It genuinely adds to the uneasy, out-of-time atmosphere of the film, along with the notable use of CRT portable televisions.<\/p>\n
Futuristic, or something else?<\/p>\n
Based in reality<\/p>\n
![\"Motorola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/flip-phone-battery-comparison-flip-5-razr-plus-vivo-x-flip-oppo-find-n3-flip-8.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
After I\u2019d discovered the Shellphone (instead of cellphone, geddit?) wasn\u2019t a real thing, it made me wonder how it fitted in with the mobile technology of the day, and whether we came close to actually making a device like it or not.<\/p>\n
It turned into a fascinating look back at mobile devices that were popular a decade ago, and the huge shift in mobile hardware that was about to take place.<\/p>\n
The Shellphone was a folding device with two separate circular e-paper screens. Was a device like that even possible in 2015?<\/p>\n
Clamshell phones were still popular at the time, but only in some regions, while e-paper devices were in the midst of a popularity boom of their own.<\/p>\n
Circular screens? Well, they just weren\u2019t a thing at all. Let\u2019s break the tech down.<\/p>\n
![\"it-follows-clam-phone-use\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/it-follows-clam-phone-use.jpg\")
\n Credit:\u00a0It Follows<\/p>\n
The clamshell phones grabbing headlines at the time were the Samsung SM-W2015 and the LG Wine Smart, both of which had a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and Android.<\/p>\n
Sounds modern, right? Not when you learn it was Android 4.4 KitKat onboard, and very different from Android today.<\/p>\n
If you wanted a device with an e-paper screen, the third-generation Kindle Paperwhite<\/a> came out in 2015, but more excitingly, you could also buy the Yota Phone 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n For those who don\u2019t know, the Yota Phone 2 had an OLED screen on the front and an E-Ink screen on the back, which ran its own special operating system.<\/p>\n Folding phone fever was coming<\/p>\n But not like this one<\/p>\n Although e-paper screens and clamshell phones were both available, they hadn\u2019t been combined into one like the Shellphone, and a true foldable hadn\u2019t made its first appearance either.<\/p>\n However, it was all mobile tech fans could think about.<\/p>\n The folding smartphone had been a hot topic for a few years when It Follows came out, with Samsung\u2019s Youm concept kicking things off, and its so-called Project Valley concept capturing headlines in 2015. The original Galaxy Fold came out in 2019.<\/p>\n LG was also experimenting with bendable screens and launched the LG G Flex in early 2015, but decided to leave the mobile industry completely before its own foldable, or even bendable, smartphone could become a reality.<\/p>\n All this ensured the Shellphone in It Follows was like nothing else available at the time, but was clearly influenced by real and rumored devices of the time.<\/p>\n Yet, the playful, rather toy-like plastic shell didn\u2019t make it look especially futuristic. If you\u2019d have told me it was a weird crowdfunded project cobbled together by a fly-by-night startup around 2015, I would\u2019ve believed you.<\/p>\n Circles, or foldables?<\/p>\n Circular screens on phones are a rarity<\/p>\n The Shellphone pre-dated the device which comes closest to replicating its functionality \u2014 the compact folding phone \u2014 by five years.<\/p>\n Motorola\u2019s re-imagined Razr foldable and the first Samsung Galaxy Z Flip came in 2019 and 2020. It was, in this respect, somewhat portentous.<\/p>\n However, the Shellphone in the movie had more in common with a regular clamshell phone, or the Microsoft Surface Duo<\/a>, than it did the Z Flip because it used two screens rather than a single, bendable screen.<\/p>\n If the dual e-paper screens and shell-like case didn\u2019t make it unusual enough, the circular screens really make it stand out.<\/p>\n Phones with circular screens were really rare, but examples did exist. The very odd Cyrcle with its round 3.45-inch screen made an appearance at CES 2020 and had a proposed 2021 launch date, but it never arrived.<\/p>\n Around the time of the It Follows release, a concept phone called the Monohm Runcible also gained some attention, but it was more pocket watch than smartphone, with its smooth wooden case and compact dimensions.<\/p>\n Circular screens have since been used as cover screens on foldables like the Tecno Phantom V Flip<\/a> and on smartwatches.<\/p>\n It has never become a real gadget<\/p>\n And people are sad<\/p>\n When you break it down, the unusual clam-shaped device in the movie is arguably highly representative of how traditional clamshell phones were gradually morphing into foldables, and how the industry was keen to experiment with different case styles and screen technology as smartphones rocketed in popularity.<\/p>\n Yet, the mobile industry unintentionally skirted around accidentally making a consumer version of the It Follows\u2019 Shellphone, despite creating devices that use all its technology.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not hard to find people who are disappointed by this, either. A post about the device was made on the r\/INEEEEDIT subreddit<\/a> in 2019, and more recently, a story titled \u201cI\u2019m still thinking about the Clam Phone in It Follows\u201d appeared on Collider<\/a>.<\/p>\n Capturing interest<\/p>\n Not just with phone obsessives<\/p>\n The Shellphone has made such an impact that those connected with the movie are still being asked about it.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/galaxy-z-flip-6-vs-fold-6-outside-half-opened.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"it-follows-clam-phone-open-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/it-follows-clam-phone-open-1.jpg\")
\n Credit:\u00a0It Follows<\/p>\n