HMD Global
Barbie Phone

The HMD Barbie Phone was a Barbie-themed feature flip phone created through a licensing partnership between HMD (rebranded that year from HMD Global to Human Mobile Devices) and toy giant Mattel. It arrived as "digital detox" and "dumbphone" culture became a genuine consumer trend, and HMD positioned the device in that space, pairing 1990s/2000s-style retro tech with the nostalgia of Mattel's 65-year-old Barbie franchise. The phone was essentially a re-skinned version of HMD's existing Nokia feature-phone family, but HMD offered two distinct hardware variants depending on the market. The international edition (model number: TA1618), in the Mobile Phone Museum collection, was a Barbie-branded Nokia 2660 Flip running the legacy Nokia S30+ interface on a Unisoc T107 chipset with 64MB RAM and a 0.3-megapixel rear camera. The US edition, which launched roughly a month later (1 October 2024), was built on the more capable Nokia 2780 Flip platform and used a Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 and ran KaiOS 3.1. This meant it had Wi-Fi, A-GPS, a five-megapixel camera, and access to a small library of downloadable KaiOS apps, none of which the international model offered. Both versions had a 2.8-inch QVGA main display and a 1.77-inch external screen with a mirror effect, so you could check your appearance, apply makeup, and more. HMD invested heavily in the Barbie phone's packaging, which enhanced the unboxing experience: it was cleverly designed to resemble a jewellery box.  Furthermore, the phone came bundled with two interchangeable back covers (designed to reflect the 1992 "Totally Hair Barbie" and a vintage "shooting heart" motif), a pink battery and USB-C cable, sticker sheets, a beaded charm lanyard with Barbie-referencing charms (a 1959 sunglasses charm, a Malibu roller skate, a palm tree), a cleaning cloth and a Barbie-skinned version of Snake called Malibu Snake. The keypad lighting also featured a hidden palm tree, heart, and flamingo motifs that lit up in the dark.  The company also included hidden “Easter Eggs” for users. By typing *#227243#, which spells out the word Barbie on the keypad, users could unlock themed surprises. The company also included hidden audio clips; for example, typing *#*#malibu#*#*let users hear ocean waves. Typing *#*#ken could unlock special pictures and content related to Barbie’s friend Ken, including Ken-themed photo shortcuts and a pre-saved missed call/contact entry from Ken upon first setup. When it launched, reviewers had mixed views. Some saw it as a credible phone while others regarded it as a novelty. One damning review came from the Design publication Wallpaper, which was openly sceptical, calling the collaboration "an unashamedly naked branding opportunity" rather than a serious wellness product, and predicting children would end up as the primary buyers regardless of HMD's messaging to digital-detox-minded adults. Unfortunately, the phone launched more than a year after the blockbuster Barbie film (2023), starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and Will Ferrell, and the Barbie hype had pretty much burned out, leaving HMD a little too late to the party.