- published: 13 Aug 2015
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A feature phone is a mobile phone which at the time of manufacture is not considered to be a smartphone, but nevertheless has additional functions over and above standard mobile services. It is intended for customers who want a lower-price phone without all the features of a smartphone.
In 2011, feature phones accounted for 60 percent of the mobile telephones in the United States, and 70 percent of mobile phones sold worldwide.
Although feature phone is the term used to describe low-end devices and smartphone is used to describe high-end devices, there is no official definition to distinguish the two. Smartphone and feature phone are not mutually exclusive categories.
The price difference between a smartphone and feature phone is often used to distinguish the two devices. As of March 2012, Canadian cellular service providers offer the choice of purchasing smartphone upfront for $450-650 CAD on "no term" (month-by-month), or signing 3-year voice and data contract to waive most of the handset purchase cost by (there are no waivers for a voice-only plan). The no term price for a feature phone, by contrast, is typically half or even less than that of a smartphone, and this cost can be waived with a 3-year voice-only plan.