The worst android phones

The top 11 worst Android smartphones ever created

The versatility of the Android definitely has its downsides: between design miracles, hardware monsters, and software breakthroughs there have been a ton of complete losers in all aspects of a smartphone. In fact, some of these should have no right to even exist when we look at them a bit closer. In this article, we highlight the lows of the Android world and present to you our top 11 list of the worst Android smartphones ever to grace the market.

Note: taste and personal preference does come into play a bit in this list, but in most cases the verdict is quite clear: the candidates are either ugly, useless, or just downright bizarre.

Samsung Galaxy Ace

If you’re a masochist, the Galaxy Ace might be right up your alley. The middle-class smartphone from Samsung had no redeeming qualities about it: a small display with a bad resolution, a miserably camera, constant crashing, and just an all-around weird design. The Ace is one of the best examples that not everything Samsung touches turns to gold as this phone was a giant turd.

Samsung Galaxy Fit

Yet another example coming from Samsung? Here we go. It should also be noted that the Galaxy Fit was actually released in 2013. With Android 2.3 on board and a the display coming in at a measly 240×320, it couldn’t even break out in the beginner market. The name Fit was also a horrible play on words, or just a bad joke from Samsung: the smartphone itself was about as fit as a pensioner in a wheelchair and as useful as a rotary phone.

Galaxy Fit (left) and Galaxy Ace (right). Samsung didn’t hit the mark with either phone. / © Samsung

HTC Wildfire

The best way to stop people from trying to use your smartphone, just give them your Wildfire. They will despair and swear off smartphones for the rest of their days. The device is indeed a smartphone though, but everything that makes Android a pleasure to use is turned into pure torture with this device. Anyone who has ever attempted to determine their location via GPS or browse the browser on their Wildfire knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Smartphone or torture device? The HTC Wildfire. / © HTC

Sony Xperia Play

Did you want a smartphone? How about if we told you your smartphone could be a controller too? Taking notes from the Nokia NGAGE, Sony aimed for the gamer community with this one and missed the mark. A good idea that crashed and burned due to faulty controls, lack of processing power, and a small selection of games. Also, the voice quality was absolutely abysmal. At least the Xperia Play put a demise (for now) into the smartphone-controller hybrid.

An unsuccesful mixture of controller and smartphone, the Xperia Play. / © Sony

LG Optimus L3 II

Launched in the summer of 2013, the Optimus L3 II looks like it was pulled from the early days of smartphones. You might think it was a joke, but this thing was the real deal. With a display resolution that reminded you of playing with your first Game Boy back in the 1990s, the chassis of the phone was equally as thick and the hardware was on the same level. Even for the low, low price of $150 dollars, I don’t think you’d wish this smartphone on your worst enemy.

LG Optimus Vu

Once again, LG makes the list. This device cannot be taken seriously if only for it’s absolutely weird dimensions. LG tried to break the normal aspect ratios with this device and tried to bring a 4:3 device to the market. The result? A strange looking device that just doesn’t feel or look right.

Small or large, these two LG smartphones didn’t make the cut. Optimus L3 II (left) and Optimus Vu (right). / © LG

Panasonic Eluga

Did you know that Panasonic tried to make a smartphone? Yeah, that was a fun time. The Eluga was a pretty desperate attempt by Panasonic to gain a foothold in the ever-growing smartphone market. The idea itself was good, the design was appealing, and it was one of the first waterproof smartphones that actually looked okay. In practice, however, the Eluga had poor hardware, a lousy camera, and an absolutely horrible battery. Plus, had you heard of it before now? As such, Panasonic retreated from the market and have yet to return.

A good idea followed by a bad implementation: Panasonic Eluga. / © Panasonic

HTC ChaCha / HTC First

The idea of a Facebook phone had been looming for some time and despite high hopes, there was never anything good that came out of the idea. The HTC ChaCha was probably the first to attempt the idea in practice and spawned a sad Blackberry wanna-be phone that failed terrifically. Then, in 2013, came the HTC First and despite initial sales being mediocre, it crashed and burned shortly afterwards. While the Facebook integration was seen as a step forward, it was in reality holding users back and the market quickly realized that: Facebook Home and Facebook phones have quietly gone back into hiding.

