Binatone (re)launches 'The Brick', India’s retro mobile!

Monday November 24, 2014 , 3 min Read

We are used to getting wacky press releases and there can be an entire site dedicated to them but when this release hit us, it hit us hard! Binatone is a 56 year old consumer electronics company that produces a wide range of products including Broadband and Networking devices, Home monitoring solutions, Telephones, Mobile phones, etc. Their latest product?

'The Brick', India’s retro mobile!

Massive mobile phone with epic standby time

'The Brick' is a 1980s-style mobile phone with epic standby time. How much you'd ask? The Brick boasts of up to 1 month of standby time, 14 hours of talk time and an integrated flashlight, all wrapped up in an extremely compact form.

Why is Binatone doing this? The answer is amusing. "Looking to inject a little 80s fun into everyone’s life"

Mr. S.P. Singh, Country Head, Binatone said,

We want to change the way people view their mobile phones by setting the bar even higher with the launch of a truly fashion-led mobile phone. In a world where mobile phones are getting smaller and smaller, we have set out to create a completely unique product which is bigger, bulkier and aimed at those who want to wear their phone as a style statement.

The Brick can be connected to a Smartphone via Bluetooth, to make and receive calls and text messages, or can be used as a basic phone on its own. It offers large speaker and a micro SD slot that allows users to load and play their favorite music. Other features include an FM radio and an LED flashlight. And for retro-gamers, The Brick features a classic mobile phone game, Snake. Here are the features the Brick boasts of:

2 in 1 mobile phone and Bluetooth Handset – Pair The Brick via Bluetooth to your Smartphone and it becomes your fashionable handset
Access smart phone contacts, music and call log via Bluetooth
Play music from speaker
Micro SD card slot for your music
Bluetooth compatible with iOS and Android phones
Up to 1 month of standby time
Power Bank: Charges smart phone via USB
Built-in flashlight & FM radio

The novelty of this phone makes it worthy of a post and to make sure it is more than a joke, we looked round a bit. The Brick is available at all major online retailers & retail stores. Price: Rs 3495/-. On SnapDeal, the phone is available for Rs 2708. There are a couple of reviews on SnapDeal dated October and November 2014 which tells us that the phone has been around from October.

We dug a bit more and found this website- MeetTheBrick- which is BinaTone's website dedicated to The Brick. Digital Spy had written about the phone last October and BinaTone seems to be relaunching the phone in various geographies. Nevertheless, if you've had enough with the smartphones or are looking for something unique just for the laugh, this phone for under Rs 3000 could be worth your money!

Here's one of the review videos: