adequate phones without dividing them into flagships and non-flagships, dozens of cameras and titanium bodies. They decided to surprise and stand out with their design and shell.
An interesting website about beautiful games – Reddogcasino.com
The back cover of the smartphone is transparent, and in addition to the gadget’s internals, it reveals strips of LEDs, which the manufacturer calls glyphs. These glyphs harmoniously complement notifications: depending on which fragment and pattern is lit up, you can understand which app has sent you a push notification and whether you need to pick up your phone and respond. If you place the smartphone face down on a table, it will mute itself and communicate with the user using glyphs.
CMF Phone
CMF is a more affordable sub-brand of Nothing, which decided not to use glyphs. Here, the designers took a different approach: the back cover is no longer futuristic and informative, but rather what the user needs. With a screwdriver and the right accessories, it can be replaced in a couple of minutes. This option is useful not only for quickly repairing a damaged cover yourself, because the manufacturer offers more than just colourful panels.
HMD Fusion
The spiritual successor to the CMF Phone from HMD (the Chinese company that bought Nokia and was responsible for reviving the brand, and then decided to release its own smartphones ). It is also based on modularity, and they also offer experimentation with the back panel.
RedMagic 9S Pro
RedMagic is a gaming sub-brand of ZTE. It’s nice to see that the brand’s designers have been moving away from the traditional attempt to slap on RGB lighting, make the ugliest camera possible, and try to sell it to gamers (yes, this is a dig at the Asus ROG Phone).
The top-of-the-line 9S Pro stands out with its completely flat design: even the cameras and side buttons do not protrude beyond the edges of the rectangle. The screen is almost bezel-less, with no cutouts for the selfie camera: it is hidden under the display. This is already the fifth generation of under-screen cameras, and the quality is as close as possible to that of conventional modules.
ZTE Nubia Z60 Ultra
Essentially, this is a version of the previous smartphone without the gaming features. But the design cannot be called strictly minimalist or classic: just look at those cameras! The design resembles a VHS cassette. The smartphone was even released in a special edition in the style of Van Gogh’s Starry Night — though only in China, as this colour scheme did not make it into the global version.
