The community includes the members who spend huge sums of money to buy the mobile phones not to surf on websites or listen to music, but use for unusual purposes.

Launched into the market in late 2008, the Sonim XP3 remains very attractive to many Vietnamese “mobile phone connoisseurs”. While a lot of mobile phone models have become “out of fashion” in the last many years, Sonim X3 remains always very expensive. Now a mobile phone of this series is selling at 10 million dong.

The price of 10 million dong is considered overly high if comparing with other smart phones which have different functions to help entertain people.

There are not many people who use the Sonim series in Vietnam, because this is a kind of mobile phone designed for the rich. However, the most important thing that keeps young people away from this model is that the mobile phone does not have high-end functions.

“No 3G, no camera, with normal screen,” Pham Hong Minh, who lives on Lo Duc Street in Hanoi, described his mobile phone. The XP3 that he bought in London and brought to Vietnam in a business trip remains the most favorite mobile phone of Minh.

Why do connoisseurs still like the Sonim, though they are too expensive and do not have any special functions?

“I am a busy person. I have to travel all the day, so I do not have time to surf on Internet. Therefore, I do not need a mobile phone which allows to access Internet,” Minh explained.

“My mobile phone will never   breakdown. My only worry is that it may be lost one day,” he added.

Another function of the mobile phone that Minh introduces to his friends; is that it can be used as the “toy” for his kid, a 3-year old son. Minh related that the boy has the hobby of picking the father’s mobile phone and throw into the wall or the ground. However, despite the substantial impacts, the XP3 has never got damaged.

“This is the best thing of the mobile phone that I like most,” Minh said.

He went on to say, that when his kid grows up and gives up the hobby of throwing mobile phones, he would purchase a smartphone, so that the boy can play interesting games with the phones.

Besides, Minh also takes pride of the mobile phone because of the durability of the battery, saying that the battery allows him to talk continuously for two days. Meanwhile, if keeping the mobile phone under the mode of “standby”, the battery will “live” for half a month.

Tuan Duc, 40, on Hang Non street in Hanoi, also has the pleasure of owning super-durable mobile phones. Duc related that his friends and relatives cannot understand why Duc loves such expensive mobile phones without any special characteristics. They also feel surprised when seeing Duc, a rich man living in a big city, uses a mobile phone “as heavy as a brick” as they describe.

However, ignoring people’s ridicule, Duc still has decided to spend 14 million dong to buy an XP3300 Force.

The common characteristic of the community of “cracked” mobile phone players in Vietnam; is that they do not like flashy products. In general, eye catching products are favored by young customers, especially teenagers. Meanwhile, the people like Minh or Duc live in a specific world of mobile phones.

Tran Phuong Lam, 18, is one of very few young people who love super-durable mobile phones, said that there are many ways to “play” with the “super phone”.

“I can bring my Sonim XP3 with me when I going phuot (the word used by young Vietnamese travelers who want to describe trekking tourism), because the battery is good and it will never get damaged,” Lam said.

“In the evening, my phone can serve as flashlight. On normal days, I can “bathe” my phone by soaking it into water, or bury it under sand. Sometimes, I put it into the refrigerator,” he added.

Source: VTC