Special Report

47 Hottest Phones of All Time

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More than three quarters of Americans own a smartphone and 95% of Americans have a cell phone of some kind, according to Pew Research Center. As phone technology has progressed over the years, use of the devices has expanded from simple communication to nearly every major facet of life.

The modern telephone has evolved considerably since its invention in 1876, and each development has altered the way people live and interact with the world. 24/7 Wall St. conducted an extensive review of the phones that represented breakthroughs in the industry. From Alexander Graham Bell’s original telephone to the latest iPhone, these devices represent the hottest phones in history.

Some of these phones had limited success on the market, but they still forever changed the way the devices were used. The phone Bell used at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 to introduce the technology to visitors from around the world was owned by few households. Yet this phone changed the perceptions about the capabilities of the technology for public use. Other early Bell phones were also not widely owned by many but represented breakthroughs.

Click here to see the hottest phones of all time

Other phones on this list perhaps introduced smaller technological improvements, but because of marketing, design, and timing, managed to become extremely popular nonetheless. The Nokia 1100, the top-selling phone of all time, capitalized on a simple, cheap design and emerging global markets to sell more than 250 million units worldwide between 2003 and 2009.

Still other phones represented such marked improvements over existing technology at the time that they became widely adopted and used for years. The original iPhone implemented a simple touchscreen design and forever changed the smartphone standard, while also selling millions of devices within the year.

Sometimes, phone design may be ahead of the technology it requires. When cordless phones first came out around 1980, the Federal Communications Commission allocated the phones a frequency too narrow for their eventual popularity. Users experienced frequent interference and would often hear their neighbor’s phone calls. About one-third of all mid-range cordless phones were returned in the product’s early days. This may be one reason why — unlike most innovative phone technologies — not one cordless phone brand ever dominated the market.

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1. Bell Liquid Telephone
> Manufacturer: Alexander Graham Bell
> Release year: 1876

After successfully completing the liquid telephone on March 10, 1876 following two years of experimentation, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words ever transmitted over phone: “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you!”

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Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

2. Bell’s Centennial Telephone
> Manufacturer: Alexander Graham Bell
> Release year:1876

At the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Bell introduced this telephone to visitors from around the world.

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

3. Butterstamp
> Manufacturer: Bell Telephone Company
> Release year:1878

The first phone with both a receiver and transmitter that could be held in one hand, the butterstamp, was designed in 1877 and put into operation in 1878.

phonedoc.com

4. Wall Set
> Manufacturer: Bell Telephone Company
> Release year: 1878

While the butterstamp required users to move one receiver from mouth to ear, later wall sets had separate apparatuses for speaking and receiving.

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Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

5. Blake Transmitter
> Manufacturer: Bell Telephone Company
> Release year: 1880

Inspired by Bell’s invention at the Centennial Exhibition, inventor Francis Blake manufactured a transmitter made of carbon that improved voice clarity.

phonedoc.com

6. Magneto Wall Set
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1882

The Magneto Wall Set, which would become a popular model in homes for years, combined the powerful Blake transmitter with the hand receiver used in Bell’s wall set.

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Courtesy of Planet Retro

7. Telephone Pay Station
> Manufacturer: Gray Telephone Pay Station Company
> Release year: 1889

Within 13 years of introducing the first coin-operated public telephone, 81,000 such phones were installed across the country.

phonedoc.com

8. Common Battery Phone
> Manufacturer: Bell Telephone Company
> Release year: 1900

After a number of improvements to devices used to power the phone, the common battery phone obtained power through the phone line rather than a local battery.

terapeak.com

9. 20B
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1904

The Western Electric 20B, introduced in 1904, was one of the first “candlestick” desk stand phones.

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atcaonline.com

10. 50-A
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1911

With the invention of the coin return, customers no longer needed exact change to avoid overspending on their long-distance phone calls.

Nuberger13 / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

11. 50AL
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1919

Rotary or dial phones were invented in the 1890s but did not become popular for several decades. The Western Electric 50AL was one of the first to use dial technology that required no operator assistance.

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phonedoc.com

12. 300 Type Desk Set
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1937

The 300 type desk set phone was the first to include the bell and circuitry in the base of the unit, a convenience that made the phone widely popular.

phonedoc.com

13. 500 Type Desk Set
> Manufacturer: Bell Telephone Company
> Release year: 1949

After World War II, the Bell Telephone Company refocused on consumer products with the 500 type desk set phones, which came with improved voice clarity and adjustable volume control.

phonedoc.com

14. 554 Type Desk Set
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1955

A variant of the 500 model desk set, the 554 became one of the most popular models of wall-mounted rotary phones.