Both Facebook phones, both flops by HTC. / © HTC

Motorola Flipout

A smartphone with a flip out physical keyboard was a nice idea, but not really practical. The Flipout offered a square (?!) smartphone with a low-resolution display and “twist up” keypad. Sure, it looked intriguing, but poor hardware combined with a lousy camera, a battery that could barely hold its own, and horrendous display made it so the Flipout flipped-flopped out of existence.

Square and impractical: the Motorola Flipout. / © Motorola

HTC Evo 3D / LG Optimus 3D

Smartphones with 3D displays and 3D cameras were, for a period of time, the next big thing. However, they disappeared just about as quickly as they arrived on the scene. And so, the only two devices which managed to make it to the light of day were the HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D. Sure, they both had well intentions when it comes to creating the smartphone but the implementation was lackluster and the “great” 3D effects were, well, underwhelming. In the end, hey were gimmicky smartphones that didn’t produce what they promised.

3D Smartphones came and went with these flops from HTC and LG. / © HTC / LG

Samsung Galaxy S Beam

You have to give it to Samsung. They’ve had to test out the waters with some absolutely failures before they gave rise to their extremely popular devices. Along the way, the smartphone/projector Galaxy S Beam made its appearance. This smartphone tried to incorporate two completely different products into one and it went about as well as you could imagine. The Galaxy S Beam was far too expensive for the average hardware it was sporting and the projector was nothing more than an interesting gimmick, not practical for anything else.

Sure, it was an interesting idea, but that was about it. © Samsung

Are there other smartphones that you think should grace this list? What is your own personal nightmare when it comes to smartphones?

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The Worst Android Phones Ever Made

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Android is the world’s most popular operating system, and the company has provided some much-needed competition against the might of Apple’s iOS. We constantly see Androids topping the list of must-have phones, and there are plenty of articles that talk about the best Android phones ever made. However, Androids do have a dark side. Not all Android phones are created equal, and there have been a fair few clunkers released in the past. So we’re memorializing some of the worst Androids ever made. Brace yourself, because there’s some serious nightmare material for Android lovers coming…

What Makes These the Worst Androids?

There are thousands of Android models around, so just what makes these the worst Androids around? In the spirit of fairness, we automatically discounted the scores of low-end copies of big-name phones that can be found online. In fact, we concentrated only on phones from big name brands.

And we have to add, that not everyone may feel the same way as we do. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, after all, so there may be a phone on this list that you thought was amazing. This is just our opinion, after all…

The Samsung Continuum

Samsung is one of the biggest names on the mobile market, and for good reason, their Galaxy S and Note series are both top sellers. However, the Samsung Continuum was less of a hit. A lot less of a hit. There was tons of hype around the release of the Continuum, with customers expecting a fantastic Samsung stock Android phone, with rumour having it that the Continuum was going to be not only highly functional but highly affordable as well. Unfortunately, release day laid to rest to all that excitement…

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Just take a look at the picture above. Looks and style are a huge part of the draw of a great mobile phone, and the Continuum just didn’t meet expectations. The shape is bizarre, and the whole thing looks clunky. In simple terms, the Continuum is ugly.

Add in the fact that the screen size is too small, far smaller than competing products, and you’re onto a real loser. Plus, the dimensions were all wrong, with the tall vertical screen putting off customers who were used to a broader display that made reading content easier. The Continuum was a huge flop, one of Samsung’s few losers.

The HTC Evo 3D

Don’t let the fancy name fool you, there’s nothing either “evolutionary” or “3D” about this phone. Before its release, the HTC Evo 3D was branded as cutting edge technology, stirring up a wave of excitement amongst consumers. Unfortunately, part of the reason that this device flopped so badly was simply that it was so hyped. Whilst there’s nothing terribly wrong with the phone, it just wasn’t the cutting edge tech that people were expecting.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

The primary reason that this is on our list is that it’s simply not what it claims to be. Consumers assumed that they were getting a 3D phone when the quality of the tech involved was so bad that 3D imaging just didn’t happen (leading many to believe they need special 3D glasses).

There were spec problems too. The Evo 3D featured such poor battery life that it could barely make it through the morning, let alone an entire day. And a dual-core Snapdragon processor just wasn’t powerful enough to keep the phone speedy. All in all, the Evo 3D was a huge failure and one that most people seriously regretted buying.

