Samsung raised eyebrows during an announcement of a new range of products on Thursday morning (NZT) that included the claim its latest phone's colour is 'gender fluid'.
The Korean electronics company unveiled three new smartphones, a new smartwatch, two new tablets and a pair of wireless earbuds in the Samsung Unpacked livestream event.
Impressive new features of the new Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra were boasted, including a triple back camera, "buttery smooth" 120Hz display and the "toughest Gorilla Glass on a smartphone".
But it was a claim about the rose gold or 'mystic bronze' colouring of the new phones that made waves on social media.
"Mystic bronze was the best colour to harmonise with haze effects. It is gender fluid and sustainable as well," said Henry Hongmin Kim, Samsung's vice president of design strategy.
Gender fluid people are described on Wikipedia as being a type of non-binary people who "move between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity".
Samsung didn't disclose whether it had done market research that found phone users were bored with what they perceived to be binary male or female phones, or give any other ideas as to the thought behind the claim.
"Not sure 'gender fluid' is the right term to describe Mystic Bronze, guys. I get what you meant but... [grimace emoji]," tweeted tech journalist Holly Brockwell.
"They did not just call the #Note20 gender fluid [facepalm emoji]," added Geekspin editor Helena Stone.
Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra are able to be made now and people who take that offer up should receive their phone by August 21.
