Admit it: Mobile phones are becoming increasingly boring. We should allow the existence of interesting and peculiar things.

Tools Turned into Toys

After the unveiling of the Xiaomi 17 Pro, a question has popped up everywhere on social media: What on earth is the secondary screen for?

The wisdom and aesthetics of the general public should never be underestimated. If you search for the term "Aesthetic Phone" on Xiaohongshu now, you'll find that many netizens have transformed this customizable secondary screen into a window for self - expression.

Bringing emotional value to users and making them feel that the phone is "fun" is now more important than being "useful".

Fun Phones

The form of the secondary screen, which obviously seems like "shooting the arrow first and then drawing the target", is not meant to revolutionize smartphone interaction. Instead, it's more about fulfilling some emotional needs.

For an additional 500 yuan on top of the Xiaomi 17, you get an extra screen. Even consumers who don't understand the purpose of the secondary screen will find it hard to resist such a good deal. The emotional value starts being offered the moment they place the order.

I believe that the majority of Xiaomi 17 Pro users spend less than 10% of their time using the back screen. However, just taking it out makes it easy for others to notice that you've got a new phone. And when you're bored, it becomes a little playmate. These are moments that traditional phones can't offer.

Xiaomi isn't the only one spicing up flagship phones this year.

The latest flagship from Realme, the GT8 Pro, features a "modular" design. Users can swap out the phone's lens Deco components, choosing either a round or square shape.

This is similar to last year's CMF phones, which also became popular for their unique features. The CMF phones had replaceable colorful back covers and could be fitted with accessories like lanyards, stands, and card holders.

Realme's approach is more "pure" than CMF's. The latter introduced many functional accessories, trying to find a practical "reason" for the phone's "modularity". Realme adheres to the concept of "uselessness with use", adding the lens just for the sake of looks.

In an exclusive interview between ifanr and Realme, Derek Wang, the president of the product line, talked about the "emotional value" behind these designs:

The phone has become the item that everyone uses for the longest time. It already has sufficient functional value. But when it also becomes a "fun" device, it can perhaps provide emotional value... The Realme GT8 Pro aims to be that phone that is both useful and fun.

This is also reflected in the collaboration between Realme GT8 Pro and Ricoh. The latter has become popular on social media because of its emotional value rather than hardcore technical specifications.

Both the Xiaomi 17 Pro and the Realme GT8 Pro have a strong "toy" quality. You may not necessarily want to use one as your main phone, but you'll definitely want to play with it. It's a kind of "playability" in a pure physical sense.

Similarly, Apple's most innovative product in recent years, the iPhone Air, has created an ultra - thin form that's hard to put down with its best industrial design in recent years.

Many iPhone Air users I've talked to have mentioned this:

It has the most ideal appearance of an iPhone in my mind.

The elegant appearance and lightweight feel are experiences we haven't had from iPhones or even smartphones in a long time. The iPhone Air has its flaws, but the feelings and value it brings are unique.

Smartphones have been like all - purpose black bricks for far too long. The annual minor changes in appearance design have made us extremely aesthetically fatigued. These more alternative products may not have a high level of technological sophistication, but they do make us feel that phones are "fun" again.

From Using Phones to "Playing with Phones"

For a "tool" like a phone, the fact that "fun" has become a sought - after attribute shows that the relationship between us and our phones has changed dramatically, and there's a very clear underlying trend.

During the era of the original "Brick Phone", mobile phones that cost over ten thousand yuan were quite rare. Just "having a phone" was a symbol of social status, and using the phone came second.

Then, feature phones with low prices and more powerful functions became popular. More and more people got phones, and a large enough user base formed the mobile network. People started "using phones" to make calls and send texts. This is the most basic interaction between us and phones to this day.

Smartphones that can play videos, support social networking, and run games have become the most convenient entertainment terminals. "Using phones" has evolved into "playing with phones". In the past, we only used phones when we had a need. Now, we pick up our phones for entertainment even when we're idle.

Since our work, life, and entertainment all rely on phones, the distance between us and our phones has long exceeded that between a person and any other tool. It's more like a "life companion".

Since it's a companion, we naturally hope it's not just a cold object. We'd like it to have some personality and a bit more warmth.

This idea actually dates back to the feature - phone era. Young female users in Japan and South Korea would hang a bunch of accessories and toys on their phones and stick lots of stickers on them, treating their phones as personal trinkets. This is what's known as "Aesthetic Phone" or "Decorated Phone".

In the era of smartphones, the trend of beautifying and decorating phones has swept across the board. For example, the originally unattractive square area on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has become a natural stage for users to decorate.

If in the past, the emotional value of phones mainly relied on users' active exploration and development, now phone manufacturers have also started to consciously get involved. The Xiaomi 17 Pro and the Realme GT8 Pro are products born out of a similar concept.

There's also the new "lanyard" accessory for the iPhone 17 that ifanr has discussed. Apple officially encourages you to wear your phone as part of your OOTD.

The rise of social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, which focus on lifestyle, has made "emotional value" the most popular trend. These highly personalized phone products and usage methods will reach more users with the dual promotion of user enthusiasm and platform algorithms.

If I had to find a word to describe this new change in the human - phone relationship, I'd say it's from "using phones" to "playing with phones". Phones are becoming more like toys, making us want to pick them up and play with them from time to time.

▲ Concept design of the Realme GT8 Pro

After more than a decade of development, the form and technology of smartphones are highly mature. The user experience has a high lower limit, and similar technical specifications can't easily create a competitive edge. How to make phones more "playable" will be the next battlefield for brands.

This also aligns with the classic "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs". After meeting the basic needs of "being usable" and "being useful", it's natural to pursue "being good - looking" and "being fun".

▲ Concept of the Realme GT8 Pro Deco components

A question then arises: Where is the balance between "fun" and "useful"?

Whether it's the CMF Phone or the Realme GT8 Pro, the pursuit of fun is still in its early stages. While they ensure that a phone is 100% "useful", they're a bit lacking in "fun".

The Xiaomi 17 Pro and the iPhone Air have taken bigger steps. The secondary screen of the former causes heating and high power consumption, while the latter has made too many compromises in terms of configuration. To be "fun", they have to sacrifice a bit of "usefulness".

How to balance the functions of a tool and the appeal of a toy, and not just blindly follow the trend but tailor - make the most suitable "toy" phones according to brand image and product positioning will be a question that manufacturers need to think about more and more.

This article is from the WeChat official account "ifanr" (ID: ifanr). The author is the one who discovers tomorrow's products. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.