Modern smartphone design offers almost no unique solutions. The rectangular monolithic form has differences in the design of camera units, colors, roundness of certain corners... However, globally, the variety is nowhere near what it was 20-30 years ago.
Yes, there is a niche of foldable smartphones that has recently intruded into everyday life and brought something "new". But certain features of working with them have reduced the design to the same thing - a repeating appearance with a difference in the patterns of camera blocks, body size, colors, etc.
Cell phones had thousands of times fewer features. At certain points, it was good if they had color displays or more than three options for polyphonic ringtones. But how much more interesting and daring were the design solutions of that time. In this short article, we decided to recall a few of these devices, case options, and features that still hold a certain place in our memories (and hearts). So, I invite you to plunge into nostalgia for a few minutes with Mezha's editorial team. (Spoiler alert: we will often mention Nokia, but we will try not to miss other manufacturers).
Nokia 3310
Yes, the beginning is trite, I agree. However, it is indeed one of the most popular cell phones. It didn't have a color display or any exceptional features. It could only entertain with the legendary Snake or Space Impact games. Of course, there were calls and messages...
But! In the history of cellular communications, the Nokia 3310 has remained labeled a "brick" because you could test the strength of this case as much as you wanted. Of course, it could still be damaged. However, the design made it fairly easy to replace the outer plastic panels and thus get a nearly new phone.
The model was so popular that in 2017, HMD, using the Nokia brand, revived the classic phone.
Nokia 3310 also had standard buttons. As with most phones at the time, touch screens were not widely used, and all actions were performed with keys. It was absolutely inconvenient compared to today. But you could use the phone with any gloves on, and you could type messages without looking at the screen. Funny times.
In fact, two features of old phones can be summarized in the following two generalized points.
Removable batteries
Although the cases of individual phones may have appeared to be closed, their backs could still be opened quite easily. At that time, there was no general standard for water and dust protection or claims of monolithicity. Instead, you could easily access the battery, which was easier to remove than the batteries in a TV remote control. And under the battery was often a SIM card slot (mini-SIM, to be exact).
First, it was easy to upgrade the battery without having to visit a service center. Secondly, an external charger could be found for certain batteries, allowing you to "charge" your phone in a minute by changing the battery. Almost no one used this option, but it was possible.
Modern smartphones cannot boast of this. And even with the updated requirements to provide users with more opportunities to repair gadgets on their own, almost all smartphones are designed to be quick to replace the battery. However, they are also charged via a standardized connector, not as it was back then: "Who has a power supply for a thin Nokia?"
Physical keyboards
Most cell phones didn't have touchscreens (we'll come back to this later). Therefore, any interaction took place using the keys on the body. And although it's hard to imagine how it was possible to do all this now, even I could type and send a message without looking at the screen.
However, the interesting thing here is quite different. Despite the fact that most phones had a regular set of keys, this did not stop experiments with their placement. Some of the first smartphones also boasted such features. And sometimes keyboards became almost the main feature of not just a line, but the entire brand.
BlackBerry
Devices from the well-known Canadian manufacturer BlackBerry (or RIM - Research In Motion) are remembered primarily for their QWERTY keyboards. Of course, it was not the only company that produced them. For example, there were some models from Nokia, Palm, Motorola, and Samsung among the competitors. But BlackBerry is probably the first to come to mind when it comes to QWERTY keyboards.
In addition, BlackBerrys had a reputation for well-secured communication systems, so they successfully occupied their niche for business. Later, it was the emergence of touchscreen smartphones (and the stubbornness of management who did not believe in the success of the iPhone) that buried the BlackBerry concept.
Nokia E90
But there were more options. For example, the Nokia E90 might have looked like a thick communicator for 2007 with the "face" of the Nokia E51, which was covered with a hefty case. In fact, it opened like a book, with a larger display and keyboard inside. Leaving aside the details, the concept of modern folding smartphones is quite close to this.
Nokia E70
In contrast to such solutions, the QWERTY keyboard could have been obtained in a much more interesting way. The Nokia E70 could also seem like a thick phone. But it also opened. Moreover, half of the case went up, above the display. Then the phone had to be turned to work correctly. Also, the clicks from fixing the position were very cool.
