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  BenQ P31 Unreleased Prototype: Nokia 6708’s Hidden Twin

  💎 Rarity Index: X (Mystical Prototype)

  ⭐ WOW Factor: The BenQ P31 is the original device behind the Nokia 6708

  It is one of the only non-Nokia smartphones ever sold with Nokia branding.

  👁 Evaluation in my collection: Great – 9.5/10

  ⏱ Life timer: N/A | 📦 Boxed: NO

  📅 Release Year: 2004 | 💰 Release Price: N/A

  📊 Units Sold: 0

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  📰 Why this phone matters: This unit is an ultra-rare BenQ P31 engineering prototype, representing one of the most historically significant missing links in Symbian UIQ development. Originally conceived around 2003-2004 as BenQ’s entry into the high-end touchscreen smartphone market, the P31 was built on Symbian OS 7 with UIQ 2.1 and designed as a compact, stylus-driven business device. It never reached commercial release, and only a very small number of early engineering samples were ever produced.

  This unit stands out immediately. It carries no BenQ branding, no label, no IMEI sticker, and no certification markings whatsoever, confirming it as a direct engineering lab device belonging to the EVT or very early DVT phase. Even more extraordinary, it boots with Nokia startup logos, revealing its role in one of the most unusual collaborations in Symbian history: the transformation of the BenQ P31 hardware platform into the commercial Nokia 6708.

  During development, Nokia needed a UIQ device for Asian markets but did not want to engineer new UIQ hardware from scratch. Instead, Nokia evaluated the P31 as a potential base. This unit belongs to the narrow transitional window where Nokia UIQ firmware branches were loaded onto BenQ hardware to test compatibility, performance, and UIQ adaptation. Evidence of this includes Nokia boot screens, Nokia font structures, early Nokia overlays for PIM apps, and firmware variant directories corresponding to internal Nokia identifiers such as E582 or UIQ test builds. This type of cross-firmware contamination is almost never seen outside internal Symbian development environments.

  Hardware examination indicates the original P31 layout: touchscreen with stylus input, UIQ key structure, OMAP-based platform, VGA camera module, and early UIQ 2.1 software stack. The matte prototype plastics, generic shielding, unbranded flex cables, and absence of final molding marks clearly separate it from the later Nokia 6708 retail hardware. Meanwhile, the Nokia firmware elements confirm the device was active during the validation period before Nokia redesigned the shell, finalized the PCB revisions, and prepared the 6708 for market release.

  Historically, the BenQ P31 is known from documents, press mentions, and UIQ SDK references but extremely few physical units survive. Most were destroyed when BenQ cancelled its Symbian efforts and shifted to Windows Mobile and Siemens acquisition projects. Estimates based on engineering validation patterns suggest fewer than 40 to 80 EVT devices were made, with only a fraction entering Nokia testing flows. Units that display Nokia boot elements but retain full P31 prototype hardware are believed to number in the low single digits, making this unit one of the rarest Symbian UIQ artifacts in private hands.

  Beyond rarity, this unit captures an entire unspoken chapter of smartphone evolution. It demonstrates how early OEM partnerships shaped device portfolios, how Symbian UIQ was adapted beyond Sony Ericsson hardware, and how Nokia explored touchscreen ecosystems prior to its Series 90 and later platforms. The P31 shows that Nokia was more deeply involved in UIQ experimentation than publicly acknowledged, using BenQ hardware as a bridge to enter UIQ markets quickly. It also highlights the technical flexibility of Symbian OS 7 and UIQ 2.1, which could be made to run on foreign hardware architectures with relatively limited porting.

  For collectors, this unit sits at the highest echelon of prototype rarity. It is a never-released engineering platform, positioned between two manufacturers, with firmware that exposes internal development layers normally hidden inside corporate labs. It is a device that not only predates the Nokia 6708, but directly influenced its existence. As a result, this BenQ P31 prototype is not just a smartphone; it is a critical historical artifact documenting the intersection of BenQ’s abandoned Symbian ambitions and Nokia’s strategic adaptation of UIQ technology.

  This unit, with its untouched prototype housing, label-free chassis, stylus support, UIQ interface, and Nokia boot sequences, stands as one of the finest surviving examples of transitional Symbian engineering hardware. It is a cornerstone piece for any top-tier collection focused on prototypes, UIQ development, or cross-manufacturer Symbian evolution.

