A thought for the weekend, and considering this horrendous weather, a thought that might take you back a few years!
I’m asking, what has been your favourite mobile phone, you have owned, ever!
I’ll start with mine. Now for me, this is an incredibly tough choice, it’s between the Nokia 3310, and the Nokia 3200! (Not exactly high-fliers, but allow me to explain).
The 3310 was my second mobile (2003), a replacement for my Sagem MC3000 that died on New Year (at twelve o’clock, which was a little scary). I hopped off down to Woolworths, and invested I think £60/£80 (I forget exactly) on the 3310.
Not only has this phone got to be the most difficult to break (I’ve thrown, sat on, dropped, spilt drinks over, run over mine quite a few times), but it also came with some of the most majestic ringtones ever (which I played whilst having dinner in Croydon Park Hotel once, not a good idea mind you), and the best game ever — Snake!
What I loved most about this phone was not only it’s simplicity, highly annoying but brilliant ringtones, and the game we all got addicted too, but just the pure awesomeness it had. It was revolutionary at the time, and its fascia customisability was brilliant. I bought quite a few myself, and new buttons (although the originals were the best).
Then in 2005 (January the eleventh to be exact), I bought my fifth or sixth mobile; the Nokia 3200. Now I was stepping into the world; my first camera phone and my first phone that had “Polyphonic Ringtones”. This set me back, £80 with £10 free “airtime” as Virgin called it.
From what I remember many people hated the device, the buttons were odd (which I loved, and can text better on today, than on any other device), the camera was rubbish (but what did I care), and I was able to ruin the look of my phone by making paper templates to stick in the clear cover.
The 3200 had the features that the 3310 couldn’t aspire to yet; a Radio, a torch, the camera, voice recording, and a colour screen!
Nokia proved them-selves on durability with this phone, more so than any other. At this time in my life I spent the majority of my time falling off of my BMX, being completely clumsy, and still throwing things about. And it still worked perfectly (despite the ageing battery) until September 2007.
It’s not only the devices I love, but the memories associated with them. The voice-recording feature on the 3200 was brilliant for recording dodgy singing or peoples snoring; and the 3310 day long battles with friends, competing to get the highest score on Snake. (Mind you, I was eleven!)
I could ramble on endlessly about the brilliance of both of these devices (which I would be more than happy to use today). Which brings me to you!
What is your favourite mobile device you have ever owned? It can be one you have now, or one you had ten years ago; whatever it is, tell me what it is. I wonder how many of us consider our current devices our absolute favourites!
Any questions, or anything send me an e-mail at Samantha@mobileindustryreview.com and I’ll get back to you!
Let the memories commence!
The Sony CMD-Z5 was one of my best. I really liked it's on-board voicemail function and small form factor. It was super!
Nice choice!
Can't say I have ever used one though! It reminds me of this phone someone in my family owns, I think it was an LG, and it was tiny. Apparently it was a limited edition or something. I can't think of the name!
Samantha.
Possibly the SPV C500, great size, great battery life, nice interface. Probably the best SPV before they went downhill.
Or, possibly the iPhone
Tough question! For me it's either the Ericsson I first owned, since it was my first (no idea what the model was, was a square black brick on the original ATT Wireless' TDMA network circa 1998); the E61i because it was such a tank of a phone; or my current N95. Probably would go to the N95, as I've used it longer than most phones I've owned, and the camera pushes it over the top.
I have a dilemma between three:
-my current Nokia N73. Despite the shoddy build quality it was extremely useful in many situations. It also got me into Symbian.
-SE K750i – great cross between usability and customizability. I had W800i software with a couple of modifications, probably the best all rounder ever.
-Nokia 6310(i) – I owned the regular version in black, now I have a 6310i for my second SIM card. Great battery life, IR, Bluetooth, voice recorder, Java (in the “i”), great ergonomics, audio and build quality. Both my 6310's were abused by their previous owners, the regular one had a small part fall off in the battery panel, so it rattled a bit, but the phone was still working. It once fell down pretty badly, and the only thing it needed was fixing the SIM card in the slot (it seems that it moved out a bit). Oh, and both these have Snake 2 with multiplayer (via IR). Phenomenal machines.
