Do you remember your history of smartphones?

It seems I have a bad habit, I don't even always upgrade but I almost always buy and sell used:
Nexus One, HTC G2, Samsung Note 1, HTC One X, Galaxy S4, LG G2, HTC 10, Nexus 6P, Essential PH1, Pixel 2XL, iPhone 11, Asus ROG 2, Pixel 3a, Galaxy Note 10+ (current).
 
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HTC Amaze 4G, Samsung Galaxy S3, something, Sony Xperia XZ, Blue something, Unihertz Jelly Pro, Pinephone, Moto G6, Oneplus N200.

I'm pretty rough on the USB ports and batteries.
 
Verizon xv6800 windows mobile, HTC Droid incredible (original), Samsung galaxy s3, Samsung galaxy s6 (didn't want it, but the s3's power button became defective :() followed soon after by a Samsung galaxy A50. That's it for smartphones. So really just 4 in around 15 years...
 
My first smartphone was some LG folding phone with a keyboard on it. After that I got an Android phone of some kind but I can't recall which one. After that I got a Samsung Galaxy 2, 3, 4, Pixel 2 and Pixel 4a. I've had three work issued iPhones as well. I've had an iPhone 5S, iPhone 7 and the iPhone 8.
 
Samsung Note 2, LG V20, Pixel 6.

Yup, quite a short list and hopefully the Pixel 6 will last me at least 5 years.
 
Pantech PN-820 -- Windows Mobile 5 flip-phone without touchscreen or QWERTY. Exactly as unwieldy as it sounds. Impressively terrible battery.
Blackberry Storm -- Exactly as bad as it was reputed to be.
Motorola Droid -- Exactly as good as it was reputed to be.
Motorola Droid 3 -- Aggressively mediocre.
HTC DNA -- Decent device; great screen, weak battery.
HTC M8 -- Spectacular little performer all around.
Google Pixel 2 XL -- Great device; shit screen.
Google Pixel 6 -- Great device; shit fingerprint reader.


For bonus points prior to the smartphones, there were a few PDAs...

Sony Clie PEG-SJ20 -- Snazzy off-brand PalmOS 4 device on the cheap.
HP iPAQ HX2415 -- Windows Mobile 2003 device; not on the cheap.
HP iPAQ HX2490 -- Warranty replacement for the HX2415. Windows Mobile 5 and more onboard storage.
 
iPhone (the original EDGE one, I paid so goddamn much for that phone, I think like $900 adjusted for inflation!)
<went back to dumb phones for a long time>
iPhone 5C
Nokia Lumia 1520
Nokia Lumia 1520 (again, broke the first one)
Nokia Lumia 640 (broke the second 1520, took the L and went with a cheap replacement)
Alcatel Idol 4S (bricked this one trying to Root it lol)
LG Stylo 3+
iPhone SE (still one of my favorite phones ever, and I got it for peanuts)
LG G6 (the phone that showed me that Android phones CAN be good if they're actually given any amount of CPU power and RAM at all)
Motorola G Stylus (2021 version, surprisingly good for a budget phone thanks to the A76 cores)
 
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Nokia 3650 -> back to dumb phones
Openmoko Neo1973 (and later FreeRunner) ran out of patience before they were usable
Some LG thing branded Virgin Mobile running Android 2.2 (power button stopped working)
One of the pre-release windows phone 7 developer devices that was running the released build and I used scripts and tools to push v7.5 and later to (this thing was always crap and microsoft didn't want anybody to use them or update them, but the keyboard was fun; when the camera software got so bad the flash would fire after the image was captured, it was time to let it rest in piece)
some android thing, I borrowed from work, but my intern needed it; also, Android would become unusuable when you got a storm of SMS, as regularly happened cause of my job, wp was much better at letting you use the phone while getting as many messages/second as t-mobile would let me receive for 30+ minutes until the queue had all been received (yeah, our monitoring was crap, fixed it eventually)
Nokia Lumia 521 was fine, but I wanted something else
Blu Win HD (but it was orange), fell in water and was falling apart from fidgetting anyway
Lumia 640, windows phone was done and Robins were on sale
Nextbit Robin (fell in water)
Wife's old LG Nexus 5x, left job and wanted a fresh messaging history
Essential Phone (had a power controller issue, wouldn't turn on, had to wait a week for it to fully drain the battery, and then it seemed fine, but I didn't trust it)
Wife's old Nextbit Robin, was kind of old and crusty by then
Motrola G power (2020)