Before that, by the way, there was a non-folding version of the Nokia 5510, whose design resembled the same Nokia 3310, but with a QWERTY keyboard. It looks very strange now, but at the time, such a phone was a good indicator of a user's "seriousness."
In fact, Nokia's E line included solutions for business. With these devices, users could reply to messages, work with documents faster, or even use a browser. But models like the E70 were not widely popular, so it was often difficult to see such a gadget.
Siemens SX1 and Nokia 7600
The bizarre shapes did not stop there. For example, the Siemens SX1 had a standard set of keys located on the sides of the display. Of course, this arrangement of controls took some getting used to, and at first it was not very convenient to dial a number or send a message. But over time, my hands got used to it.
Some Nokia variants also used a similar trick, but had a much more radical approach to design. The Nokia 7600 had keys around the display, and the phone's body was shaped like a funny mango or leaf. It was also hardly a convenient gadget, because, like the SX1, it required both hands to be free for full operation. But the shape was definitely original.
Motorola Razr
As for the shapes, it's hard not to think of the legendary "clamshells". Now they have a slightly different idea and have much more features. However, at one time, flip phones were incredibly popular, and there is an undisputed leader among them - the Motorola Razr.
We have already dived into this story in more detail.
Serene
From time to time, manufacturers have dabbled in strange designs, such as the Serene, a joint project between Samsung and Bang & Olufsen. It's definitely not a competitor to the popular Razr, but it also had a folding body and a keyboard in the style of even older landlines. I've never seen anything like it, and I'd hardly want to use it. But, apparently, the model found its buyers.
In addition to the very unusual design, the phone could be noted for its interesting charging device - a kind of small station to which the phone was attached.
But along with this, there was also an interesting category of moving bodies - "sliders".
"Sliders"
The idea was quite simple. The case was divided into two parts. When closed, the display, navigation and function keys, etc. remained in front of the user. They were located on the upper half of the case, which could be "pushed" upward, giving access to the keyboard hidden under them.
"Sliders were not as popular as flip phones. They also had their drawbacks, as the mechanism could get dirty or loose over time. But there were still enough interesting models. Among them we can mention Samsung SCH-E250, premium Nokia N95, Nokia XpressMusic 5300, Sony Ericsson Walkman W580, etc.
Probably one of the most popular, or at least the one that came to my attention most often, is the Nokia 6500 Slide.
By the way, in 2015, another attempt to revive BlackBerry reminded technology fans of the BlackBerry Priv model's case. It already had Android 5 with a subsequent upgrade to the sixth version, an AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808... And all this did not help the brand's owners revive it. But the attempt was not bad.
Let's go back to the past, where there were less popular, but no less interesting manifestations of "sliders."
Nokia 8910i and Nokia 8800
The premium Nokia 8xxx line also offered stylish options. For example, the Nokia 8910i, like its previous versions, was a non-standard "slider" with a titanium case. The phone was "closed", showing only the display. But by pressing the side keys, you could effectively open the keyboard, which, together with the display, smoothly rose from the bottom of the case.
The simpler, but also expensive, version of the Nokia 8800, like several of its modifications, had a thinner body without an automatic keyboard slide out. However, it could be "pushed out" with your thumb. It's not as impressive as the more expensive version, but it's also more interesting than monoblocks or more commonly used cheaper "sliders."
Nokia N810
The sliders could also slide the entire front panel to the side, which exposed the keyboard to the user. Some of them, such as the Nokia N810, even had touchscreens. Moreover, this concept tried to compete with the iPhone and the first fully touchscreen Android smartphones for some time. But, as you can see now, it lost.
Resistive displays
Since we've already mentioned touchscreens, let's take a short break from shapes. An interesting feature of the first mass-market phones with touchscreens was the type of these screens. Unlike today's capacitive screens, resistive screens were used back then. These required a very small force to trigger, not just a simple touch. This way, there were fewer accidental triggers, but it was easier to get into small interface elements with a fingernail (although there were not many such elements at all).
Moreover, some of these touchscreen phones even had a stylus hidden in the case for control, like the Sony Ericsson M600i. It could even be used to draw letters in messages, which the phone would recognize and convert into printed text.
