These are the 10 most influential phones in history, have you used any of them?

Motorola engineers Martin Cooper and John F. Mitchell might not have imagined what impact their invention, the mobile phone, would have on all of humanity when they made their first call on May 3. April 1973. The original cell phone, the Motorola DynaTAC, was a giant brick and cost $4,000.

Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first public cell phone call on a DynaTAC model on April 3, 1973. Here’s him re-enacting the scene in 2007.

DynaTAC introduced people to the idea of ​​mobile phones, but the mobile devices that we all carry in our pockets have gained popularity over the years thanks to being more compact, more affordable.

What makes a phone so influential? Not just sales. They must introduce a new feature, a special function, or an unprecedented way of working to be considered impactful. It must have a lasting effect on what follows.

The following devices are on the list of the most influential mobile phones voted by Android Authority for their immense impact.

1. Motorola StarTAC (1996)

The Motorola StarTAC was an instant success despite its $1,000 price tag. It was the first popular clamshell phone and reached total global sales of 60 million. The phone was even a hit with filmmakers, as it appeared in movies and TV shows in the late 1990s thanks to its cool opening and closing motion.

The StarTAC has been sold in several different models over the years and is capable of sending and receiving SMS messages, vibrates, and has a replaceable external battery. At the time, it was extremely small, weighing only 88g. If you lived then and had some money left over, the Motorola StarTAC would be the phone you bought. StarTAC has influenced many later generations of flip phones.

2. Nokia 9000 Communicator (1996)

The Nokia 9000 Communicator was a phone that was ahead of its time. You could call it the forerunner of the modern smartphone. It’s a phone combined with a miniature laptop and data modem aimed at business users.

It has a 24MHz Intel CPU with 8MB of memory for user applications and data. It has a full QWERTY keyboard as well as a 640 x 200 display. The Nokia 9000 Communicator even has a fully functional phone on the front and a lightweight smart platform for sending and receiving email, browsing and running. business applications. It was a monster, weighing up to 397g.

The phone cost $1,000 when it went on sale. It prompted Nokia to create a number of successors and served as the forerunner of the advanced messaging phones that were popular in the mid-2000s.

3. Nokia 3310 (2000)

The Nokia 3310 stands out for two reasons: legendary durability and instant chat functionality. The 3310 is an upgrade to the popular 3210, but it goes a step further.

Nokia doesn’t market the 3310 as a “rock pot” phone, but it certainly has great durability. Thanks to the plastic case, it can withstand a lot of strong impacts. The Nokia 3310 also has a replaceable Xpress case that allows owners to change their phone with different colors and patterns.

The phone added a chat app that allowed people to send messages longer than a typical 160-character text message. This has made it extremely popular with texting enthusiasts. Nokia rolled out some other cool features, such as a reminder app, a stopwatch, a calculator, and some games, including Snake.

With global sales of 126 million, it doesn’t surpass the success of the 3210 which sold 160 million, but it is a more impactful phone overall thanks to its messaging tools. And, of course, the series of memes that we entertain today.

Nokia 3310 is so loved by so many people that in 2017, Nokia “refreshed” this phone.

4. Palm / Handspring Treo 180 (2002)

Some might argue which Treo phone is the most important, but it was the 180 that combined PDA with calling capabilities into the same device in the Treo line. That alone is a big first step for Palm and Handspring.

This interesting machine has a monochrome display, resistive touch and QWERTY keyboard, as well as a flip cover that covers the screen and acts as a speakerphone when unfolded. Other specs include 16MB of memory and a 33MHz Dragonball processor. This phone set the stage for many Treos, especially the Treo 600 and 650, which were extremely popular with business users in the 2000s.

5. Motorola RAZR (2004)

The Motorola RAZR is one of those phones that everyone aspires to, earning its rightful place on the list of most influential phones. It took the clamshell form factor to the max with its slim lines and metallic texture. RAZR is sold for 400 USD

It is one of the most important fashion phones and has sold more than 130 million units. Like StarTAC, this machine is very popular with celebrities and in Hollywood. The design of the RAZR was quickly imitated by its competitors. The Motorola RAZR was an icon in its time. Motorola recently revived the RAZR to jump into the foldable smartphone market.

6. BlackBerry Curve (2007)

Similar to Palm’s Treo line, we could argue all day which BlackBerry was the most influential. Is it 6210 or 7290? But Curve is the most important “blackberry” because it was parent company Research In Motion’s first real push into mass-market appeal. The Curve was a huge hit from RIM, which went on to make many Curve models in the years that followed.

Curve has taken the popular trackball navigation from the BlackBerry Pearl and put it in a more user-friendly device than previous BlackBerrys. It has a full QWERTY keyboard, as well as a color display. Some of the specs include a 312MHz processor, 64MB of storage, 16MB of RAM, and a camera. Some variants have Wi-Fi and others have GPS. BlackBerry Curve is the first smartphone for many people.

7. Apple iPhone (2007)

Apple’s original iPhone was perhaps the most influential phone ever to hit the market. It’s not the best-selling product, nor the best hardware, but it’s a collection of ideas that are executed well on a device for the first time.

The big change introduced by Apple is the full-screen design. Of course, other phones of the time also had large screens, but many still relied on a series of buttons to control parts of the user interface. With the iPhone, the entire user interface has been handled on the touch screen itself. The home button is only used to exit the application and return you to the home screen.

Another major advancement introduced by the iPhone was the near-complete browser. It offers a much richer browsing experience when compared to other phones on the market, which often default to text-only websites. The iPhone also integrated with the iTunes Music Store, which was a big deal at the time.

The first iPhone set the stage for a series of later iPhone models and more importantly, the App Store, which would revolutionize the way people use mobile apps.

8. HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1 (2008)

The HTC Dream, sold by T-Mobile as the G1, was the first Android phone to hit the market. Unfortunately, it’s not a good phone.

The hardware isn’t great because of the slide mechanism, the QWERTY keyboard’s buttons are pretty thin, and the phone’s overall performance isn’t solid – but it has taught us a lot. For example, not long after the device hit the shelves, some users learned that the bootloader could be unlocked for root access. That has made it an attractive device to the programming community.

Dream might not have been HTC’s best effort, but it solidified the company as a pioneer in Android and set the stage for what Android would later become.

9. Google Nexus One (2010)

The Nexus One, also made by HTC, was commissioned by Google and launched in the early months of 2010. The phone was the first smartphone that really introduced the idea of ​​pure Android, as it shipped with a single version. clean version of Google’s operating system without having to “put on lipstick” and add a heavily customized interface.

Google sold phones directly to consumers, unlocked and let them use their own SIM cards. It laid the groundwork for the entire Nexus (and later Pixel) line of phones over the years. In the Android market, the Nexus One is a hugely influential product. It later became a Google developer phone, something that all subsequent Nexus and Pixel phones enjoyed. When it comes to the most influential phones, the Nexus One definitely deserves a spot on the list.

10. Samsung Galaxy Note (2011)

Last, but not least, we have the Samsung Galaxy Note – the first version of 2011. The phone is a “big” leap for Samsung. The company made a bet with the idea of ​​a phone with a giant screen and stylus support. Since then, Samsung has offered us a new Galaxy Note series every year, and this phone continues to be the pinnacle of the Korean company’s design, technology and software.

Not long after the arrival of the Note, the average screen size of smartphones started to increase. Even Apple decided to follow the Note’s lead: it introduced the iPhone 6 Plus, which was the first large-screen iPhone. Samsung Galaxy Note entered the list of most influential phones by ushering in the era of large-screen smartphones.

Reference: AndroidAuthority