GEM: The Slim Phone with Broad Potential

Smartphones these days often share a universal design. They are broad, rectangular, with a massive screen at the front, as well as an assortment of cameras at the back. Some companies try to change the pattern little by little; adding curves here, cutting out edges there. But for the most part, smartphones look pretty much the same. They also receive upgrades similar to their competition.

A GEM in the Rough

A new phone design revealed earlier this month may break the status quo. Here, the phone prototype had a very slim design – similar to a Wii remote, or a very tall iPod. The prototype’s name is GEM and may soon be in stores as early as next year.

Through a series of tweets, Essential Products CEO Andy Rubin revealed the concept. It is a very slim smartphone with a vertically long screen at the front. At the back, we have a singular camera and fingerprint scanner. Basically, it looks like a smartphone vertically sawn in half. Basing on this concept alone, the GEM phone has a few positives and negatives.

Pros of the Design:

  • Slimmer figure makes it easier to hold, store, and use
  • Extremely portable; perfect as a traveling phone
  • Excellent purchase for those with smaller hands
  • Slimmer design gives you a better grip when holding
  • Minimalistic design

Cons of the Design:

  • Half the width of an average smartphone means half the screen size
  • A vertically long screen looks too narrow to actually do anything with it
  • Reading would be a pain to do in this device

What do you think of this new smartphone design? Is it such a ridiculous change in design? Will it catch on, or will it be a bust? On the other hand, is it just a case of being ‘too ahead for its time’?

16 thoughts on “GEM: The Slim Phone with Broad Potential”

  1. For a suppose to be smart phone I am surprised that it is not filled with so many interface unlike other brands. At least judging from this description. I like it though as long as I can call or text it is enough. Make the screen bigger I guess but everything else looks good.

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  2. Nice phone you’ve got there. The phone is similar to wii remote? What’s wii in the first place, can you enlighten me?

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  3. Sure most smartphones look pretty much the same, just that each companies are trying to make differences no matter how small. I personally love slim phone, looks good in my pocket.

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  4. I have quite poor eyesight and I just need to read things better on my smartphone than squinting at the screen trying to make sense of what I’m reading. I’m afraid this phone isn’t meant for me, even if the price is tempting to get me to buy one.

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  5. To be slim is to be loved. I love anything slim and smart to hand and beautifying the hand. The features are pretty good enough to purchase. Thanks for this new brand.

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  6. They sure must have sacrificed a lot of features to come up with such a slim phone. I hope the sacrifice was worth it. We can only wait and see.

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  7. This seems rather counter productive. The whole point of a phone is to be able to use it. Making it this way kind of renders it useless and more of a novelty device or a conversation piece.

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  8. This will be a phone loved by a lot of people because of it’s being very portable and can be travelled with to anywhere. Perfect phone for the mobile upward generation.

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  9. Too early to tell, but I like the slim design. As long as it doesn’t suffer from lag time and is high speed, I’m sure I can tolerate the narrow size. Thanks for sharing.

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