The Motorola DROID Bionic

When it comes to the worst that Android has to offer, the DROID Bionic is really in a class of its own. The device was doomed from the very beginning. A joint effort by Motorola and US network operator Verizon, the DROID Bionic had its release delayed multiple times. And when that release eventually happened, the phone flopped big time.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Ugh, there are so many flaws here that we really can’t list all of them, and it’s tough to know where to start. Let’s begin with design. We suspect that someone at Motorola lost their job over this. The clunky, old fashioned design and colour scheme, not to mention the plasticky casing, was not a hit with customers at all. And though screen size was pretty good for the time, display quality and resolution were extremely poor.

On top of that, the DROID had some incredibly unreliable software. Bugs happen, but the DROID had some kind of infestation, with crashes, lagging, and random freezing being par for the course for the DROID owner.

Customers weren’t the only ones that gave up on the DROID. Motorola and Verizon also seemed to wash their hands of it, with little to no marketing efforts thrown at it, and no software updates released after the initial launch. All in all, this is probably a phone best forgotten by everyone…

The Samsung Behold II

The Samsung Behold II was almost as ridiculous as its name. Designed as a sequel to the original Samsung Galaxy, the Behold came nowhere close to the popularity of its little brother (who obviously went on to achieve great things). Don’t let the fact that this is another Samsung bother you, the giant has released tons of models, so statistically, have had more failures than most.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Um, take a look at it. Seriously, that design was never going to make headlines. The button placement is bizarre, and the overall look is just… odd. Plus, the user interface was clunky too. In order to open anything you had to navigate using those weird buttons, there were no shortcuts, and users were just confused by the entire idea.

And the specs here weren’t up to much either, with little power, small screen size, and bad resolution. From the moment the Behold II hit shelves it was obvious to pretty much everyone that Samsung weren’t going to succeed, and needless to say, they truly didn’t. At least not with this model.

The LG Double Play

To be fair, this isn’t the worst phone on this list, but it’s a clear case of a great concept that was poorly executed. Relative to other phones we’re discussing, the LG Double Play actually didn’t do too badly when it came to sales, but whilst that double screen idea was cool, the phone did have some pretty serious flaws.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Simply put, the Double Play was just too complicated. Splitting that QWERTY keypad in two might have allowed for an extra screen, but it made typing difficult and tough to get used to. The little touchpad looking thing wasn’t a touchpad either, it was actually a physical keypad, adding further to the confusion.

Though the Double Play looked awesome and did make a fair few sales, it was just too confusing for most customers. When a phone doesn’t perform basic functions, like texting, properly, then it’s never going to be a hit. And the Double Play definitely didn’t get the love that those two screens should have indicated.

The HTC Thunderbolt

The HTC Thunderbolt is another case of expectation just not being met. There was tons of hype pre-release, and this was HTC’s first 4G LTE phone. Customer anticipation was off the charts. Unfortunately, HTC just didn’t deliver. Other than that 4G capability, the Thunderbolt offered nothing new, it was simply a regular HTC phone with 4G added to it, which seriously disappointed consumers.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Other than simply not meeting sky-high expectations, the major flaw in the Thunderbolt was battery life. The battery lasted a mere three to four hours, a spec so bad that HTC eventually formally apologized for it. Other than that, basic specs were actually not bad. The design was nice, the screen specs were good, the camera was great for its time. But the Thunderbolt just didn’t do what everyone expected it to, meaning it lingered on shelves before eventually being withdrawn from sale.

The Motorola CLIQ

The Motorola CLIQ isn’t a particularly well-known device, and there’s a good reason for that. The CLIQ was Motorola’s first attempt at making an Android phone, something that should mean a historical first hit. However, the CLIQ was just… bad. There’s no other word for it.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Again, design played a big part here. The separate physical keyboard was difficult to use, and the overall shape of the phone was unattractive, meaning buyers were put off by their first impression. But the CLIQ’s flaws weren’t only in its looks.

The software on the CLIQ was terrible. The custom overlay that Motorola put over stock Android, known as MotoBLUR, was difficult to use, and the phone was slow, unintuitive, and consistently crashed. The CLIQ did get great battery life, but that was really its only saving grace. Bad specs, bad user experience, and bad looks, all combined to make a huge flop of a phone.

