What was your first cell phone?

[Jos]

Smartphones have come a long way in the past decade. Nowadays it’s hard to imagine going about an entire day without these always-connected devices, with access to countless apps and your entire digital life, but there was a time when simple, bulky phones with texting capabilities did the trick.

In this Weekend Open Forum we want to take a stroll down memory lane as we ask our readers: What was your first cell phone ever and what are some of the favorite models you’ve owned in the pre-smartphone years?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/62083-weekend-open-forum-what-first-cell-phone.html

 

[VitalyT]

Actually, the largest mobile phones are made these days, in the form of tablets that support phone calls.

 

[gooderguy]

That's funny because my first cell phone was just like the one in the picture. An old Motorola brick phone I got in 1990. One thing I miss, it turned on from a power off state much faster than any new smart phone. Cost me over $1100. The first time I used a cell phone was in a government car I drove, I remember calling my wife on it as I was driving, it wasn't illegal back then, it was such a big deal to be able to make a phone call from a car.

 

[mctommy]

1997. Nokia 6110 on pacbell wireless before the Cingular/AT&T days. I think the plan was like $30 for 100 minutes or something.

 

[noel24]

Nokia 3120, original, not the 'classic', and it was with me for nine years, till 2014, when I bought current Samsung GT-i9506. It's a huge leap in usability for me, with GPS, maps and enterntaiment, but don't believe it to outlast Nokia ;-)

 

[Experimentongod]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_StarTAC

It's funny because it's technically smaller than my current Samsung Galaxy S5

 

[mosu]

Motorola ,Siemens, Nokia 3330, Nokia 6110, Nokia 6310 and the list goes on to... Nexus 4.

 

[psycros]

One of the Palm Treos I think. It was pretty nice - lots of apps, full keyboard..but the damn D-button was a ROUND METAL MARBLE and impossible to use. If not for that usability failing I would have stuck with it but I traded it in for a Nokia E62. This was an E61 that AT&T had ripped the 3G out of and introduced an overheating problem in the process. If you overtaxed it by tethering or the like it would reboot about every 10-20 minutes. Other than that I loved the thing. All day battery, incredible reception, built like a tank, it was Nokia's answer to Blackberry and actually used the Blackberry data service. Oh, and it had probably the finest implementation of Opera Mini ever.

 

[trgz]

BT Jade aka NEC P100 in '93 - company issue. I had to put all my other gear (wallet, keys pager) in RH side of jacket to help offset the weight. I did borrow one of those bigger transportables once or twice (BT Topaz?) but thankfully I had to give it back!

 

[Nobina]

Nokia 3410

 

[Versutus]

http://www.mobilephonehistory.co.uk/ericsson/ericsson_ga628.php

This was my first phone in '99. I was 15 back then. Now I'm using a Sony Ericcson W810i since '08.

 

[Axle Grease]

The Nokia 100 I have now!

 

[Myth1337]

Nokia 5110 (Snake! xD)

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Motorola StarTAC 130. A 1998 job if I remember correctly.

 

[cliffordcooley]

 

[Bhaskar Shetty]

Nokia 3310, the hard rock phone

 

[risc32]

I was using this Nokia here up until late last year. It was a good phone, great battery, very tough .
. My first was a star-tac, mid to late 90s. It was small.
. Anyone here remember when SNL ran that w.farell skit when he whipped out his ultra tiny cell phone and the others in that skit could barely keep it together?

 

[dexterkarthik]

Sony Erricsson T100

 

[davislane1]

My first cellphone was a Samsung SCH-u410. Replaced it in 2011 with an iPhone 4. When I brought it in for the upgrade, everyone in the store was fascinated by it. You'd think it was some type of artifact.

 

[Uncle Al]

It was the "brick". Great phone. I was using it one afternoon and a guy tried to rob me in broad daylight. He shocked me so bad that I hit him with it, knocked him completely out. I waved down a cop and thanks to the phone I had foiled a crook .... and the phone survived it all! I still have it around here somewhere ... just can't give away a friend like that!

 

[jin monroe]

Nokia 5800 xpress music.

Replaced it with an S5 it was a seamless transition

 

[davislane1]

It was the "brick". Great phone. I was using it one afternoon and a guy tried to rob me in broad daylight. He shocked me so bad that I hit him with it, knocked him completely out. I waved down a cop and thanks to the phone I had foiled a crook .... and the phone survived it all! I still have it around here somewhere ... just can't give away a friend like that!

I'd be willing to bet that's the best reception he's ever had.

 

[lumbeeman]

Tandy CT-350. Sometime in the early to mid 90s, I think.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Nokia 5190.
For a while I saved mobile users' number as an international number (+1 xxx xxx-xxxx) the text messages were free. Oh and the snake game was pretty cool.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Samsung intensity II. After I graduated high school, I bought my first smartphone, the nexus 5, when it came out. Which I still own and use. Yet to find a suitable replacement or anything I cant do. I just replaced the battery, so its got at least 2 more years left in it.