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phonedoc.com

15. Princess Telephone
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1959

The small size and attractive design made the Princess phone a popular household choice as a second phone to be used in bedrooms. As an added bonus, the phone had an illuminated dial.

phonedoc.com

16. Model 1500
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1963

The Western Electric Model 1500 was the first phone to feature touch-tone dialing instead of a rotary dial. The new feature allowed for more efficient calls and phone menu navigation.

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telephonecollectors.info

17. 1A1 Public Telephone
> Manufacturer: AT&T
> Release year: 1965

AT&T introduced the 1A1 pay telephone in 1965 as a redesign to phone booth phones. The flat fronted, single-slot, pre-pay public phone’s appearance would not change substantially again before cell phones made pay phones largely obsolete.

Donald Genaro / Wikimedia Commons

18. Trimline Telephone
> Manufacturer: Western Electric
> Release year: 1968

The Trimline was the first popular phone to incorporate the dial pad within the handset. Updated models of the Trimline phone, first released in 1968, can still be purchased today.

photobucket.com

19. GTE Flip Phone
> Manufacturer: Webcor
> Release year: 1983

When cordless phones first hit the market, the narrow frequencies allowed by the FCC caused many users to hear their neighbor’s phone calls. The Webcor 512 — better known as the GTE Flip Phone — was one of the first cordless phones with encoding technology that prevented this problem.

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Redrum0486 / Wikimedia Commons

20. DynaTAC 8000X
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 1984

The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was the world’s first cordless mobile phone. Available for $3,995 and with a battery life of 30 minutes, the phone was mostly marketed as a luxury item.

si.com

21. Sports Illustrated Football Phone
> Manufacturer: N/A
> Release year: 1987

In 1987, Sports Illustrated began offering phones shaped like footballs as an incentive for purchasing a magazine subscription. The football phone became widely popular and helped the magazine sell around 1.6 million subscriptions in the five years of the promotion.

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Redrum0486, Anetode / Wikimedia Commons

22. MicroTAC 9800X
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 1989

At the time of its release, the Motorola MicroTAC 9800X was the smallest, lightest phone on the market. The MicroTAC set the design standard for many of the phones that succeeded it.

Wikimedia Commons

23. International 3200
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 1992

The Motorola International 3200 was the first digital hand-size mobile telephone.

Kylerake / Wikimedia Commons

24. Simon
> Manufacturer: IBM / BellSouth
> Release year: 1994

The Simon was perhaps the first smartphone. It had a touchscreen and could be used to send emails and faxes. When it was released, the Simon cost well over $1,000.

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Nkp911m500 / Wikimedia Commons

25. StarTac
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 1996

Motorola’s StarTac was one of the first widely sold flip phones.

krystof.k, nmuseum / Wikimedia Commons

26. 9000i Communicator
> Manufacturer: Nokia
> Release year: 1997

The Nokia 9000i Communicator was one of the first phones that combined email, web browsing, fax, word processing, and spreadsheet capabilities in one cellular device.

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Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

27. 3210
> Manufacturer: Nokia
> Release year: 1999

Long battery life, durability, and pre-installed cell phone games were a few reasons for the Nokia 3210’s success. The phone became the third best-selling phone in history.

J-P Kärnä / Wikimedia Commons

28. 3310
> Manufacturer: Nokia
> Release year: 2000

The 3310 was one of several budget phones manufactured by Nokia. The phone’s simple features and affordability made it one of the best-selling cellular devices in history.

Courtesy of Samsung

29. Uproar
> Manufacturer: Samsung
> Release year: 2001

The first cell phone with MP3 capabilities, the Samsung Uproar could hold about an hour of music.

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g.ravagnani / Flickr

30. Sanyo SCP-5300
> Manufacturer: Sprint
> Release year: 2002

The Sanyo SCP-5300 was the first cell phone to combine a built-in camera that had a 0.3-megapixel capability. By comparison, the latest iPhone has a 12-megapixel capability.

David Mueller / Wikimedia Commons

31. T-Mobile Sidekick
> Manufacturer: Danger Incorporated
> Release year: 2002

With AIM messaging, a QWERTY keyboard, and stylish design, the T-Mobile Sidekick — originally known as the Danger Hiptop — appealed to younger consumers.

