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15 special edition smartphones you wish you could buy
From Transformers and Star Wars to Porsche and the Olympic Games
Smartphones are better than ever but aren't always as exciting as they used to be. One thing that helps fight the onset of boredom is the special-edition phone. Over the years, manufacturers have collaborated with other brands to create limited-edition phones that can look wildly different from the original phone, with custom finishes, software, and accessories. Sadly, many of these devices are only sold in specific regions, locking them away from large parts of the fan base. There is more to come, with HMD announcing it is working on a Barbie-branded flip phone. So, as we look forward to seeing how that device turns out, let's recap some of the best special edition phones to exist so far.
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The third and last installment of the latest Star Wars trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, is slated to hit cinemas on December 20, and the hype is growing. Samsung and Disney (Lucasfilm, to be specific) have already announced that they're working on campaigns together, and today, the Korean company seems to have decided to join the dark side of the force: It introduced a Galaxy Note10+ Special Edition dedicated to Kylo Ren, coming with a unique lightsaber-red S Pen and a bunch of extras in the box.Other than the red stylus, the phone features similarly colored power and volume buttons and a bezel just as red running around the camera array. The matte black rear also sports a Sith badge and a Star Wars logo beneath Samsung's. The software of this special Galaxy comes with Star Wars-themed content such as "wallpapers, shutdown animations, icons, and sounds."
What do you get when you mix a popular TV show, a coveted smartphone from a popular brand (that isn't Huawei), and a customization company that wants to bank on both? A special Samsung Galaxy Fold, Game of Thrones edition, that you could pre-order now, for the lowly sum of $8,200. There are supposedly only seven of these, so if you absolutely must have one, you better start looking for Benjamin Franklins under the sofa cushions and making sure you have the full price ready for your pre-order.
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- The Lava Red OnePlus 5T is now available for purchase in India, and you can click here to buy one from Amazon and here to get one from OnePlus. You might want to hurry, though; it is a highly-anticipated limited-edition device, after all.
The Lava Red OnePlus 5T first debuted in November of last year. To the chagrin of many fans, it turned out to be exclusively for the Chinese market, but that will soon cease to be the case. This especially bright OnePlus 5T is headed to India, and enthusiasts there will be able to buy one starting January 20th.
You might recall that Samsung produced an Olympic Games Limited Edition of the Galaxy S7 edge that was distributed to every Olympian competing (well, except for the North Koreans). The South Korean manufacturer is doing the same thing for the 2018 Winter Olympics in its home country with some very eye-catching Galaxy Note8s.
When discussing smartwatches, most of us agree that Samsung's Gear S3 is one of the best. It's my personal favorite and I think that Sammy did a great job with it. However, as seems to be the trend these days, the Korean company has paired up with TUMI, a "travel lifestyle brand," to bring us a special version of the Gear S3 Frontier. Thanks!
Do you enjoy the simplicity and capability of the latest OnePlus flagship phone, but wish it were quite a bit more black, like that $10,000 performance upgrade to an economy sedan? Well your highly specific dreams have now come true, weird person. OnePlus announced the Midnight Black edition of the 3T today, sporting a swanky matte black coating on its aluminum body. The special edition uses the higher-end version of the phone's specs with 128GB of storage, but has the same $479 / EUR479 / GBP439 price as the current upgraded model.
The Olympic Games in Rio are shaping up to be incredibly entertaining, in the same sense that one watches a kindergarten play to see how long it takes the kid in the bunny costume to wet himself and run away. But for those of you who still believe in the spirit and the majesty of the Olympic Games (you, in the back, stop that chuckling), Samsung has produced a limited edition of its flagship device with an official license. This time it's the Galaxy S7 Edge in black, with gold, blue, green, red, and white trim to match the colors of the Olympic rings. The limited edition was leaked last month.
Gold phones are a thing these days, but you won't be able to get Google's latest flagship in gold unless you happen to be in Japan. Odds are that you aren't, so that's a bummer. The gold version of the Nexus 6P is a special edition, and it will only be sold via the Japanese Google Store.
64GB? Kid's stuff. 128GB? Paltry. Real smartphone spec-hounds will settle for nothing less than 256GB of local onboard storage (which, incidentally, is more than many laptops these days). At least they'd settle for nothing less if any of those phones were actually available. There will be one soon, in at least one location: the ASUS Zenfone 2 Deluxe Special Edition. It's coming to Brazil sometime in the future for an unspecified price, though "quite a lot" would be a safe bet. The model was shown off on the official ASUS Brazil blog.
What kind of cell phone would Iron Man use? Well, depending on which movie or commercial you watch, it's either an LG (the original movie), an HTC (based on Robert Downey Jr.'s nonsensical brand representation), or an impossible transparent super-sci-fi gadget phone (Iron Man 2). But the ultimate fan of Marvel's movies would definitely use the Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man Edition, with a unique gold-on-red color scheme to match the suit. And just in case people don't get the hint, it's also got a huge Iron Man helmet decal on the back and a custom Avengers software theme.
Everyone has a different idea of what looks good when it comes to phones and tablets, but Samsung has generally not made great choices. The Galaxy Alpha is a big step in the right direction, but you know what it's missing? Alligator skin. Yeah, the new limited edition Galaxy Alpha will definitely be divisive.
The Comic-Con special editions of Andrew Bell's Android figurines are always special, and this year is no exception. These limited-edition Heroes & Villains II figures were available in San Diego last week on the show floor, but now you can pick them up in a 4-piece bundle for yourself. It's priced reasonably at $40, which is the same sticker price you would have paid for four regular figures.
You may have noticed a bit of a frenzy in the world of gaming consoles in the last week or so. Not one to be left behind, OUYA is taking the opportunity to remind everyone that the Android-powered console exists, and can be had for less than the price of a car payment. To that end a limited edition version of OUYA was just posted to the online store in a fetching white case, with matching controller.
Acer has partnered with Ferrari to release a special edition of their Liquid E smartphone. The internals are the same as the regular Liquid E, albeit with the processor stock clocked a bit higher: