18 Early Cell Phone Features That Were Useless

Here's a throwback to the odd and often pointless features found on early cell phones.

Chris Graciano
October 28, 2025
5 min read

18 Early Cell Phone Features That Were Useless — Nel Ranoko on Unsplash

The first generations of cell phones were groundbreaking, but many of their features now seem unnecessary or even laughable. Manufacturers packed devices with gimmicks to stand out, yet most of them offered little real value. Let’s take a look at 18 early cell phone features that didn’t stand the test of time.

1. 1. Antenna Pull-Outs

Once thought to boost signal strength, extendable antennas were all the rage in early mobile phones. In practice, they made little to no difference in reception quality. Most ended up bent, broken, or permanently stuck halfway out.

2. 2. Monophonic Ringtones

Before music tones existed, phones came with a handful of robotic beeps pretending to be melodies. They were harsh, tinny, and nearly indistinguishable from one another. Most users couldn’t wait for the day they could replace them with actual songs.

3. 3. Infrared Beaming

Infrared sharing was supposed to make swapping contacts easy — but only if you could line up your phones perfectly. Move even an inch, and the connection failed. Bluetooth quickly rendered this awkward dance obsolete.

4. 4. Predictive Text (T9)

Typing on number pads was slow, so T9 promised to make it faster by predicting words. Unfortunately, it would often guess wrong, turning normal messages into nonsense. What should’ve saved time usually caused more frustration.

5. 5. WAP Browsers

These early mobile browsers were a clunky introduction to the internet on the go. Pages loaded at a snail’s pace, and most sites were stripped to plain text most of the time. It was an impressive idea, just about a decade too soon.

6. 6. Built-in Flashlights

Long before smartphones had bright LED flashlights, early phones featured dim bulbs that barely lit up a keyhole. They drained the battery fast and offered little real help. Most people still carried actual flashlights for emergencies.

7. 7. Polyphonic Ringtones

When polyphonic tones came into the scene, they felt like a game-changer; that is until you heard them. The “realistic” instrument sounds were still cheap and buzzy. Once MP3 tones came along, no one looked back.

8. 8. Voice Dialing

You just say the name of a contact, and your phone would dial it; at least, that was the dream. In reality, it would often call the wrong person or fail to understand basic speech. It was easier to just scroll and press call manually.

9. 9. Custom Phone Skins

Swappable covers were a fashion statement for early mobile users. You could snap on bright colors or designs, but they scratched easily and looked outdated fast. Sleek, all-in-one designs eventually made them irrelevant.

10. 10. VGA Cameras

The first mobile cameras were barely good enough for proof-of-concept photos. Images were grainy, blurry, pixelated, and unrecognizable most of the time. Sharing blurry selfies became more of a joke than a trend.

11. 11. Downloadable Logos

Some phones offered downloadable carrier logos for a small fee; tiny black-and-white images that served no purpose. They were overpriced, pixelated, and quickly forgotten. It was customization at its most pointless.

12. 12. Push-to-Talk

Billed as a walkie-talkie replacement, Push-to-Talk let users talk instantly with their contacts. The idea was neat. Unfortunately, lag, poor audio, and network limits ruined this feature. Businesses stuck with real radios instead.

13. 13. Built-in Games

Besides “Snake,” most early phone games were clunky and repetitive. Blocky graphics and minimal controls made them feel like afterthoughts. Compared to the Game Boy or the PSP, they didn’t stand a chance, as more people preferred the latter.

14. 14. Flip Phone “Selfie” Mirrors

Donald Trung Quoc Don on Wikimedia Commons

Tiny mirrors next to cameras were supposed to help users when they’re taking selfies. Unfortunately, the cameras during this time were so low-quality that the pictures still looked awful. They were more novelty than necessity.

15. 15. Ringtone Composers

These tools let users “compose” their own tones by typing numbers on the phone’s keypad. The results sounded more like beeps from a microwave than actual music. Most people often gave up after a few attempts.

16. 16. Predictive Calendar Alerts

Some phones tried to remind you of birthdays or holidays automatically. Sadly, the reminders were often wrong or off by a few days. Paper calendars were still the more reliable option during this time, until smartphones arrived.

Before touchscreens improved, some phones relied on tiny plastic styluses. They were so tiny, which made them easy to misplace and frustratingly inaccurate. When finger-based navigation came along, nobody missed them.

18. 18. Mobile TV

A few early phones featured antennas that promised live television wherever you would go. Unfortunately, the screens were minuscule, reception was terrible, and channels were limited. It was a fun idea that flopped fast.

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