This DIY Rotary Cellphone is a real thing that makes phone calls (but not much more)

Not every new cellphone has a 6+ inch display, an amazing camera or… a touchscreen display.

Justine Haupt’s Rotary Cellphone puts some decidedly old-school tech into a modern mobile device that’s pocket-sized, capable of making phone calls, and which gets all-day battery life.

Instead of a touchscreen though, it has a 10-digit dialer plus a few speed dial buttons.

Haupt has been working on the phone for the past three years, and this week posted photos, build details, and design files online for folks that want to read about the process or build their own.

While the phone has a retrofuturistic design, Hapt says the goal “isn’t to be anachronistic. It’s to show that it’s possible to have a perfectly usable phone that goes as far from having a touchscreen as I can imagine…”

The phone is said to have excellent reception when used with a removable antenna — and the antenna could be replaced with a directional one if necessary.

On the side of the phone there are 10 LED lights which can display signal strength and battery status. And while there’s no touchscreen on the front of the Rotary Cellphone, the device does have an ePaper display on the back. It can display contact details, missed calls, or other information.

One thing you’re probably not going to want to do with this phone? Send text messages.

You can find more details at Justine Haupt’s website or check out her interview with Wired, where, among other things, she describes the flip phone she’d been using prior to completing the Rotary Cellphone.

via Kottke