An intelligent discussion on black vs. colorful phones

stealthology

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Hi all,

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has seriously contemplated the switch from black to a flaming bright color such as cyan/yellow/red. I'm looking for some feedback on this issue. Around where I live, there's some brand new, colorful mixed-use apartment buildings. A few friends/family members did not have particularly kind words regarding their appeal when passing by (I'm 26/male/straight/part asian part white). They generously use some bright red and yellow on the exterior.

Here are some questions, feel free to answer any or just provide your general reaction to the subject:

  1. Was it love at first sight (ie. no contemplation needed as soon as you decided on a phone which had color options), or was there some initial resistance until finally it "grew on you"?
  2. What's a good summary of the reactions of others upon seeing your phone?
  3. Do you consider yourself the "I don't care what other people think of me", type? (nothing bad with that)
  4. Do you think there's a correlation between ones race and their propensity to buy a colorful phone? How about sex and age (I think this is more obvious)?

I think it's also pretty safe to say that the majority of consumers would not opt for a colorful smartphone, so I think it's clear colorful phone buyers are in the minority.
 
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RickndRoll

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I came from the black LG P990 (Optimus 2x speed) and my next phone is going to be the lumia 920 red. It's just a beautiful colour for a beautiful phone, and many friends of mine agree with me.
I don't think you can compare houses with telephones. some colours just don't go well with some things, but look great on others.
And I do not consider myself a "I don't care what other people think of me", I think it's fun to be the only one with such a flashy coloured phone :)
 

chriscookz

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I'm getting a red one for one primary reason, I am bored to absolute death with black and white phones. Every phone I see every day are black and white. Plus, I'll be one of the only people I know to have a Windows Phone, and I sort of feel it's my responsibility to teach people about the platform. That bright red color will attract people to ask questions about it, and then I can begin converting :D
 

Duvi

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Yes... first sight... I wanted the Cyan. Heck, even thought I wanted the white until I saw it in person and saw that it was a glossy white.

I didn't get the Cyan because it wasn't available at launch because they had to get the updated ones. I was awaiting my $100 credit before I made the switch, but by then, I just stuck with black. Their reactions to the black was wow, that's nice and one even asked why I didn't get the cyan one. I then told her.

I am the "I don't care what others think of me" type. In all actuality, I got the original iPhone because no one else could afford it, meaning I wouldn't see every one and their children, mother's and great grandparents with one like I do now. With the exception of my boy (works for AT&T and received a free cyan 900), no one else I knew had colorful phones. With the cyan, you can put one of those cases that don't add too much bulk that hides the color.

Go with what you want. And if your friends start calling you "colorful", is that going to bother you?
 

hasasimo

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I've always gotten black phones (and before that, silver/grey when that was the norm). I've decided I want a yellow Lumia this time. I struggled with it for a bit, but I want the design to stand out, and I want to show arrogant iPhone owners that their device is both flimsy and looks like crap compared to a Lumia.

What decided it for me in the end? This isn't a life long commitment... I'll have another phone this time next year, or maybe in two years tops. If I didn't like the colorful route, I can always just go back to neutral colors.

It's kinda like cutting long hair... if you don't like the change, it'll grow back (in this case, you can go back).
 

Duvi

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I've always gotten black phones (and before that, silver/grey when that was the norm). I've decided I want a yellow Lumia this time. I struggled with it for a bit, but I want the design to stand out, and I want to show arrogant iPhone owners that their device is both flimsy and looks like crap compared to a Lumia.

What decided it for me in the end? This isn't a life long commitment... I'll have another phone this time next year, or maybe in two years tops. If I didn't like the colorful route, I can always just go back to neutral colors.

It's kinda like cutting long hair... if you don't like the change, it'll grow back (in this case, you can go back).
Or put a case / hat on =)
 

pike1783

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After thinking of this since the phone was originally announced, I've decided on black. I'm not against color but more against the phone being glossy versus matte. For my preference, cyan was way too light blue for my taste. I would love an actual or dark blue if matte. I'd even consider the current red and yellow if they were matte. I'm sure they will have more options eventually, but after waiting this long for the phone, I'd rather just go with traditional black and have my new phone tomorrow.
 

fwaits

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I think phones in our society nowadays have become fashion and status objects. Sort of like how cars are. And we know color on cars is something that varies by trends, and by demographic. To me I see phones very much like cars in that when I see a black phone, it's clean and sophisticated, but at the same time a little tired (with phones anyway since a vast majority of them are black). The hot red and yellow colors scream sports car to me and I rather like that. Red has always been my favorite color and the Lumia 920s red is awesome.
 

lordofthereef

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I will most likely go with black, but largely because I don't want gloss. Crossing my fingers that Nokia releases their cases, like they did with the L900. They came in more colors than the phone did and the phone looked bone stock with the exception that the hardware buttons were also covered (a featured I liked anyway). They added slightly more beef to the phone than an invisible shield or ghost armor might, so very minimal.

I want to show arrogant iPhone owners that their device is both flimsy and looks like crap compared to a Lumia.

It's this sort of mentality that divides smartphone users. How exactly is a yellow phone going to show an iPhone users that their phone is a flimsy piece of crap? For that matter, what exactly makes the phone a flimsy piece of crap? It's not like it easily (read: at all) bends between your fingers or anything. The construction of the iPhone is basically regarded as top of the industry (alongside Nokia).
 

