Designer phones: style or substance?

With striking form factors and eye-catching looks, mobile phones have never been as stylish as they are right now, and nowhere is this more evident than in the range of brilliant designer phones now available.

Thanks to collaborations between the likes of Dolce & Gabanna, Prada, Chanel and some of the biggest phone makers around, designer mobiles are a perfect marriage of form and function.

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What to expect from a designer phone

With the best designer phones, the hand of a fashion house extends far beyond merely contributing to the exterior of the handset and some cosmetic branding. These days designer phones will also feature specially created, exclusive content, such as music, videos and ringtones, and because they are often made in very limited runs, they're even more desirable.

On top of that, if you choose a designer phone you’ll get everything that a modern smartphone offers, including great built-in cameras, media players, super fast mobile internet browsing, touchscreens, apps and much, much more.

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Designer phone accessories

Accessories included with designer phones include everything from luxurious leather cases to cute charms. There’s also a host of extra add-ons sold separately, such as the D&G Bluetooth headsets, which are the last word in bling.

High end designer phones

At the very top of designer phone market are some very limited edition handsets targeted mostly at the super rich. Among these is the Goldvish Le Million. Embossed in gold and festooned with 120 diamonds, it’s perhaps not surprising that it had a price tag of £1 million.

Almost as wallet-busting are specially crafted models of Apple’s iPhones. Stuart Hughes’ Diamond edition of the iPhone 4 was a snip at £13,000 and was home to a solid platinum Apple logo, a case fashioned from Ostrich feet and 6.5 carats of VVS colour F diamonds.

For the regular user a designer phone need not be an impossible dream. Models from the likes of LG, Samsung and Motorola are in fact very reasonably priced and are even available for free on select monthly contract options.

Concept phones

The term ‘concept phones’ refers to handsets that showcase cutting-edge designs but which may not be intended to ever come to market. Rather, they are usually developed by mobile makers as a means of garnering press for their company.

Often these are the result of competitions in which designers submit their ideas and treatments for a handset to a manufacturer. The prize is typically a prototype version of the phone. However, occasionally the very best of these do become a reality for the market, giving the masses the chance to get their hands on them.

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