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Haxorjoe / Wikimedia Commons

32. 1100
> Manufacturer: Nokia
> Release year: 2003

The Nokia 1100, one of the Finnish maker’s many no-frills phones to be successful abroad, sold an estimated 250 million units worldwide, more than any other mobile phone in history.

Slowacki / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

33. 6600
> Manufacturer: Nokia
> Release year: 2003

The Nokia 6600 smartphone was the company’s most advanced model at the time, featuring a camera with video capability, Bluetooth, and a memory card reader.

Courtesy of BlackBerry

34. BlackBerry 6210
> Manufacturer: Research In Motion
> Release year: 2003

The combination of instant email access and a full QWERTY keyboard in a phone helped the BlackBerry 6210 dominate the business world and influence the smartphones that followed.

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Jon Sullivan / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

35. Treo 600
> Manufacturer: Handspring/Palm
> Release year: 2003

The Palm Treo 600 had a camera, MP3 capability, Internet access, a unique OS that enabled more than 13,000 applications. The OS influenced many of the smartphones that followed.

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

36. Razr V3
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 2004

Only a couple of years before the flip phone became outdated, the Motorola Razr V3 left its mark. With an emphasis on aesthetics, the phone was made from aircraft-grade aluminum and sold approximately 110 million units over a four year period.

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Wikimedia Commons

37. PEBL U6
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 2005

Flip phones dominated the early 2000s, and the Motorola PEBL U6 was one of the most popular. It sold roughly 15 million units worldwide and helped Motorola maintain the second largest market share of any phone manufacturer at the time.

Courtesy of BlackBerry

38. BlackBerry Pearl 8100
> Manufacturer: Research In Motion
> Release year: 2006

With a camera and media player, the BlackBerry Pearl was one of the first offerings from BlackBerry — called Research In Motion at the time — to target consumers outside of the business community.

Carl Berkeley / Wikimedia Commons

39. iPhone
> Manufacturer: Apple
> Release year: 2007

It is difficult to overstate the impact Apple’s iPhone had on the industry. Though many were skeptical of the iPhone upon its release, the device pioneered both technology and style that redefined industry standards.

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Akela NDE / Wikimedia Commons

40. T-Mobile G1
> Manufacturer: HTC
> Release year: 2008

Also known as the Dream, the T-Mobile G1 was the first smartphone to utilize the Android operating system. While the G1 was never as popular as the iPhone, the Android operating system is far more popular than Apple’s iOS is worldwide.

Yaroslav2017 / Wikimedia Commons

41. Pre
> Manufacturer: Palm
> Release year: 2009

With a slideout keyboard, the Palm Pre was an ideal choice for those looking for smartphone capabilities but who disliked the touchscreen keyboards of iPhones and some Android models.

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Shritwod / Wikimedia Commons

42. Droid
> Manufacturer: Motorola
> Release year: 2009

The Motorola Droid was released in 2009 and marketed as an alternative to the iPhone. The Droid was the first phone to offer turn-by-turn navigation powered by Google Maps.

mama_mia / Shutterstock.com

43. iPhone 4
> Manufacturer: Apple
> Release year: 2010

When the iPhone 4 hit the market in 2010, it featured more than 100 improvements over its predecessor, including a better camera and higher screen resolution.

hetstyle / Flickr

44. Galaxy S3
> Manufacturer: Samsung
> Release year: 2012

The Galaxy S3 was Samsung’s flagship smartphone in 2012. The phone helped propel the Korean company ahead of Apple in the global smartphone market.

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Zeynep Demir / Shutterstock.com

45. iPhone 6
> Manufacturer: Apple
> Release year: 2014

The iPhone 6 is the latest addition to Apple’s nine-year old iPhone family. It is also the best-selling version of the popular smartphone to date, selling more than 71.5 million units in its first three months alone.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

46. iPhone X
> Manufacturer: Apple
> Release year: 2017

Apple’s smartphones continue to get smarter. The company’s latest release, the iPhone X, now comes with Face ID. The unlocking system allows the iPhone X to scan a potential user’s face, unlocking for the owner and keeping others out.

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Courtesy of Huawei

47. P20 Pro
> Manufacturer: Huawei
> Release year: 2018

The Huawei P20 Pro offers three different cameras, long battery life, and a display quality that matches up with its tech rivals. With sleek, modern releases like the P20 Pro, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has overtaken Apple as the world’s second leading producer of phones, behind Samsung.

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