  📝 Reviews when released: N/A 💔

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  Mitsubishi Trium MT-250 Neptune Blue: Sealed Clamshell

  💎 Rarity Index: A (Rare)

  ⭐ WOW Factor: The Neptune blue variant is likely one of the most visually striking finishes

  👁 Evaluation in my collection: BNIB SEALED – 10/10

  ⏱ Life timer: N/A | 📦 Boxed: YES

  📅 Release Year: 2001 | 💰 Release Price: n/a

  📊 Units Sold: ~200k

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  📰 Why this phone matters: This unit is a sealed Trium MT-250 Neptune blue, preserved exactly as Mitsubishi shipped it during the final years of the Trium mobile era. Still wrapped in its original factory shrink, the box presents a classic early 2000s clamshell design with a translucent blue flip and a frosted keypad housing that defined the playful aesthetic of Trium handsets. The packaging shows the simple monochrome display with the Trium logo, underlining the minimalistic UI that characterized Mitsubishi’s compact GSM range.

  The side label confirms the exact variant: MT-250 Neptune blue with a Mitsubishi retail IMEI, CE0165 certification and an unbroken production batch code. Very little documentation exists for the MT-250 today, making this sealed example exceptionally rare. As Trium devices vanished from the market long before smartphones took over, complete unopened units almost never survived. This one stands as a pure, untouched snapshot of Mitsubishi’s design language, a lightweight clamshell aimed at style-focused users of its time. For collectors, it is a highly uncommon BNIB relic from a manufacturer whose mobile legacy has become increasingly scarce and desirable.

  📝 Reviews when released: N/A 💔

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  Nokia 3128 Prototype “ID SAMPLE”: BenQ Hybrid | Unreleases Colour Light Blue

  💎 Rarity Index: X (Mystical Prototype)

  ⭐ WOW Factor: Represents a short-lived moment when BenQ attempted to showcase its ability to deliver a complete UI solution, hoping to convince Nokia that full software outsourcing for low-cost devices was feasible.
  The existence of this device is proof of a BenQ-driven initiative, briefly evaluated and ultimately rejected by Nokia.
  Only a handful of such BenQ UI?on?Nokia hardware identity samples were ever created, making surviving units exceptionally rare.

  👁 Evaluation in my collection: New – 10/10

  🕵 Nokia Codename: Kirin

  ⏱ Life timer: 0 | 📦 Boxed: NO

  📅 Release Year: 2003 | 💰 Release Price: ~300 $

  📊 Units Sold: ~15M (final units)

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  📰 Why this phone matters: This device is one of the strangest, most intriguing Nokia 3128 variants ever uncovered. Externally it follows the familiar engineering path of the 3128 platform, but once powered on, everything breaks the pattern. There is no Nokia branding in the software, no Nokia splash screen, no Series 40 heritage, instead it boots into a BenQ-style interface, complete with custom icons, Chinese menu structures, and UI elements never found on any released Nokia product.

  The label inside reads “ID SAMPLE”, marking it as a pre-production identity unit used for internal validation during Nokia’s ODM sourcing phase. These ID Samples were not mass-produced, not distributed to carriers, and not meant to survive outside the labs. The combination of Nokia hardware and a BenQ firmware stack indicates that this device comes from the period when Nokia briefly explored outsourcing complete handset UI development to third-party Asian manufacturers before ultimately abandoning the idea.
  The handwriting is a timestamp from the engineering team: “August 16, 2004.”
  It marks when this specific prototype was logged, flashed, or validated.

  The software screens match early prototypes from unreleased BenQ flip designs, particularly those associated with the never-released BenQ A-Series Asian clamshells, hinting that this firmware was being evaluated on Nokia shells for cost and speed benchmarking. The UI animations, iconography, and color palettes align far more with BenQ’s internal 2004-2005 development than with anything Nokia ever shipped.

  A detail that further confirms how early this unit is, the SIM card lock mechanism is completely missing, leaving the slot open and unfinished exactly as seen on raw factory evaluation samples. Even more telling, the device reports an IMEI of 0000000, a clear sign of a pre-IMEI-burning engineering stage where the radio stack and identity fields had not yet been finalized.

  The mysterious “cmg” sticker seen on the display is consistent with internal testing labels used during configuration management, marking the unit for firmware staging or UI evaluation. These stickers usually identify a branch, a module, or a build handler inside the engineering workflow and marks it as a monitored experimental build – exactly the kind of anomaly this prototype represents.

  All the elements together, the missing SIM lock, the IMEI 0000000, the absent Nokia splash, the BenQ interface, the “ID SAMPLE” marking, the prototype hardware architecture, and the inconsistencies between software and chassis, place this device among the rarest 3128 developmental anomalies, far more unusual than standard prototypes or early F-series units. It is a tangible piece of the abandoned Nokia-BenQ convergence experiments, where Nokia evaluated whether foreign UI stacks could run on their hardware to accelerate low-cost market entry.

  A true one-off laboratory hybrid, and one of the most unusual pre-production Nokia 3128 derivatives ever documented.

  📝 Reviews when released: N/A 💔

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