Yeah, that's a lot of phones... But they were all cheap (the 3650 was free when my boss upgraded to something better)
 
LG Optimus V
Nexus 4
OnePlus One
LG G4
Galaxy S7
LG V30
LG V40
iPhone XR
iPhone 13
 
Sony Ericsson brick

Motorola razer maybe, had friends with them that I fixed theirs so much I may be hallucinating that one

Some black and orange slider phone.

IPhone 3 gs+ or whatever the hell apple's naming scheme was.

Samsung s5 (still works, use as backup)

Samsung s9 plus now And an iPhone 8 for work.

Replaced the screens/batteries on the s5, s9 , and iPhone 3 over the years from the wear and tear. I think I average about 4 to 5 years per phone. I only upgrade when forced to via planned obsolescence, or the tech being unable to do the apps I need (see prior point), or if the whole package is beyond wrecked.

When I broke the s9 plus screen, that s5 did well enough. Makes me want to flash back to an older OS or a custom one.
 
I've always had more that one smart phone at a time so my list will be somewhat weird.

HTC EVO
Galaxy S3 (work) and S4
Galaxy S5 (work) S7, Note 7 (Had to return 3 of them) and iPhone 7 after returning the 3rd Note 7
Galaxy S7 (work), S7 and iPhone XR
Galaxy S20, Galaxy S10E (work), iPhone 11 and 12. Currently.
 
Window Nokia Lumia 900 (amazing well made phone I wish I could still use)
WP 650. Better rez screen which was needed but not a premium phone like the 900 was.
Moto G5 play? Battery swelled and screwed the screen. Great for the price.
Moto G7 play. Great for the price.
Samsung A12. Great for the price so far. On day 3 and ya gotta get used to all the shit they changed.
 
  1. Nokia N80.
  2. Samsung Galaxy S.
  3. Nokia Lumia 920.
  4. Huawei Honor 6.
  5. Huawei Honor 8.
  6. Huawei P30 (now as a backup phone).
  7. Samsung Galaxy S22.
 
Windows Pocket PC
Blackberry
Blackberry Curve
iPhone 4s
iPhone 5s
iPhone SE 2016
iPhone SE 2020
iPhone 13 Pro Max

I do have a bunch of my old regular cell phones still somewhere in a box.
cell_phones.jpg
 
Droid 2 Global
Samsung galaxy s4

Both acquired free with contract renewal. Can see why they stopped that practice. S4 has lasted me about 8 years with only one battery replacement. Dread the day I need a newer one. May skip the data plan I almost never use and just reactivate my old flip phone. If they even allow such things.
 
ChronoReverse said:
It seems I have a bad habit, I don't even always upgrade but I almost always buy and sell used:
Nexus One, HTC G2, Samsung Note 1, HTC One X, Galaxy S4, LG G2, HTC 10, Nexus 6P, Essential PH1, Pixel 2XL, iPhone 11, Asus ROG 2, Pixel 3a, Galaxy Note 10+ (current).
Click to expand...

Yep, you have a problem. :) My bet is you probably got them all for a good price so........
 
Susquehannock said:
May skip the data plan I almost never use and just reactivate my old flip phone. If they even allow such things.
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If you're in the US, good luck getting anything that can't do VoLTE activated, and some carriers need it whitelisted. Elsewhere a lot of places are leaving a small band of 2G open, so your old flip phone would likely work for a long time.
 
