15 most iconic mobile phones of the past

Of the numerous gadgets that we use on a near daily basis, smartphones are probably the most important. Mini computers in their own right, modern-day smartphones not only help us stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues, but also let us check email, use social media, take pictures and do a lot more.

From the basic mobile phones that ruled the roost a few years ago to the ultra-powerful touch-based devices of today, phones have come a long way. And during this time, there are some mobile phones that became so popular that they left a permanent mark.

Here’s a look at 15 such iconic phones of the past.

Unveiled in 1996, the Motorola StarTAC is a clamshell (flip-style) mobile phone that’s the first of its kind. It was a 2G phone that had a monochrome graphic display of 4x15 character resolution. The phone supported mono-ringtones, vibration alerts and had a 500mAh battery.

The history of mobile phones can never be complete with Nokia. The Finnish manufacturer has lots of iconic devices to its credit, with the Nokia 3310 certainly being the most widely-known. Tough as a rock, the 3310 (and its siblings with similar model numbers) was launched in 2000 and came with customizable Xpress-On covers. The iconic device also introduced the world to the smash-hit Snake II mobile game.

The dirt-cheap Nokia 1100 too is among the best-selling mobile phones of all time. Sporting a no-frills design and stellar battery life, the 1100 was launched in 2003 and had a built-in flashlight. It could hold 50 text messages and came with a cool-collection of ringtones. We can personally attest to its toughness, as this author has seen it fall from a four-story building and survive to work just fine.

Launched in 2003, the quirky-looking Nokia 6600 was one of the earliest smartphones from Nokia. It ran Symbian OS and featured a VGA (0.3 MP) resolution rear-camera with video-call functionality. Having 6MB of internal memory (expandable externally), the phone had a 5-way joystick and a 2.16-inch TFT display.

A true symbol Nokia’s engineering prowess, the 9210 Communicator was a business-class smartphone that opened up like a laptop to reveal a mini-keyboard. It was unveiled in 2000 and had a colour screen. It is one of the few mobile phones that can send and receive fax. From internet access to email and from unit converter to a fold-out antenna, the 9210 had it all.

If there’s one mobile phone that can be considered a style statement first and a communication device second, it has to be the Moto RAZR V3. Launched by Motorola in 2003, the Moto RAZR V3 was, true to its name, a razor-thin clamshell phone with a sleek design. It boasted of an aluminium body and an external glass screen.

Released in 1999, the Ericsson T28 was the slimmest mobile phone during its time, weighing a mere 83 gram. The phone was dual-band GSM compatible and had a phonebook for storing up to 250 contacts. Classic games like Tetris and Solitaire were also on-board. Apart from its own collection of monophonic ringtones, the phone allowed users to compose their own.

Although its glory days are long gone today, there was a time when Blackberry’s handsets were the very definition of what a business-class communication device could be. And the 2006-launched Pearl 8100 is an embodiment of that. Having a SureType keyboard, the smartphone came with a trackball for precise navigation. It was also the first Blackberry handset to offer a 1.3MP camera. Having a colour screen, the 8100 had the company’s renowned security features.

Launched in 1996, the signature feature of the Nokia 8110 was a mechanical slider that came down to reveal the keyboard. Not just that, the slider had an integrated microphone so that when it was opened, it came closer to the user’s mouth for better voice clarity. The 8110 was featured in the 1999 science-fiction blockbuster The Matrix.

Another classic from the Finnish manufacturer, the N-Gage was probably the world’s first mobile phone that doubled up as a portable gaming console. It had the earpiece and microphone placed on the sides (rather than top and bottom). True to its name, the Symbian-powered N-Gage could keep users ‘engaged’ for really long time.

Outed in 2007, the N95 represented the best of Nokia at the time of its launch. The phone was powered by Symbian S60 and had a unique two-way sliding mechanism, which could be used to access either the numeric keypad or media playback buttons. Having a 5MP rear-camera and everything from Bluetooth to Wi-Fi, the Nokia N95 was considered a formidable rival to the first iPhone.

Back in the days, Sony Ericsson was a force to be reckon with when it came to mobile phones with capable cameras and outstanding audio quality. The K750, launched in 2005, was a candybar-style phone that used the company’s famous ‘joystick’ for navigation. Its volume control keys on the side could be used to zoom in/out while in camera mode.

Launched by none other than the late Steve Jobs in 2007, the Apple iPhone ushered in a new era in the realm of mobile phones. The all-touch device vowed the world with its futuristic (for that time) features like on-screen keyboard, quad-band GSM support and a gamut of sensors like accelerometer, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. And even though it lacked an App Store when it launched, the iPhone paved the way for modern-day smartphones. The rest, is history.

HTC might be going through troubled times now, but it holds the distinction of being the manufacturer that outed the first commercially available smartphone to run Android. HTC Dream had a horizontal slide-out touchscreen that hid a full keyboard underneath. It had 192MB of RAM and 256MB of internal memory. Running Android 1.6 Donut, the smartphone came with a 1,150mAh battery.

Samsung is a name that has become almost synonymous with class-leading Android smartphones. And even though the recently launched Note 7 is a beast of a device, the first Galaxy Note, launched in 2011, started it all. Boasting a huge (by that time’s standards) 5.3-inch touchscreen and a stylus, the Galaxy Note can be considered responsible for popularizing the term ‘phablet’. With the Note, Samsung played a risky hand at a large-screen smartphone. And considering the screen sizes of today’s smartphones, it’s safe to conclude that it paid off just fine.