Duvi

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I will most likely go with black, but largely because I don't want gloss. Crossing my fingers that Nokia releases their cases, like they did with the L900. They came in more colors than the phone did and the phone looked bone stock with the exception that the hardware buttons were also covered (a featured I liked anyway). They added slightly more beef to the phone than an invisible shield or ghost armor might, so very minimal.



It's this sort of mentality that divides smartphone users. How exactly is a yellow phone going to show an iPhone users that their phone is a flimsy piece of crap? For that matter, what exactly makes the phone a flimsy piece of crap? It's not like it easily (read: at all) bends between your fingers or anything. The construction of the iPhone is basically regarded as top of the industry (alongside Nokia).
That's why I got the Cyan. Hopefully they have those same cases in which I'll use if I"m at work and don't need to stand out... SPRINT :D
 

Muessig

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I've been thinking about it and most of my phones have actually been silver over the years. My current phone is black and my concerns are similar to others here in some ways, but in some ways not. I dont mind having a phone that other people stop and stare at, that doesn't bother me - I just dont want to have a phone that I second guess the colour choice in a year or two.

In some ways I want the red one. It's my favourite colour by far generally, but having held the black and white ones in various stores over the past few days I'm not really that taken by the gloss ones. They might look better in a year or two's time in comparison to the matt ones which could very well start to lose their finish in comparison but I don't think it'll get too scratched or if I drop it I'd notice the scuffs more?

I wonder about the tile choice too. Only certain colours go well with red whereas basically every colour will go with black.

So my choice is between red and black. The last thing I'm not sure about is using the phone in a working environment - surely having the black phone would be more ... respectable? Like you're not gonna be taken seriously if you have a phone people have to squint to see lol.

But after all this you know what? I've been waiting long enough for this phone that I will literally take what I can get and I will genuinely be happy with it, whether it's black or red!
 

leo74

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I remember when cell phones weren't all black and nobody had a problem with it. I for my part will get a red Lumia 920 because I like the fact that there is an alternative again to black. I am a professional and I expect people to look strange at first. But I also think that the notion that professional phones have to be black is nonsense. Everyone should get the color he or she likes. Let's bring a little color and personality to our phones again. Color for everyone!:lol:
 

pike1783

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I remember when cell phones weren't all black and nobody had a problem with it. I for my part will get a red Lumia 920 because I like the fact that there is an alternative again to black. I am a professional and I expect people to look strange at first. But I also think that the notion that professional phones have to be black is nonsense. Everyone should get the color he or she likes. Let's bring a little color and personality to our phones again. Color for everyone!:lol:
That is true on past phones. My first cell phone was a red Nokia. After that I had 2 blue Motorola phones. It wasn't until I switched to a smart phone that my phone suddenly became black every year which ironically was one of the first Windows phone models.
 

wamsille

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I had a glossy white Lumia. I've also got a matte cyan Lumia now though. I prefer the matte finish over the plastic-y feel the other colors would give.
 

theefman

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I personally just prefer the way a well designed black phone looks, and the way the screen blends into the case for a seamless, sleek look. Generally I prefer darker colours, I can say I was very happy when my white Xbox 360 died and I could get the black Elite! :)

I do like the colours of the 920 and think they do look stunning, if I could swap the covers like the 710 I would probably have an extra colour or two to use occasionally but I cant see myself using a brightly coloured phone daily.
 

wamsille

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I remember when cell phones weren't all black and nobody had a problem with it. I for my part will get a red Lumia 920 because I like the fact that there is an alternative again to black. I am a professional and I expect people to look strange at first. But I also think that the notion that professional phones have to be black is nonsense. Everyone should get the color he or she likes. Let's bring a little color and personality to our phones again. Color for everyone!:lol:

So I would look down, see my blue phone...

Not as much for me as I thought it would be. Yellow, Red, White? White yes, but again it doesn't have that matte finish I like.
 

Landsharkk

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I got curious on the subject of color as well and started looking up poll results for which color people wanted for the Lumia 920.

Of the 4 or 5 polls I looked at (equaling at least a thousand total votes), black was by far the most popular color.

My 20-something caucasian Wife wants yellow (ordered it yesterday), because she really likes to surround herself with motivational and energetic colors (she painted our office wall a yellow color which honestly does help the 'mood' of our office).

For me, I'm a 30-something caucasian with natural red hair (it's not curly, it's straight. I'm a day-walker. haha). I like black. My car is black with black wheels and a dark black tint (nice and clean looking). I'm not into 'flashy' stuff, I don't wear clothes with brand names on them (oddly I don't wear black clothing) and I never put any bumper stickers on my car. I think of it as encouraging people to judge me by who I am, not what's on my car or clothing, etc (nothing against those who enjoy clothing with brand names or bumper stickers either).

With that said, I would very much like to help 'show off' the Windows Phone, because I strongly believe it deserves much more of the smartphone market share. I'm confident that having a brighter phone color will help it get noticed. Much like my Wife constantly gets compliments on her finger nails (she's quite the artist), her yellow Lumia 920 will probably bring her even more random people talking to her.

I'm pretty set on the black, but I'm going to consider the red once I see it in person. I'll be happy with black though and I'm rather excited to see/feel the matte finish too (never had a matte finish phone before!).


EDIT: Plus, isn't black slimming? Might be a good color for this larger phone. :)
 

mikewp

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Got the cyan. I'm old and DGAF what anyone thinks. Always had some kind of monochrome or dark color. Wasn't ready to go glossy, but like cyan, so the fact it came in matte finish sold me.
 

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