Iphone 3
HTC Inspire
Iphone 5
Galaxy S5
Iphone 6
Galaxy S7
Iphone X
Galaxy S21

IIRC of course.
 
I've always used an iPhone as a main, but there have been multiple Android phones and even a Windows Phone on the side.

iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
Motorola Droid/Milestone
iPhone 4S
Galaxy Nexus
iPhone 5
Lumia 1020
Nexus 5
iPhone 6
iPhone 7
Essential Phone
iPhone XS
iPhone 13 Pro
Pixel 6

That's not including brief times spent with other devices, including BlackBerrys, other Windows Phones and even Firefox OS. My largest regret is that I never owned a Palm webOS device like the Pre or Pixi. I still have a soft spot for them, even if they had their flaws.
 
blackberry curve
Blackberry bold(2 different versions iirc)
Iphone 3
Iphone 4
Iphone 6
Sony experia 5 (work phone absolutely hated it)
Iphone 10
Samsung s8 (work)
Iphone 12

Usually get 2+years out of my phones other then my iphone 6 i think i got 4 out of it. We are at the point of diminishing returns with them, i will prob keep this 12 for a while.
 
Droid 2 Star Wars R2D2 special edition
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus Star Wars special edition

Probably keep this Note 10 plus awhile. Newer phones with pen don't seem like much of an update losing the micro sd card slot for my videos and flacs.
 
HTC Tilt/Titan II
LG Optimus T
HTC Amaze 4g
LG G2
LG G3
LG G4
LG V20
LG G6
One Plus 6
One Plus 7t
Google Pixel 4 Plus (gave to daughter)
Google Pixel 6

This exludes all the nextel, blackberry, samsung work phones I've had in the same time frame.
 
zpackrat said:
Those early Motorola flip phones were good for 30-60 minutes talk time, oh the good old days.
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my buddy had one with the slim battery, so probably half the talk time, but made the phone ultra slim.
And we didn't talk much on the phones back then since you paid for every minute you were on it.
most of the time I used the phone to let friends know if I was running late when going to the movies or dinner.
One of our friends was on the phone all the time back then and was averaging like $500/mo in calls, sometimes hitting $1000 in a month.
He was happy when unlimited calling came out.
 
I’ll take a stab at it:

Motorola V600
Sony Ericsson W810
LG Shine
LG Xenon 2
Apple iPhone 3GS
HTC Inspire 4G
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPhone 5
Samsung Galaxy S4
Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone 6S Plus
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Samsung Galaxy S8+
Essential Phone PH-1
Google Pixel 2 XL
Apple iPhone X
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
 
Iphone 3g, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 pro.

Work gave me an S8 Samsung too. Lost that.
 
LG enV2
Nokia 6800
Blackberry Pearl
Verizon XV6800
Samsung SCH-i730
Motorola Droid
HTC Droid Eris
Nokia E71
HTC Inspire
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
Samsung Droid Charge
Galaxy S
Galaxy Nexus
Galaxy Note II
Galaxy Stellar
Palm Pre
Droid Bionic
LG G2
Galaxy S5
Nokia Lumia 928
Moto X 2013
Moto X 2014
Nexus 5X
Google Pixel
Essential PH-1
Google Pixel 2
Galaxy S8
Google Pixel 3
Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 4a
iPhone SE2
Google Pixel 5

I'm sure there's more...
 
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kirbyrj said:
LG enV2
Nokia 6800
Blackberry Pearl
Verizon XV6800
Samsung SCH-i730
Motorola Droid
HTC Droid Eris
Nokia E71
HTC Inspire
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
Samsung Droid Charge
Galaxy S
Galaxy Nexus
Galaxy Note II
Galaxy Stellar
Droid Bionic
LG G2
Galaxy S5
Nokia Lumia 928
Moto X 2013
Moto X 2014
Nexus 5X
Google Pixel
Essential PH-1
Google Pixel 2
Galaxy S8
Google Pixel 3
Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 4a
iPhone SE2
Google Pixel 5

