Feature Phone
Any mobile phone that is not a smartphone.
Feature phones have proprietary operating system (OS) firmware. If they support third-party software, it is only via a relatively limited platform such as Java or BREW.
Compared to software for smartphones, Java or BREW software (for feature phones) is often less powerful, less integrated with other features of the phone, and less integrated into the main user interface of the phone.
See: smartphone
Last updated May 24, 2013 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