Hell, screw the dilemma. I pick the 6310(i). Unlike the previous two, it's a classic and while it can't technologically stand against the two other machines, it's a great design. Quite a shame they don't make phones this well nowadays.
I had a CMD-J5, similar spec to the Z5, brilliant phone! It had one of the best screens of any phone at the time, looked so different to any other phone on the market and was incredibly slim. It had quite a following amongst modders and even had a cameo in the fantastic PS2 game “The Getaway”.
I have to say that my all time fave phone is my N95. It is as durable as the old school Nokia bricks, I can comfortably surf the web on it – albeit using opera mini. I have the latest official firmware and it hasn’t restarted itself in months. To top it off I have just received an email to my phone before it was even a twinkle in the eye of my desktop gnotifier. I have been using the new push email service from 3uk (text email to 33000 to give it a go) supports multiple accounts including exchange, gmail and hotmail at the same time and seems to be a lot easier on the battery than other solutions I have tried. I have had this phone for a year and imho nothing comes close to it’s functionality on the market or even on the horizon at the moment.
I second the 6310i. I even had a “dual-SIM” card so I could swap between my business and personal lines. The battery-life was amazing. Something like 17 days on stand-by. You're lucky to get 17 hours on some modern phones.
It is, however, pipped at the post by my Blackberry 8800. The 6310i was amazing for its day – but the 8800 is such a powerhouse. The GPS is fast and accurate, the screen is crisp and clear with excellent fonts, the keyboard is comfortable to type on, the browser is shockingly good once you get used to its quirks. Finally, the Blackberry application is genius.
I use my N95 8GB for its camera and UMTS – but the battery isn't wonderful and the GPS just isn't as good.
Oh, memory lane!
The Kyocera 3035, without a doubt. No-one in Europe would have seen one, as it was a CDMA/AMPS device, but *what* a phone.
The overall feel, the fit in your hand, the quality of the buttons, from the polished surface to the action to the sound of the keypress, the rocker, all were fantastic. The monochrome screen was visible in any light, from any direction. The voice quality and speakerphone were brilliant, and today's handsets can but hope to approach with heads bowed.
In its carkit it was superb. Callers could not tell the difference at all. It had a 'magic word' function (mine was 'hippopotamus') which would activate voice dialling or answering. No faffing about with buttons or Bluetooth. Just say the word and the 3035 awoke to your command. You could buy a desktop phone cradle with keypad and handset, which then functioned as a deskphone – again, with the voice control.
It made not-too-shabby mobile modem, and had a bunch of simple-to-use apps – I can recall using the countdown timer daily to remind me to do stuff.
Plus it could survive a serious drop onto a hard surface with nary a scratch.
I'd use one again in a heartbeat.
…..<sniff>….must have somefing in me eye….
/m
Easy – N95-1 – No question. Nigh on two years old and still getting firmware update attention from Nokia.
Latest update yesterday brought speed, stability and camera improvements, along with auto screenrotate and it still looks good!
Great stuff.
Mark
Sad day we live in where phones actually need firmware updates! But are they really “phones” any more or PDA's with modems and microphones?
humm tricky
i loved the C500
i loved my nokia 8850 that was so tactile.
p800 was awesome.
N70 was a breakthough device as camera/social web suddenly went mobile.
i <3 my N95.
but i also had an s710 – i would love a Nseries with a slide out keyboard.
So how else do we get spangly new features if they don't do updates?
There is no way products can be 100% perfect – they would not produce anything else ever if they were…
M
Hooray for the 6310i! Mine's sat at home still in good condition and long battery life. Used for when I go camping and need a simple, reliable phone. Even better with a solar charger.
Hi Samantha, thanks for this great post – it really got my mind off this miserable Friday afternoon.
My favourite phone ever is without a doubt the Nokia 8110 – the original banana phone, and the very first phone I had. It’s styling is still unmatched to this day, the only flaw being the short aerial sticking out of the top. If memory serves, it was the very first slide phone and the mechanism of sliding the cover open/closed to answer/end a call felt much more natural than pressing a button to do the same. It was also the phone they used in the Matrix, with the added feature of the trigger slide which everyone raved about at the time. So, how can I be so sure that it’s still my favourite phone? Well, I’ve got one sitting on the desk in front of me and I still use it occasionally for nostalgia’s sake. If it weren’t for the unreliable battery (it’s 8 years old!) it would be my everyday phone.