I'm sure there's more...
Click to expand...
:eek:
 
kirbyrj said:
LG enV2
Nokia 6800
Blackberry Pearl
Verizon XV6800
Samsung SCH-i730
Motorola Droid
HTC Droid Eris
Nokia E71
HTC Inspire
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
Samsung Droid Charge
Galaxy S
Galaxy Nexus
Galaxy Note II
Galaxy Stellar
Droid Bionic
LG G2
Galaxy S5
Nokia Lumia 928
Moto X 2013
Moto X 2014
Nexus 5X
Google Pixel
Essential PH-1
Google Pixel 2
Galaxy S8
Google Pixel 3
Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 4a
iPhone SE2
Google Pixel 5

I'm sure there's more...
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What fascinates me is that you were brave enough to own the E71. I tried multiple Symbian 60 phones (and beyond), and the platform was such a mess. Couldn't use it for more than a day or two without it becoming so unstable that you had to reboot... and don't get me started on the UI asking you to choose a connection type every time you wanted to do something online. I have fond memories of the hardware, but it doesn't surprise me at all that Apple and Google kicked Nokia's ass almost from day one.
 
Aurelius said:
What fascinates me is that you were brave enough to own the E71. I tried multiple Symbian 60 phones (and beyond), and the platform was such a mess. Couldn't use it for more than a day or two without it becoming so unstable that you had to reboot... and don't get me started on the UI asking you to choose a connection type every time you wanted to do something online. I have fond memories of the hardware, but it doesn't surprise me at all that Apple and Google kicked Nokia's ass almost from day one.
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If I remember right, I used it for a couple weeks and then pulled the SIM card out and put it in the inspire and iphones. At the time that was the only way to get certain phones on to straight talk was to sim swap and the only phone you could Sim swap with was the e71. The hardware was pretty nice and reminded me of the BlackBerry Pearl which was a great phone for me, but the user experience was terrible.
 
Disregarding flip/fold phones with internet, these are the "real" smartphones I've owned:

iPhone 3G
iPhone 4
iPhone 5
Galaxy S4 Active
Moto X Pure
Pixel 2 XL (had it for 2 weeks and then returned it)
Pixel 2
Galaxy S20+
Pixel 6

Of those, I'd say the iPhone 4, Moto X Pure, and Pixel 2 have been my faves. The Samsung phones have been the ones I've struggled with the most. Great hardware, horrendous software.
 
kirbyrj said:
If I remember right, I used it for a couple weeks and then pulled the SIM card out and put it in the inspire and iphones. At the time that was the only way to get certain phones on to straight talk was to sim swap and the only phone you could Sim swap with was the e71. The hardware was pretty nice and reminded me of the BlackBerry Pearl which was a great phone for me, but the user experience was terrible.
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That was my thinking at the time. The E71 was a wonderful BlackBerry-alike in terms of design, but the software was rough. At least a BlackBerry didn't melt into a puddle of broken code.

I still think the biggest mistake Nokia, Microsoft, Palm and RIM made was to watch Apple's iPhone introduction in 2007 without immediately panicking and planning a complete overhaul of their mobile operating systems (Palm didn't wait long, but still). Nokia was more than a little haughty, and its first real answer to the iPhone was the 5800 XpressMusic... I tried it, and even at the time it was pretty clear Nokia didn't understand how large a threat Apple really was.
 
Nokia was screwed anyway, because they had pissed off US carriers with their preinstalled voip client and lost distribution in the US. Even if they had managed to make a nice phone (like maybe the N9, if all of the rest of their corporate drama wasn't happening), it would have been an uphill battle to sell it in the US without getting carriers back on board. And since the US dominates tech news, it's hard (but not impossible) to be really successful without appearing in the US market.

