You won't have heard of Oukitel, but this unknown brand had me remembering - and longing for - the times when phones were fun.
IFA Berlin This story is part of our coverage of IFA Berlin 2025 Updated less than 1 minute ago You won’t have heard of Oukitel , but this unknown brand had me remembering – and longing for – the times when phones were fun.
The major tech shows tend to be dominated by the big players, the household names, the usual suspects. But walk the halls long enough and there’s always a surprise or two waiting to be found. Recommended Videos I stumbled on one such surprise at IFA 2025, a smartphone with swappable “modules”. This isn’t just a phone, it’s also a fitness wearable, Bluetooth earpiece and high-powered flash light. I’ve reviewed a lot of phones in my career, dating back to 2012, and there are few I’ve held which are like the Oukitel WP200. It’s doing something weird Look, this isn’t your run of the mill phone, and it won’t be troubling any handsets on our best phones list, but it’s doing something very few are these days. It’s doing something weird. For in the middle of the sizable camera bump on back of the phone is a cavity, waiting for a module to be inserted. The first one I’m shown is basic – it’s a high powered flashlight. Much larger and brighter than the LED flash on your smartphone. Interest it into the space, flip the phone over and open the associated app and you can control the dazzling shine. Related: Forget Pro Max iPhones and Ultra Samsungs, the best phone I’ve used in years is the humble Pixel 9 If you find yourself in a remote area at night, a light this bright will certainly come in useful. The WP200 is a rugged smartphone with a huge 8,800mAh battery, so the flashlight compliments the offering nicely.It’s essentially a wearable fitness tracker which comes with its own band, so you can wear it like any Fitbit or Apple Watch. Pop the module out of the strap, and you can slide it into the phone to recharge. But there’s another party piece here. On the rear of this fitness tracker is an earbud, because this module can also act as a Bluetooth headset, for hands free calls. Sure it feels a little bit retro in 2025, and I saw Huawei produce a similar fitness tracker with ear piece years ago in the Talkband B2. And we’ve seen wireless earbuds built directly into a Huawei watch and Nokia phone more recently. But none go quite as far as the WP200. Where’s the fun? Smartphones these days are all the same. We as humanity seem to have perfected the black rectangular slab. What these devices can do is immensely impressive, but go back 15 years and phone design was a whole lot more fun. While the Oukitel will be immensely impractical for most – it’s extremely heavy, almost insultingly thick at 13.7mm, and the cameras can’t keep pace with today’s flagship – it certainly has the fun factor. I felt an emotional draw to the phone, something I’ve not felt in many years. Perhaps the last phone to come close was the ill-fated LG Wing. Utterly bonkers, sorta pointless, but oh my gosh – so. much. fun. But the black rectangular slab is the best form factor for our needs. That’s a fact. It’s boring, but it works a hell of a lot better than some of the outlandish designs of the past. Still, there’s always room for a black sheep or two. So thank you Oukitel, you brought back fond memories.
IFA IFA 2025 Oukitel Oukitel WP200 Smartphones WP200
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