OOOH, so now you've got me adding my S710 to the list — that phone was tops! Big screen (for the time), the swivel was great, and that was the BEST camera phone at the time in my opinion, largely because of the CCD sensor it used.
And now come to think of it, how can I leave out my Nokia 8290.. that was the first phone I ever tethered on, before I knew it was called tethering, over IR to my laptop at 9.6kbps.
Ok, too many to decide, I love them all!
The banana was ace!
The Getaway… I'm sure I have that in my PS2 collection somewhere! I'll have a look for it!
Thanks for that, I've never used an N95 either. I'm sure James will vouch for it though!
Thanks for reading, and commenting!
Samantha.
Nice choices!
Thanks for reading and commenting,
Samantha.
Sony's are good… But seeing as I've only just found that out, I couldn't mention it.
The N95 seems like a popular and strong choice though!
Thanks,
Samantha.
My most famous phone ever, and I still have it in my bedside cabinet, is the delightful Sony Ericsson T610. Mine spent its entire life in one of those Scuba style jackets and is therefore in mint condition. I have it unlocked and have used it on several networks. The T610 for me was a delight to handle and operate. I especially loved its discreteness, slipping into any pocket unobtrusively. It was quite customisable with ring tones and such, but I generally don't bother with such things. In its time the T610 was ahead of the game by miles for function as well as form and style. James Bond himself would not have looked out of place with a T610 in his kit.
My next most famous phone ever is currently in my pocket, an Apple iPhone 3G. For me it is the simplicity and functionality. Yes, it has its omissions, but I can live with all of those as the benefits [to me] outweigh the negatives.
The 610 rocked!
Nokia 9000i because I could send and receive faxes (it was the 90's) and had a great aerial that could be flipped back and forth. Super tension toy.
T68 with the T68i firmware. Classy looks with non slip back; small; bullet proof Bluetooth; basic email and great battery life.
N90. For build quality; speaker phone; great camera; inbuilt stand (the camera); big keys; Symbian V8; transformer shape that beats the N93; high res screen.
SE P990i. Still has everything apart from GPS/HSPA. Great with fring; touchscreen, very robust (inspite of memory issues), Opera Mini a breeze to use with touch; push email and a battery that lasts for days.
Don't know if it's too late to comment now, but my favourite mobile ever was my seventh, a Panasonic GD87, a nice little clamshell phone. At that time it had the best colour screen on the market (a huge 132 x 176 p), it had — wow and behold — GPRS, a camera (0,1 Mp!), a nice outer screen, which flashed in blue, green or orange when someone called or a SMS came through. It even had MMS. AND it had T9 in all the four langugages I need, something which I've never seen in any other phone.
I used it for three years, and it worked perfectly, but of course it got hopelessly outdated and was eventually replaced by a Nokia N80 — an OK phone, but not the love of my life…
Its never too late to comment! I really enjoed the GD87!
Don't know if it's too late to comment now, but my favourite mobile ever was my seventh, a Panasonic GD87, a nice little clamshell phone. At that time it had the best colour screen on the market (a huge 132 x 176 p), it had — wow and behold — GPRS, a camera (0,1 Mp!), a nice outer screen, which flashed in blue, green or orange when someone called or a SMS came through. It even had MMS. AND it had T9 in all the four langugages I need, something which I've never seen in any other phone.
I used it for three years, and it worked perfectly, but of course it got hopelessly outdated and was eventually replaced by a Nokia N80 — an OK phone, but not the love of my life…
Its never too late to comment! I really enjoed the GD87!
Don't know if it's too late to comment now, but my favourite mobile ever was my seventh, a Panasonic GD87, a nice little clamshell phone. At that time it had the best colour screen on the market (a huge 132 x 176 p), it had — wow and behold — GPRS, a camera (0,1 Mp!), a nice outer screen, which flashed in blue, green or orange when someone called or a SMS came through. It even had MMS. AND it had T9 in all the four langugages I need, something which I've never seen in any other phone.
I used it for three years, and it worked perfectly, but of course it got hopelessly outdated and was eventually replaced by a Nokia N80 — an OK phone, but not the love of my life…
Its never too late to comment! I really enjoed the GD87!