Best Color for Cell Phone: Which?

Here’s which is the best color for your cell phone:

Choosing your cell phone color is not a trivial decision at all.

Colors reflected from your phone actually distort the colors you see on your smart screen—that is unless your phone is black.

Thus, black is a popular choice.

But consciously or unconsciously, our choice of color is mainly making a personal statement.

So if you want to learn all about what your chosen cell phone color reveals about you, then you’re in the right place.

Let’s jump right in!

Best Color for Cell Phone: Which? (Everything to Know)

What Is the Best Color For Your Cell Phone?

Let’s suppose you have spent hours going over the features of an iPhone 11, an iPhone 11 Pro, and an iPhone 11 Pro Max. 

You have shopped a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, an LG W41 Pro, and a Motorola Razr. 

You checked out models by Huawei, OnePlus, Oppo, Lenovo, and Nokia. 

You have finally decided on the features you want at the price you want, and you come to your next major decision—what’s the best color for your new cell phone?

Choosing the right color for your cell phone may seem like a trivial decision, but it’s not.

There are two major reasons that the color of your cell phone makes a difference.

One reason for choosing the color for your cell phone is how the color of your phone affects the colors on your screen. 

Colors reflected from your phone distort the colors you see on your smart screen, that is unless your phone is black.

This is one reason some consumers prefer black phones. (But it’s not the only reason for choosing a black phone, as we will explore in more depth a little later in this article.)

Another important reason for choosing a particular color for your cell phone is to make a personal statement.

Whether your choice of color is conscious or subconscious, it tells the world a little something about you.

This is a reason a large minority of consumers choose phones in colors other than black or white.

What Is the Psychology Behind Choosing a Certain Cell Phone Color? (3 Common Groups)

There is no doubt that black is the most popular color for cell phones.

Although the data are a little dated (they date from 2012), a survey for the website phonearena.com found that 34.63% of consumers preferred black cell phones, and white was the color of choice for another 23.55% of cell phone buyers. 

The next most popular color, cyan, came in a distant third at 8%.

After that, blue, dark grey, and red followed.

#1 Black Cell Phones

Buying a black cell phone is consistent with regarding cell phones as essential for everyday life.

People who buy black or white phones often just walk into a store, ask for a phone, and take whatever the salesperson brings out, as long as it isn’t too different from their usual color preferences.

The salesperson is likely to offer a black cell phone because black is a popular choice.

Psychologists tell us that black is authority, elegance, power, and authority.

After all, Prada, Rolls Royce, and Chanel use it in their logos.

But the luxury brands that use black in their logos don’t let it dominate their logos.

Similarly, people who buy black cell phones don’t make their cell phones the center of their wardrobes, and to the extent, they consider cell phones as a fashion accessory, they are likely to add color with a cell phone case.

People who buy black cell phones are often described as consumers who go with the flow.

But their reality may be that they expect their cell phones not to be a distraction from the way they manage the flow of their day.

#2 White Cell Phones

The color of your phone influences your readiness to answer it.

A small white phone, psychologists in Germany and Britain have discovered, focuses attention better than a larger phone that doesn’t stand out as well against the background of a desk or table.

That is unless the surface of the desk or table itself is white.

It is not likely that people who buy white cell phones consciously rationalize, “I want to be sure I pick up important calls, so I am buying a white phone. 

It is possible, however, that people who need to be alert to calls from their bosses or important customers or spouses or children instinctively buy white phones for that reason.

#3 Phones in Colors

Fashionable colors change every year.

People who are in the know about which colors are “in” choose cell phones in those colors.

Canva tells us that in 2020, for instance, most North American consumers preferred earthy, calming colors such as tans, light blues, and light greens. 

In 2021, consumers are more eager to embrace the unexpected.

The new “In” colors include blue, green, and orange shades, such as cerulean blue, ash green, and burnt coral.

Colors tell people how to feel.

From the perspective of the companies that make cell phones, colors convey the personality of their brand.

They might introduce a brown and red phone around Valentine’s Day to capture playfulness.

Or they might release a red cell phone to communicate an association with power and prosperity.

Generally, blues and neutral colors have a calming effect.

Pick up your phone, and start the conversation in a calm frame of mind.

Greens point to nature and wholesomeness. Yellow is cheery. And orange makes people feel hungry (dieters beware).

There aren’t many of us who have an “audience” for details of our appearance down to the level of the color of our cell phones.

The color of our phones is more about what the colors say to us than the impressions we want to reinforce in others who see us use them.

But while there isn’t a phone in every imaginable color, there probably is a case in any color you fancy.

What About if You Have iPhone 11?

One thing worth noting about the iPhone 11 is that it has an all-screen design.

So the color of your phone (there are six, purple, green, black, yellow, white, and red) won’t affect how you see the colors on your screen.

And you won’t notice the color of your phone while you are using it.

However, the color of your iPhone or any other phone isn’t as important when you put it in a case unless you put it in a clear case or a bumper-only case. 

So the color of your cell phone isn’t something to worry about and certainly should not stand in the way of getting a cell phone at the price you can afford and with the features you need.

Author

  • Theresa McDonough

    Tech entrepreneur and founder of Tech Medic, who has become a prominent advocate for the Right to Repair movement. She has testified before the US Federal Trade Commission and been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, helping influence change within the tech industry.