The Motorola FLIPOUT/BACKFLIP

Yes, we’re going after Motorola again. The manufacturer did have a fair few misses, particularly in the early 2000s. Just a peek at the photo of the FLIPOUT should tell you that this phone was never going to be a hit. By 2010, Motorola were desperately seeking ways to innovate, and one of the products of this was the FLIPOUT (as well as its brother, the BACKFLIP which was the same phone but in reverse). The FLIPOUT was not a success. Obviously.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

You can probably tell just by looking that using either the BACKFLIP or the FLIPOUT was a bit of a nightmare. The BACKFLIP had its keyboard on the back, meaning you had to turn it over to type. And the FLIPOUT had its keyboard flip out to the side of the screen, making it equally tough to use. The poor user experience of both phones really sealed their doom. Add in that strange square design, and nobody wanted either of these devices.

The design of both the FLIPOUT and BACKFLIP was certainly innovative. Unfortunately, it was also ill-conceived, and both phones were complete failures.

The Garmin-Asus Garminfone

Asus are a big player in the computer market, and their current smartphones are pretty good. But their cooperation with GPS maker Garmin to make the unfortunately named Garminfone was not a high point in the history of either company. In fact, this is a model that did so badly that most Android users have never even heard of it.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

This phone was designed to be both a mobile phone and an in-car GPS, and it did neither job particularly well. The design was awful, with the phone looking big and old-fashioned even for its time. The screen didn’t function as a traditional smartphone screen did, and the GPS functionality just put a strain on the processors, meaning the phone was slow and liable to freeze. The heavily customized software was tough to use, and most customers just gave up on it.

A two in one device might have sounded cool, but in the end, the Garminfone simply wasn’t up to either job, meaning it was soon relegated to the trash…

The Kyocera Echo

The Kyocera Echo was made by US mobile operator Sprint, and there was tons of hype around it even before it released. The device looked great, and that double screen was a real selling point. Unfortunately, the Echo really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, something that consumers learned pretty quickly…

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

The real problem here were those dual screens. They might look cool, but they made the phone bulky and heavy, and they had a huge impact on battery life. The interface wasn’t easy to use either, with consumers having to choose between having both screens operate together as one big screen, or using one of the screens as a keyboard. Add in some unstable software that was prone to crashing and freezing, and suddenly the Echo really doesn’t look that cool at all.

Some experts call the Kyocera Echo the worst Android phone ever created. And that’s a shame because, in all honesty, it does look pretty awesome (or it did for its time). But that lack of good functionality meant that the Echo just didn’t sell.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7

You might be surprised to see a Galaxy Note device on this list, and you’d be (mostly) right. The Note 7 isn’t like most other phones here. It was top of the line, it had high-end specs, it was definitely pricey, and all in all, was a true flagship phone. Not the kind of phone you’d think of as a failure. But the Note 7 had one fatal flaw.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

Yes, you read that right. Though the Note 7 was in all other respects an excellent device, it did have a disturbing tendency to explode and catch fire. Not really what most people look for in a phone. In fact, after profuse apologies from Samsung, the model was eventually withdrawn after problems with the battery (that were causing some devices to catch fire) just couldn’t be solved properly. Definitely a bad phone, in our opinion…

The Amazon Fire Phone

Some might think that this phone doesn’t deserve to be on the list, as it’s not a true Android. However, the Fire phone did run a version of Android, it was just a version that Amazon changed up enough that it was no longer familiar to most of us. After huge success in the tablet market, Amazon decided that phones were the logical next step, and their solution was the Amazon Fire Phone, a device which was on sale for only around a year before Amazon gave up on mobiles.

Reasons this is a terrible Android:

There are a ton of reasons here. Firstly, specs on the Fire Phone weren’t as good as those on competing products. Battery life was particularly bad, and build quality was simply awful. The phone was slow and prone to crashing.

But the main thing that turned most customers off was the fact that despite technically being an Android phone, there was no access to any Google Apps, thanks to Amazon’s proprietary software. A phone with bad specs that can’t even get Gmail? Nope, nobody wants that, and as time told, nobody did want it. Amazon have never released another phone…

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