9 Awesome Concept Phones We Wish Actually Existed

There is no greater phone than the one that doesn't exist. For as attached as people are to their iPhones and Androids (and some to their Windows Phones and BlackBerrys), there are just some hardware and software features—not to mention battery life—that phone makers have yet to master.

That's where the Internet steps in to do what it does best: offer a fantasy version of what people already have. Concept phones proliferate online, created by designers who come up with what manufacturers haven't yet imagined.

Paper phones get mentioned every few years. Some have been constructed of actual paper and work, like an origami-style handset from Chengyuan Wei. And then there are the e-ink-based concepts, including one from research teams at Canada's Queen's University and Arizona State University.

That's not to say that manufacturers don't get inspiration from concept phones. Phonebloks, a swappable-parts smartphone conceived by designer Dave Hakkens, caught the eye of Motorola and is now in the hands of Google's Advanced Technology and Projects group as Project Ara.

These phones may or may not (probably not) find their way into your pocket one day, but they are definitely interesting to look at. Check them out in the slideshow.

1. Microsoft Lumia Spinner Phone

This stainless-steel beauty is the luminescent Lumia that could be: the Microsoft Lumia Spinner Phone.

3. Modular Smartphone Concept

Modular phones have picked up steam in the last year thanks to Google's Project Ara, but we don't yet have a modular smartphone as sleek as this 2012 concept from Kamil Izrailov.

4. Hexagon Wavy 2

The curve-screened Hexagon Wavy 2 is a little ungainly but seems like it would be super functional. The Hexagon transforms from phone size to tablet size. And it's gamer-friendly, with a controller that can be swapped in for the keypad.

5. Fluid

Brazilian designer Dinard da Mata showed off this flexible smartphone/wearable combo in 2012. Before smartwatches and fitness gadgets cluttered the tech space, Dinard said he wanted "to design a intuitive wearable [that] takes the place of the watch and does not occupy the pockets."

6. iPhone Next G Concept

In 2010, Samuel Lee Kwon showed off this iPhone concept that used a wearable to project the iPhone interface into the palm of your hand. This was five years before the Apple Watch arrived, but perhaps a projector might be incorporated into the Apple Watch 2 or 3?

7. BlackBerry Wrapround Concept

With the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Note Edge, phone makers are just starting to experiment with using the edges of their devices. In 2012, John Anastasiadis suggested the technology be used on a BlackBerry in this intriguing concept. The Canadian phone maker isn't quite there yet, though.

8. BlackBerry Empathy

Meanwhile, you might feel only sympathy for BlackBerry but can you summon a bit of empathy? Maybe once you see the BlackBerry Empathy, a concept designed in 2010 when things were still good for the Waterloo, Canada, company. The phone that could have been is a weird but palm-friendly shape came out of a design competition the company hosted at an art school. A biometric feedback ring is meant to make it emotion-detecting. Color us sad.

9. Macintosh Phone

Apple first introduced the iPhone in 2007. But what if it had gotten into telecommunications way back in its banner year of 1984? Designer Pierre Cerveau imagined such a thing with the Macintosh Phone, an adorable rotary phone that resembles an old-school Mac.