In a world of ultra modern, highly anticipated and carefully designed and crafted smartphones, it’s easy to forget about the early days of mobile phones.
There were no apps, internet access and texting was a lengthy process. Many mobiles were essentially designed to purely make phone calls, and the bells and whistles we are used to today weren’t in existence yet.
Let’s take a journey into the past and look at some of the best, worst and most memorable mobile phones we all remember.
If you ask virtually anyone what the most indestructible smartphone of all time was, the odds are they will immediately blurt out “The Nokia 3310!”
Released in 2000 - the same year Y2K fear was slowly evaporating - and created by the then-leader in mobile phone technology, Nokia, the 3310 had a battery that seemingly never went flat, a sturdy design that could withstand an apocalypse, and the best mobile feature we all love and miss….Snake.
Before hi-def smartphone games, making sure the snake didn’t catch up to itself was our obsession. The younger generations of today just wouldn’t understand.
The good news is it’s been re-released. We aren’t joking.
It’s not so much an early mobile phone as the smartphone that introduced us all to what mobile technology was capable of.
Released in 2007, the original iPhone was sold with the prophetic slogan “this is only the beginning” - and what an understatement that was.
A labour of love for the late, great Steve Jobs, the first ever iPhone flew off the shelves the minute it was released - and Apple has never looked back even for a second.
To look at the palm-sized, somewhat-simple design of the original and compare it to the newest iPhone models, you can see for yourself why Apple has become the force it is today.
Smartphone giants are currently battling to release the first ever “foldable smartphone”, but let’s just cast our minds back for a minute…to when the flip phone was the must have, hottest mobile phone to be seen in possession of. And a time when Motorola was still a giant in the mobile scene.
Released in 2004, the V3 series was sleek, modern and boasted the thinnest mobile phone design up until that point. It came in colours like black or hot pink, and gave you that little buzz of self-importance when you flipped it open to take a call.
Like with its early mobile counterparts, the V3 design meant you were an expert at navigating a QWERTY keyboard. Kids these days just wouldn’t know the feeling of accomplishment when someone commented on your keyboard speed and agility.
Blackberry. Rarely discussed today, but a decade ago it was the smartphone to own. Many would remember that when Obama was sworn into the office of the President, the requirement to lose his personal Blackberry was his biggest concern.
The Blackberry Curve, released in 2007, stepped into the future with a built-in camera and multimedia features, but still included a non touch screen keyboard that wasn’t ideal for those with bigger hands….or nails. This is the point in mobile history where we all learnt to type with the sides of our fingers.
You may not know this particular model by name, but if you give it a quick Google image search you’ll definitely know it by sight.
A throwback to when brands Sony and Ericsson rarely collaborated without the other, the pocket-sized T68 was released in 2001, and featured a then-impressive colour screen, predictive text and, wait for it….customisable ringtones. We remember the days all too well.
In fact, this mobile phone model was so coveted, it was James Bond’s phone of choice to call back to Mi6 with in Die Another Day. The Sony Ericsson boom did in fact die another day, in the end.
Which mobile phone was your first? Which would you use again if you had to? One of the best parts of technology today is choosing your own mobile accessories, smartphone cases and phone screen protectors personalised to your own style.
Shop EFM’s smartphone accessory range today.