This "Farreri" phone will make you as cool as your mum thinks you are

I came across a bit of an oddity the other day. A "Farreri" flip phone modelled after the famed sports car.

There was a magnetic "my mum thinks I'm cool" energy to it. It was charmingly cursed, lovably ostentatious, extremely counterfeit. What more could you want? Well, other than moving wheels so it can do a sick loop-de-loop on the Hot Wheels track you've still got in storage.

I had so many questions about the Farreri. Mostly "why", but also, "is this a way to cut costs on my midlife crisis?" and "why can't I shake the mental image of a coked-up stockbroker taking calls on it?".

I assumed the Farreri phone was an oddity from the early 2000s, from simpler times where phone manufacturers weren't afraid to get weird. It turns out it's very much a phone you can buy right now. The Farreri phone is actually called the W8+, but despite endless Googling, I've got no idea who makes it. I guess they're trying to avoid the whole getting sued thing.

Either way, the W8+ is available online right now through a couple of eBay stores and a few suspect looking online stores. You typically find it listed as some variant of "W8 sport car cellphone" or "luxury sport car cellphone horse logo flip". I've always wanted a horse logo flip.

Key specs for the W8+ include a Mediatek MTK 6252 processor, a 2-inch display, 2GB of expandable storage, and 1.3MP rear-facing camera, and a 1000mAh battery. What a beast. The unit I got my hands was out of charge, but based on eBay photos, it has sick LEDs that add to the coolness factor. While you clearly want it in red for speed reasons, it looks like you can also get it in yellow and pink.

It will set you back around USD$45, but one eBay seller will generously knock 50 cents off the price if decided to pick up two. But as tempting as it is to buy a Farreri of my very own, none of the sellers are overly upfront about its connectivity. Is it a 2G phone? Is it 3G? Will it even work in Australia? How strong are the Kirk Van Houten "I sleep in a racing car" vibes? Maybe I'll just have to buckle up and take the ride.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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