Recently, I set a goal for myself – to collect a collection of the first smartphones from large companies. I studied message boards, eBay, and eventually ordered a couple of devices. While flipping through all these endless pages of online stores, I was surprised at what progress has happened over the past 10 years.
Indeed, in 2012, I could not even imagine that in 10 years I would own a compact smartphone (iPhone 13 mini), which would be ten times more powerful than my first computer on Intel Celeron from 2007.
So let’s remember what the first smartphones from well-known companies looked like. Perhaps some of you even had one.
1. iPhone (2007) and iPhone 13 (2021)
iPhone came out in 2007 and if it didn’t blow up the market, then at least it changed it. With this smartphone, Apple showed other companies that a modern smartphone can be quite comfortable with gesture control.
The body was made of aluminum, and the standard camera could only take photos. In 3G and 3Gs, all the shortcomings were corrected, the App Store appeared, and the iPhone 4 became the canon of the modern smartphone.
The iPhone 13 line has retained all the principles that Apple has been laying down for 15 years. This is especially true for the iPhone 13 mini. I recently bought one of these and was delighted.
2. Xiaomi Mi 1 (2011) and Xiaomi 11 T Pro (2021)
Few people know, but the history of Xiaomi did not begin with smartphones, but with a shell (firmware) MIUI, which has been available for hundreds of Android smartphones. However, her own smartphones helped her to gain a foothold in the market, the first of which was Xiaomi Mi 1released in 2011.
One of the features of the smartphone was a transverse display from Sharp. Its feature is that it can reflect light, so readability was maintained at a high level even in bright sunlight. In the end, everything came to Xiaomi 11T Pro.
What to say about him? A good modern flagship. Xiaomi has developed its own type of devices. For a relatively low price for a flagship (53,990 rubles), there is a 108 MP camera, a 120 Hz screen with Dolby Vision, and a Snapdragron 888 chip.
3. LG GW620 (2009) and LG V70 ThinQ (2021)
LG began its journey in the production of smartphones in 2009 with the release of LG GW620. The device was running Android 1.5 and was designed as a side slider with a QWERTY keyboard. For that time it was quite not bad smartphone.
Then there were many interesting devices in the history of the company. For example, LG G Flex or LG G3. The brand had a lot of fans, and in 2015 I was one of them. But the history of the mobile division ended in 2021. The last device that never made it to the shelves was the LG V70 ThinQ.
And if you can talk about the originality of the 2011-2017 model range for a long time, then everything here is ordinary, but good. The smartphone runs on a Snapdragon 888 processor, is equipped with an AMOLED screen with a frequency of 120 Hz and a 5300 mAh battery.
4. Samsung Galaxy S (2010) and Samsung Galaxy S21 (2021)
In 2010, the first real competitor to the iPhone comes out: Samsung Galaxy S. Whoever treats these smartphones, but really, for a long time only they really competed with the iPhone.
While most Androids looked like old PDAs, the Galaxy S was an iPhone-influenced product. Samsung copied the design from Apple, some patents, because of which the Cupertino even sued. But the Korean company was able to bring to the industry its vision of what Steve Jobs showed in 2007.
And yes, this is not the first Samsung smartphone, but I made an exception for this line, because most people know the company from it. And this is how the current flagship Galaxy S21, presented in 2021, looks like.
5. HUAWEI U8230 (2009) and HUAWEI Nova 9
The company introduced its first smartphone on June 16, 2009. Shipped with Android 1.5 out of the box, later received Android 2.1. Unlike most of its “brothers”, the apparatus didn’t have physical QWERTY keyboard, instead a 3.5-inch screen was installed in it. Which in those days was considered huge.
Exactly the same diagonal was in the iPhone displays from the first generation, ending with 4s. The history of the Chinese company as a manufacturer of mobile devices began with him.
Looking at Huawei Nova 9. Yes, it is the same as all other modern smartphones, but the progress that has happened in the last 10 years is still surprising.
6. Nokia 7650 (2002) and Nokia 9 Pureview (2019)
Nokia launched its first smartphone long before the other companies in our selection, in November 2002. This device was Nokia 7650which was running Symbian OS.
It looked original by those standards, but among its competitors it was especially distinguished by the presence of a camera, which is why it was even called a “cameraphone”. The pictures were taken in resolution 640×480 dots. By modern standards, this is negligible, but for those years the figure was excellent.
The 7650 also defined many of the features of Nokia devices that the company has been focusing on. These are cameras, design, software chips and the Symbian operating system.
She helped the company conquer the market and leave it pretty quickly. Now the Nokia brand is owned by the Chinese conglomerate HMD Global and produces Android smartphones. The current flagship is Nokia 9.
7. Sony Ericsson P800 (2002) and Sony Xperia PRO-I (2021)
In the early 2000s, Ericsson (one of the largest companies in those years that produced mobile phones) faced a shortage of components. It’s all because of the huge fire that happened at the Phillips plant and destroyed all the equipment for the production of those same components.
Therefore, Ericsson had two options: sink into oblivion or merge with another brand to continue its activities. In 2001, Sony and Ericsson agreed on the terms of merging their mobile divisions. And a year later, the company, already being Sony Ericsson, presents its first smartphone – P800. Like the Nokia 7650, it ran Symbian.
The screen matrix was reflective, so the phone could be comfortably used on the street. The smartphone also had a camera. In all future phones, Sony will pay special attention to it. This principle has been preserved in modern Sony Xperia PRO-I.
What was your first smartphone? Share your memories in the comments.
(31 votes, overall rating: 4.65 out of 5)
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podogreykin
@podogreykin
The biggest fan of technology and Star Wars in the galaxy. I still listen to music from my iPod. Have a question or comment: [email protected]
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