What is a Swivel Cell Phone?

A swivel cell phone is a device that functions as a cell phone, but may also have other features, such as a camera and even a full keyboard, available through a swivel feature. They are one of the newest kinds of cell phones on the market, being the next generation after flip phones and slide phones. In some ways, swivel cell phones are different in that their swivel feature usually has nothing to do with the call itself.

As cell phones go, the swivel phone is one of the more unusual-looking phones, especially when it is contorted into its various shapes. In fact, the swivel cell phone may not even look like a phone at first glance. When functioning as a camera, it may look more like a small camcorder than a cell phone, with the screen facing out 90 degrees from the body of the camera.

This shape, with the screen out from the body of the swivel cell phone when recording still pictures or videos, offers a number of advantages. It allows the hand to grab the camera in a more natural way. It also puts the LCD screen, which serves as the viewfinder/eyepiece, at a more natural viewing angle that can be changed using the swivel to tilt up or down as needed. This may also help create some more unusual angles for picture taking that traditional cell phones would have a hard time capturing.

In some cases, the swivel cell phone may swivel to reveal a full-sized QWERTY keyboard. This is one of the most sought-after features of newer generation phones. As text messaging becomes more prevalent, users quickly tire of tapping out words on a traditional phone keypad. In some cases, having a swivel phone enables just enough space to put in a miniature keyboard, which will function well but is not meant for touch typing.

The swivel cell phone could have some disadvantages as well. More moving parts mean there is more of an opportunity for something to become damaged on swivel cell phones. Therefore, great care should be taken when opening and operating the phone when using the swivel feature.

Like any new technology, when swivel cell phone models first came onto the scene, they were out of many people’s price range. In some cases, models sold for nearly $1,000 US Dollars. As they flood the market and production costs come down, the prices should also be reduced substantially over time.

The swivel cell phone may be a relatively new invention, but using swivels with cell phones has been done in the past. The swivel cell phone holster has been around for many years. Also, for mounting a phone in a car, the swivel cell phone mount has been created to help with hands-free operation.