"A Very Boring Product That Only Makes Calls"... The Identity of the Foldable Phone Released by a Beer Company

"Helping People Connect While Drinking Beer"
Direct Purchase Not Allowed... Distributed via UK SNS Lottery

Global beer company Heineken is launching a limited edition retro-style flip phone called the 'Boring Phone'.

Global beer company Heineken and Finnish electronics company HMD have released the 'Boring Phone' in a limited edition of 5,000 units.
[Image source: Provided by HMD]

On the 16th (local time), IT media outlet The Verge and others reported that Heineken and Finnish electronics company HMD will unveil the 'Boring Phone', a collaborative creation, at Milan Design Week on the 18th. This flip phone features a translucent design and its main functions are limited to calls and text messaging. Notably, calls can only be made for up to 20 hours over the course of a week. It is equipped with a 2.8-inch QVGA display on the inside, a 1.77-inch display on the outside, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Unlike commonly used smartphones, it does not support internet functions. Users cannot access social networking services (SNS) or apps. The camera is also limited to a single 300,000-pixel camera, in contrast to the tens of millions to hundreds of millions of pixels found in recently released smartphone cameras. However, it can run the nostalgic game 'Snake', which was enjoyed on past HMD Nokia phones.

Heineken and HMD named the phone 'Boring' because it only includes such minimal features. A company representative explained, "We created this phone, which may seem boring, to take people back to a time before smartphones existed."

Global beer company Heineken and Finnish electronics company HMD have released the 'Boring Phone' in a limited edition of 5,000 units.
[Image source=Provided by Heineken]

Particularly, there has been interest in why Heineken, a beer company, decided to make a phone. Heineken CEO Nabil Nasr explained, "We wanted to enable people to truly connect while drinking beer without being disturbed by constant buzzing sounds and noise." The phone was created for young people who want to disconnect from modern technology.

In fact, a survey commissioned by Heineken found that among 4,000 millennials (people born between 1993 and 1998, the boundary between Millennials and Generation Z) across the UK and the US, 90% have the habit of scrolling on their phones while spending time with friends and family, and on average check their phones seven times every night. Despite these habits, one in five (22%) of the surveyed millennials said they turn off or put down their phones when with friends or family, and two in five (38%) said they would consider doing so. The phone’s design, decorated with a transparent case and holographic stickers, was also inspired by Generation Z, who prefer retro trends.

The Boring Phone will be produced as a limited edition of 5,000 units. However, consumers cannot purchase it directly; it will only be available through social media giveaways in the UK. It is expected to be released in other countries by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, HMD plans to launch an app in June that will "make smartphones boring".