“Fifteen years on from the launch of the Motorola Razr and there is still something innovative about it.”
This month marks the 15th anniversary of the Motorola Razr, undeniably one of the most stylish mobile phones of all time. To celebrate the birthday of the original hip flip-phone, we have shortlisted the world’s most iconic mobile devices, from fashionable to functional, from brick to slick. Here are our top picks…
The Nokia 3310 (2000)
The Nokia 3310 model evokes a sense of nostalgia like no other. It was THE mobile phone of the millennium. If you didn’t own one, someone you know did. It offered simple pleasures, like being able to physically remove the outer case of the phone and replace it with one of a different colour, and boasted a battery life that would probably see you through a Prime Minister. But, of course, the real piece de resistance was the undisputed champion of mobile games: Snake — the only game that one could idle away most of one’s younger years on and not feel any remorse. Snake was worth it.
T-Mobile Sidekick (2003)
T-Mobile’s Sidekick — formally known as The Danger Hiptop — was the brainchild of three former Apple employees: Andy Rubin, Matt Hershenson, and Joe Britt. Apple’s influence is not missed when we look back on the creation of this device. With its qwerty keyboard, (albeit pretty terrible) internet access, and larger-than-average screen, you could say that the Sidekick paved the way for the smartphones of today. It certainly cemented itself in popular culture as the phone you needed to have in the early ’00s because, let’s face it, if it was good enough for Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg — it was good enough for the rest of us.
The Motorola Razr (2004)
Fifteen years on from the launch of the Motorola Razr and there is still something innovative about it. It was the first phone that properly challenged what a mobile device could look like. Its razor-sharp edges and flat metallic body were incredibly futuristic to the 2004 consumer. We all wanted one. Most of us had one. And although the first camera phones hit the market a couple of years previously, by the time the Razr had reached our pockets we were officially a camera phone generation — made all the more popular by the fact that we could shut our phones with a satisfying snap after taking — what was admittedly — a fairly grainy picture.
Blackberry Bold (2008)
The Blackberry was the ultimate ‘business’ phone and, despite its absence from the smartphone race today, it’s still fresh in our minds as an iconic mobile device — one used by Barack Obama long after its hey-day had subsided. The Blackberry Bold was arguably the most prestigious Blackberry device, boasting a leather-backed case, Bluetooth and 2-megapixel camera. While the Blackberry initially attracted senior banking-types lured in by the phone’s security features, by the time the Bold launched we were all tap tap tapping away on our iconic Blackberry keyboards.
iPhone 3G (2008)
Not the first ever iPhone, sure, but the second iteration of Apple’s iconic smartphone — the iPhone 3G — brought with it a fundamental difference: The App Store, a tool which has completely transformed the way we consume information, entertain ourselves and go about our day-to-day lives. When it was first launched, the App Store offered 552 apps — today there are around 2 million, and over 500 million people visit the App Store every week. It’s staggering to look back on the first apps, like stocks and address book, which we used fairly infrequently, and compare them to the apps we use today: online banking, Spotify, Google Maps, Uber and WhatsApp. It’s fair to say that, in 2019, most of us depend on apps more than we care to admit…
Samsung Galaxy Note (2011)
Android, often pitted against the Apple as the rival leading mobile operating system, has produced many incredible devices since its launch in 2007, but the Samsung Galaxy Note is — excuse the pun — especially noteworthy. The Galaxy Note, as described by Android Authority, is “iconic for one main reason; it invented the phablet industry. The current trend in the market is for big screen devices but before the Galaxy Note, a 5.5-inch display would have been ridiculed. The Galaxy Note showed that it was possible.” Pair this enormous screen with our love of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, and you essentially have a television/cinema in your back pocket.
iPhone Xs (2018)
To be honest, there are a number of different iPhone models that are iconic in their own way, but the iPhone Xs — like the iPhone 3G — has one critical factor which puts it head and shoulders above the rest: it’s eSIM enabled. eSIM enables consumers to switch easily between providers — much the same as we do currently with Wi-Fi networks. It also allows travellers to switch to local tariffs when abroad, doing away with hefty roaming charges and giving consumers the freedom to travel spontaneously without having to consult or switch providers in advance. (Of course, travellers and holidaymakers might prefer to just download the My Truphone app, which can connect them at super-fast LTE speeds in 44 top destinations worldwide.)
Like the App Store before it, eSIM adoption will fundamentally change the way we connect via mobile — it’s only a matter of time before it hits mainstream culture in the same way.
