Serene

Serene was a premium mobile phone created through a joint venture between Bang & Olufsen and Samsung Electronics. The partnership was intended to combine Bang & Olufsen's reputation for minimalist industrial design and high-end consumer electronics with Samsung's experience in mobile-phone engineering and production. It also gave Bang & Olufsen a route back into the mobile-phone market after an absence of several years, while allowing Samsung to pursue the expanding luxury handset segment. The phone was released in Europe in the final quarter of 2005 and was distributed through selected stores in international markets rather than treated as a conventional mass-market Samsung handset. Its reported retail price was approximately $1,275, or about €1,000 at the time, placing it among the most expensive mainstream mobile phones available. The product was positioned against premium devices, including high-end Nokia handsets, and emphasized design, materials, and the physical experience of use over a long list of conventional mobile features. Serene used a distinctive clamshell form made from two sections joined by an aluminum hinge. An internal power-assist mechanism helped the phone open fully. One half contained a circular keypad with a scroll-wheel interface reminiscent of an iPod-style control, while the other carried the liquid-crystal display. The arrangement placed the screen below the keypad during ordinary use, a design choice intended to reduce contact between the user's face and the display and to improve the handset's balance in the hand. The phone could also be inverted for alternative handling. The device supported core mobile functions including voice calls, text messaging, multimedia messaging, and photography. Its feature set was deliberately restrained: the camera had a resolution of only 0.3 megapixels, and functions such as games that were common on many contemporary phones were absent. This reflected the product's communication-first design philosophy and Bang & Olufsen's broader preference for simplified interfaces. At the same time, the unconventional form introduced practical compromises. The camera was mounted on the side of a hinge, making photography awkward, and access to the battery compartment required a special screwdriver. Serene was followed by the Serenata, announced and released in October 2007. The successor placed greater emphasis on music and included a slide-out speaker, while carrying an even higher reported retail price of approximately $2,000. Together, the two products represented a short-lived attempt to establish a premium design-led mobile-phone category before smartphones and touch-screen ecosystems reshaped the market. Publicly available reference material documents the products and partnership, but does not establish the present corporate status of the Serene brand or the exact date on which sales ended.

Serene emerged from a collaboration between Bang & Olufsen and Samsung Electronics aimed at the high-end mobile-phone market. The companies brought complementary capabilities: Bang & Olufsen contributed its design language and premium consumer-electronics positioning, while Samsung supplied mobile-phone technology and manufacturing expertise. The venture also served separate strategic purposes. Bang & Olufsen could return to mobile phones after several years away, and Samsung could broaden its presence in the luxury segment, where it competed with premium offerings from manufacturers such as Nokia. The partnership was not Bang & Olufsen's first cooperative mobile-phone project. Earlier products associated with the company had been developed with Philips and Ericsson. Serene nevertheless presented a particularly visible expression of Bang & Olufsen's design philosophy. Instead of attempting to match ordinary feature phones specification for specification, it reduced the handset to a visually distinctive communication object with carefully considered physical interaction. Released in Europe during the last quarter of 2005, Serene was sold through selected stores in Europe and other parts of the world. Its reported price of approximately $1,275, equivalent to roughly €1,000 at the time, placed it firmly in the premium category. The handset's high price was supported principally by its industrial design, construction, interface, and brand collaboration rather than by advanced imaging or entertainment specifications. The physical design consisted of two sections joined by an aluminum hinge. A motor-assisted hinge helped the phone open completely. One section contained a circular keypad and scroll-wheel control, while the other contained the display. In normal use, the screen sat on the lower section and the keypad flipped outward. The arrangement was intended to reduce the likelihood of the display becoming greasy during calls and to distribute the phone's weight more comfortably. The design also allowed the handset to be inverted for alternative use. Serene provided voice calls, text messages, multimedia messages, and basic photography. Its 0.3-megapixel camera and omission of games and other common features demonstrated the product's deliberately narrow focus. However, the design introduced usability limitations. The camera's position on the side of the hinge made photography difficult, and the battery compartment could only be opened with a special screwdriver. These compromises illustrate the tension between the phone's sculptural design goals and everyday practicality. A successor, Serenata, was announced and released in October 2007. It retained the premium design-led approach but made music a more prominent part of the proposition through a slide-out speaker and related audio functionality. The successor was reported to retail for approximately $2,000. Available reference material does not document a later continuation of the line or provide a definitive formal discontinuation date. Serene and Serenata are best understood as early luxury feature phones from the period immediately before smartphones transformed expectations around mobile interfaces, software ecosystems, and multimedia capabilities.

• 2007

  Serenata succeeds Serene

  [1]Serene (phone)en.wikipedia.org

  The successor was announced and released in October 2007 with a slide-out speaker and a stronger emphasis on music functions.

• 2005

  Serene released in Europe

  [1]Serene (phone)en.wikipedia.org

  The jointly developed Bang & Olufsen and Samsung handset entered European distribution in the final quarter of 2005, with selected international availability and a reported price of approximately $1,275.

A luxury mobile-phone offering centered on minimalist industrial design, premium materials, and a simplified communication experience rather than broad feature coverage.

• Premium feature phone · 2005

  Serene

  A premium clamshell handset jointly developed by Bang & Olufsen and Samsung. It used an aluminum hinge, a motor-assisted opening mechanism, a circular keypad with scroll-wheel control, and a display positioned on the opposing section. The phone supported calls, text and multimedia messaging, and basic photography, but intentionally omitted or limited features common on ordinary phones. Its 0.3-megapixel camera and hinge-mounted placement reflected the product's age and design priorities.

• Premium music phone · 2007

  Serenata

  The successor to Serene, released in October 2007. Serenata extended the collaboration's luxury-phone concept with a slide-out speaker and a more prominent focus on music functions. It was positioned above conventional feature phones and reportedly retailed for approximately $2,000.

• 2005

  Enter the premium mobile-phone market with SereneProduct launch

  Background

  Bang & Olufsen and Samsung formed a joint venture to combine design expertise with mobile-phone technology and compete in the high-end handset segment.

  Action taken

  The partners introduced Serene in Europe and selected international markets as a design-led, high-priced alternative to mainstream mobile phones.

  Aftermath

  The collaboration continued with the Serenata successor in 2007, which increased the emphasis on music and audio presentation.

  Reported retail price. $1,275 (approximately €1,000) (At launch in 2005)

  Source

1. 1Serene (phone)en.wikipedia.org