S60 was pretty cool in some ways though. It didn't have system push messages, so if you wanted to get instant messages instantly, it needed to stay connected; when I was at a chat company, we'd regularly see some s60s connected for 45+ days on the same TCP socket. Sadly, my 3650 was way too old to run our client, also it had about 30 minutes of battery life if you were messing around with WAP sites, so I imagine it would have been worse if I was using it to chat. :)
 
toast0 said:
Nokia was screwed anyway, because they had pissed off US carriers with their preinstalled voip client and lost distribution in the US. Even if they had managed to make a nice phone (like maybe the N9, if all of the rest of their corporate drama wasn't happening), it would have been an uphill battle to sell it in the US without getting carriers back on board. And since the US dominates tech news, it's hard (but not impossible) to be really successful without appearing in the US market.

S60 was pretty cool in some ways though. It didn't have system push messages, so if you wanted to get instant messages instantly, it needed to stay connected; when I was at a chat company, we'd regularly see some s60s connected for 45+ days on the same TCP socket. Sadly, my 3650 was way too old to run our client, also it had about 30 minutes of battery life if you were messing around with WAP sites, so I imagine it would have been worse if I was using it to chat. :)
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True, for Nokia and others the problems really began years earlier. I'm just operating on the premise that these companies had their big opportunity to "see the light" on January 9th, 2007, and in many cases squandered it.

Symbian had a lot of potential, but outside of the very last releases it felt like it was designed by engineers, for engineers. That is, things technically worked but were never really built for everyday users who (rightly) have limited tolerance for awkward interfaces and bugs.
 
iphone (original)
iPhone 3g plastic back cracked and a piece fell inside near the mute button, jamming it
iphone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 6 I liked the larger size over the 4
iphone 8
iPhone XS Max (gave away to family member)
iPhone 11 Pro Max loved the rounded edges, was comfortable to hold
iphone 12 Pro Max accidentally broke this one to bits
iphone 13 pro max to replace the 12 (wish apple would go back to the rounded edges/screen)
tried the Samsung S22 Ultra but the battery would die really fast, i’d have to charge it at least twice a day. Returned for a refund.
tried the google pixel 6 pro and although I didn’t have any fingerprint reader issues, just didn’t really like it all too much. Returned for a refund (loved the rounded edges tho!)
 
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toast0 said:
Nokia was screwed anyway, because they had pissed off US carriers with their preinstalled voip client and lost distribution in the US. Even if they had managed to make a nice phone (like maybe the N9, if all of the rest of their corporate drama wasn't happening), it would have been an uphill battle to sell it in the US without getting carriers back on board. And since the US dominates tech news, it's hard (but not impossible) to be really successful without appearing in the US market.

S60 was pretty cool in some ways though. It didn't have system push messages, so if you wanted to get instant messages instantly, it needed to stay connected; when I was at a chat company, we'd regularly see some s60s connected for 45+ days on the same TCP socket. Sadly, my 3650 was way too old to run our client, also it had about 30 minutes of battery life if you were messing around with WAP sites, so I imagine it would have been worse if I was using it to chat. :)
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It was a massive mistake to scrap MeeGo and go with Windows Phone. N9 was extremely promising start for MeeGo as proper phone os. It was really smooth & fluid to use and multitasking worked great.
 
Tup3x said:
It was a massive mistake to scrap MeeGo and go with Windows Phone. N9 was extremely promising start for MeeGo as proper phone os. It was really smooth & fluid to use and multitasking worked great.
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I would've rather seen Nokia embrace Android relatively early, myself, but I did think MeeGo was interesting from my experience (I did get to try an N9 ever so briefly).

Some people accuse Stephen Elop of being a trojan horse meant to keep Nokia from using Android or MeeGo, but to me the real issue was that Windows Phone and Windows Mobile were half-hearted efforts. They were very much the work of a Ballmer-era Microsoft where no product was allowed to challenge the supremacy of Windows for PCs. Apple and Google triumphed in part because they were willing to reorient their entire businesses to focus on mobile — Microsoft effectively starved the Windows Mobile/Phone team because Ballmer thought it must be secondary to the desktop Windows unit. The platform was always playing catch-up, and never really had a must-have device (the Lumia 920 and 1020 were about as close as you got).
 
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