An intelligent discussion on black vs. colorful phones

[TofuDelight]

First of all, there's nothing wrong with those condos. Your friends/family need to go out more and see more of the world.

IMO, phone colours are like car colours. You can buy a silver Corolla and good luck finding it in the parking lot! I have a red Kia Soul and it's lots of fun. Life's short enough and hard enough and I want something that makes me happy when I look at it.

 

[Squachy]

Black and white matches with all kinds of colours because of its neutrality. But they're so boring and dull.

I want a yellow one to break away from the dullness. Magenta is too girly and Cyan is too loud and out there imo (i prefer darker blue). Grey is fine but it follows black and white n the dullness meter. And im just not a fan of red.

 

[oldpueblo]

I'm glad we're all stating our sexual preferences because that's important for phone talk.

 

[Davidkoh]

I took the yellow one because it's a splash of fun. It will be fun to break the black/white trend in all the meetings at work, in the same way I wear colorful socks to my suits.

 

[Laura Knotek]

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:

• 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"?

• 
  I had always had black devices in the past, so I opted for cyan. Blue is my favorite color.
  

  [*]What's a good summary of the reactions of others upon seeing your phone?

  I never got any reactions to the color.
  

  [*]Do you consider yourself the "I don't care what other people think of me", type? (nothing bad with that)

  Yes, I do. I've never been one to care about fashions or trends. I've always done "my own thing".
  

  [*]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)?

  No. I do not. I've seen people of all races and nationalities use devices in many colors. I do not think it is related to age either. I chose a blue device, and blue is typically not associated with women. I am 43, not a young person.

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.

I have no idea. I've seen plenty of colorful smartphones.

 

[Laura Knotek]

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?

Blue has always been my favorite color, probably because it matches my eyes.

Prior to my Lumia 900, I never had a cellphone/smartphone in any color beside black.

I saw and liked the cyan device and decided to get something different.

When I use my black Otterbox case, nobody sees the color anyway.

Then again, I don't care what anyone else thinks about the color. It's just a phone. It's not like I'm wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe (which a former co-worker actually did by mistake).

 

[Laura Knotek]

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:

I remember seeing red BlackBerry Curve (either 8310 or 8320--don't remember which) in the local AT&T store. The wallpaper was Ohio State University. That was back around the time that OSU played in the BCS game.

 

[Laura Knotek]

@bauerbach I thought the same thing until I spent more time with a cyan phone. My L900 glows in the dark. I really don't want to advertise to people out on the streets I have a $500 smartphone, so if its black and unsuspecting that works for me. Most of the time the display will be flipped and facing me.

A case will easily hide any color.

 

[oldpueblo]

This guys post has some handy color tips for those that missed it:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/lumia-920/201214.htm

 

[Coreldan]

I want to get red, but it's glossy :/ It doesn't really look or feel as nice as the matte colors for the 920. I love the red they used as a color and would definitely get it if available as matte.

I had a blue N8 and all I got was "wow, your phone looks really cool!" kinda things. Red isn't necessarily the most masculine color, but neither is that shade of red a very feminine color IMO.

Anyways, sadly it seems I'm going with a black phone, mainly for how it feels. For the looks side of things I would've really wanted a colored phone, black phones are fairly boring :/

22/male/straight/university student/when working, often dealing with youngsters/kids

 

[freestaterocker]

I originally was pretty stuck between red and yellow, then cyan made the decision easy for me, then I saw the white with the high contrast theme... Then the announcement of black only in Canada made it all moot.

33 yr old caucasian male, straight. I work as a welder, very male dominated. And I DGAF because I don't like anyone.

Also, great job everyone keeping the discussion intelligent and civilized. I'm genuinely impressed!

 

[freestaterocker]

I'm glad we're all stating our sexual preferences because that's important for phone talk.

The OP asked for demographic... Part of the package, mate.

 

[larrynj]

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:

I agree!

I've always had black because I thought it had to be conservative. When the 900 came out my plan was to buy cyan but I saw it in person I didn't like it so went black again.

1: It wasn't love at first site. This time I was thinking grey until many of the first videos were yellow. I ordered it even though I never saw one in person but I'm confident that I'll love it.

2: I can't answer that until I get it. I'm expecting many comments and questions. Probably asking if I'm in a mid life crisis. :lol:

3:Yes, When i was younger I worried about what people thought. Now their opinions are meaningless to me.

4: I think it's a personality thing. Sex age and race have little to nothing to do with what color you choose.

 

[sixium]

I got the black 920. It's a classic color, goes with everything, sophisticated. Since the screen is black also, it all blends together like you're holding a piece of obsidian.

That being said, I would have loved to get a phone with an "unconventional" color, but, for me, the colors of the Lumia are too bold. My favorite color is blue, and if the Lumia came in a royal or marine blue (kind of like the pictures of the "cyan" 920 here on WPC news articles), all that talk about black and obsidian I said earlier would have been nonsense. Red would have also been nice, but not candy-apple strawberry soda Ferrari red like the current red Lumia, but like a rich Merlot burgundy, I would get that. Gunmetal? I would get that too.

BTW, I'm male, asian, 30, and, ummm, straight.

 

[AgentSplurge]

I love the fact that the Lumias come in different colours - including black in white in case that's what you like!

For me it was love at first sight with all the colours they all look great, although I wouldn't buy the yellow (too bright/girly), matte Cyan is by FAR my fav but alas, not an option for me in the UK Black is too common, would look like I still had an iPhone which I don't want, white is nice but not being glass I think it looks a little bit cheap plus it's exclusive to EE which I refuse to go with, so the only option left was red so that's what I have got! Well, what I've ordered anyway.

 

[mparker]

Blackberries were cyan for many years. Never noticed businesses and professionals shying away from them.

 

[bill257]

After visiting an AT&T store and checking ou the lumia 900s I decided I really like the feel of the matte colors best. I don't care for cyan so it was black or gray for me. And then AT&T decided to not carry gray so I went with black. Actually I'm not sure if anyone has gray, but black is fine too. If red was matte I might have gone with it.

 

[Reflexx]

Blackberries were cyan for many years. Never noticed businesses and professionals shying away from them.

Weren't they blue? I had one, and I don't recall it being cyan.

Not that it changes your point at all.

 

[VagrantWade]

After getting screwed on my online cyan order I decided on black. I want matte and I was always a bit worried about non blue/black/white tiles looking weird with the cyan. Plus black will match my surface better with blue tiles to match the touchcover.

 

[ishredthecello]

i bought a white one. i've had a black (and back in the day black and silver) iphone since the first one.

I love the contrast of the white against the black screen, makes the screen really pop out at you.

if i ever get tired of the white, can always throw a case on it. don't think i will though.

as for the glossyness, i'll have to see when i get it, probably won't mind it. but i'm picking up screen/body protector from Skinomi, which will help remove some of the glossyness and keep the fingerprints to minimum. don't think i'll notice the fingerprints so much on a glossy white vs. red/yellow. Red/yellow is just too 'loud' for me.