[km3k]

Yes, they're technically smartphones, but by that use of the word, all phones in the last 15 years are smartphones.

Over the past decade, the term smartphone typically refers to a general purpose computing device that fits in your pocket that also acts as a phone. There is also more recently an implied requirement of a touch screen. A feature phone is more of an appliance device, where the primary feature is a phone, but it also has other limited features, some of which are internet enabled.

Unlike a smartphone, where you have a lot of control over what software you can put on it (similar to a PC), a feature phone only has a limited set of preinstalled features and optionally has a limited app store to add some more limited features.

By those definitions, the phones in the article are more feature phone than smartphone.

[aikah]

> Unlike a smartphone, where you have a lot of control over what software you can put on it (similar to a PC), a feature phone only has a limited set of preinstalled features and optionally has a limited app store to add some more limited features.

I used to develop apps and games on feature phones using Java MIDP, so 15 ago phones were already smartphones, there was just no app ecosystem back then nor real economy, that's all.

But it was possible to install 3rd party apps and even browsers like Opera Mobile on flip phones.

The difference is in the CPU power. Today some phones are more powerful than some cheap laptops.

[WWLink]

Yeah it's pretty funny how people have a problem paying as much for their laptop as they do for their phone lol.

[pgcj_poster]

It's hard for me to believe, but a lot of people prefer phones over laptops as computing devices, and they use them a lot more.

[llampx]

Put it on an installment plan, market it as a premium device (status symbol) and people will pay anything.

[f00zz]

I think that the main difference between smartphones and feature phones is that smartphones have separate processors for applications and for the modem (the "application processor" and the "broadband processor"), whereas in feature phones a single processor handles everything.

[dillonmckay]

Most current smartphones don’t fit in pockets anymore.