Rugged smartphone has a detachable display that turns into an earbud or a smartwatch

Smartphone designs have become a bit more uniform and standardized these days as manufacturers appeal to the growing sophisticated tastes of consumers. Once in a while, however, we do come across some designs that leave us scratching our heads, both in terms of ingenuity as well as oddity. They may not always make perfect sense, but they are definitely interesting enough to earn a second glance.

This rugged smartphone is a prime example of that, initially looking like nothing more than a very bulky device just like any other tank-like rugged phone. Its equally thick camera bump, however, hides a rather curious secret. That seemingly simple small display on its back actually pops out to become a single-ear Bluetooth earphone or, with the right strap, a smartwatch as well.

Designer: Oukitel

Despite their popularity, wireless earbuds are also a constant source of headaches because of how often we misplace or forget them. Sometimes we even forget to put them back into their charging case, comically leaving the buds at home while bringing the case with us. HMD Global solved that problem with the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio and its built-in wireless earbuds, but that “dumb phone” won’t meet the needs of smartphone users.

The Oukitel WP200 Pro 5G has a slightly different and more interesting solution. In the middle of its large and thick circular camera bump is a rectangular screen that you can pop out and put in one of your ears, just like how those old Bluetooth earbuds. Admittedly, it won’t take the place of a decent pair of stereo earphones, but when you need to take a brief call, it might be faster than fumbling around in your pocket or bag for your earbuds.

But wait, there’s more! If you pop the earbuds into a wristband, it becomes a smartwatch for hands-free tracking of activities and time. Again, it’s not going to beat a proper smartwatch in terms of functionality, but if you have minimal requirements for a wearable, this might actually be enough. Unless you need to have both a smartwatch and take a hands-free call, in which case you’ll have to choose one or the other mode and just switch back once you’re done.

Just like any other rugged smartphone, the Oukitel WP200 Pro 5G won’t win awards in terms of looks. It’s built like a tank and definitely looks like it. Thanks to advancements in mobile hardware, however, it can actually boast a pretty decent set of specs, like a MediaTek 8200 processor, 24GB of RAM, and even a 108MP camera. For a $699.99 price tag, however, it feels more like an expensive novelty than a reliable mobile device and you’ll probably get better value with a normal smartphone and proper accessories.

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