Nokia 3250 and Nokia N90
Back to the shaping. Among other things, Nokia experimented a bit with larger movable elements. For example, the Nokia 3250 could literally twist the bottom of the case 180 degrees. In the standard position, there was a keyboard in front of the user. By turning it 180 degrees, you could get the media playback control keys.
But that's not all. There was a camera on the bottom of the case. So the phone could be "twisted" in such a way as to make it easier to shoot video. In fact, this, of course, did not add to the convenience, but it certainly had a certain "wow factor" for those times.
The Nokia N90 had a similar idea, but with a much more complex body. The phone itself was folding, and the display and the massive camera unit could be unscrewed. In this way, the "flexible" body provided more opportunities for shooting in a position that was more convenient for the user.
In both of these cases, they were probably attempts to mimic the then relatively popular format of small video cameras that had flip-up screens. Or maybe it's just my association. Whatever the case, it was still difficult to call both models comfortable. At the very least, they were large and seemed very clumsy.
Motorola AURA
There were designs that never received a cool name due to lack of attention. For example, the Motorola AURA (R1) had a round display in the center and a cover that literally twisted 180 degrees from the side of the screen, thus providing access to the keyboard.
Samsung X830 had a similar concept, but with a much simpler implementation.
Such image phones were often exceptions to the rule and were not very popular. However, it is difficult to disagree that the solution was very stylish and stood out perfectly among the large mass of simpler phones.
Other forms and features
Certain models were clearly aimed at a female audience. For example, the Panasonic G70 literally looked like a small "cosmetic bag". Believe it or not, it was a competitor to the Siemens Xelibri 6 (yes, there were more than one phone with this shape). Both had the function of a mirror inside the case, which was always with you.
Panasonic G70 and Siemens Xelibri 6
At the same time, if you look at other Xelibri models, it's hard to tell what exactly they look like and who they are designed for.
But the image models did not end there. The Nokia 7280 and 7380 were literally called Lipstick Phones, or "lipsticks." They were elongated and did not look like phones at all. When their displays were turned off, mirrors remained in those places, like on some lipstick caps. These models either had leather inserts on the body or offered stylized cases. They even had built-in cameras.
But what was missing were keyboards. Everything was controlled by five keys and a scrollbar. It must have been a nightmare to write a message this way. However, it was still possible to meet such phones in the hands of satisfied owners.
In contrast, there was a legendary gaming line codenamed Starship, better known as N-Gage. Here, the shape of the case parodied the portable game consoles of those times, and these models were clearly aimed at mobile game fans. Of course, we are not comparing the quality of such games now, but such devices were considered very cool at the time.
However, there were only two of them, and then smartphones with larger and more touchscreen displays and more interesting operating systems left them no chance to continue.
Some models, despite their rather banal appearance, had other features. The Nokia 3220 had two inserts on each side that could be illuminated in red, yellow, and green during a call. The backlighting of the keys and display also flashed to enhance the visual effect.
We also occasionally came across so-called "sports" models that were officially able to survive a fall and were protected from dust and moisture. They probably couldn't be immersed in water the way smartphones can now. But they had to cope with water splashes without any problems. Such models were often wrapped almost in rubber cases, against which the Siemens M65, which even had a metal insert, looked much cooler.
Finally, it's hard not to mention Vertu, Nokia's luxury division that made phones using expensive materials and jewelry. It's definitely not a device you'd see every day on your way to work, but it has been seen in the hands of, for example, famous businessmen, showbiz stars, or MPs.
By the way, the company seems to still exist, producing Android smartphones with sky-high price tags. Moreover, even the recognizable Vertu Signature is still on sale.
Instead of the summary
As you can see from the models mentioned above, the transition period between the first giant mobile phones and modern smartphones had a considerable set of both quite original and bizarre solutions. And at that time, in a sense, the choice of the next phone's appearance was really much greater than it is now.
Of course, the limited functionality freed up the designers' hands, because nowadays a smartphone cosmetic bag with a custom skin for Android can't compete in convenience, let alone popularity, with the flagships of Samsung or Apple. And it will still be expensive. Nevertheless, such phones still had a certain charm and gave their owners more opportunities for self-expression. Nowadays, only iPhone cases do this.
I'm sure we haven't mentioned everything interesting or unusual that could be found among old phones. Therefore, we invite our readers to join us for a "moment of nostalgia" in the comments section, where you can share your favorite options.