The company behind the world’s first commercial handheld mobile phone has certainly come a long way over the decades. From brick phones big enough to tear your pocket to smartphones with rotating keyboards,Motorolahas dabbled in everything.
Since 1983, when the Dynatac 8000x - aka the granddaddy of cellphones - burst onto the scene, Motorola has been making a wide range of mobile phones, messaging phones, clamshell phones, fashion phones, andsmartphones.
Browsing through old pictures of Motorola devices, whether or not they were good products, is bound to open up a nostalgic floodgate for most people.
We’re taking a look back to show the most iconic, interesting and unusualMotorola devicesfrom over the years. Which of these do you remember?
Motorola DynaTAC (1983)
You’ve seen this before. If you haven’t, you’re probably 12.
It became the first cell phone to be offered commercially and is fondly remembered as an iconic part of the 1980s. When it was released, it was also considered a symbol of wealth and futurism. Now it looks extremely archaic and almost comical, but this phone heralded the future of the modern smartphone.
Motorola MicroTac (1989)
The MicroTAC was the smallest and lightest phone available at the time and made headlines across the world.
It was truly portable and ended up in just about every music video throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Motorola StarTAC (1996)
Ah, the “It” phone. The StarTAC was the successor of the MicroTAC, a semi-clamshell phone that had been launched in 1989. The StarTAC was among the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption.
Motorola D160 (1997)
This holds the title of being one of the first PAYG (pay-as-you-go) phones available in the late 1990s.
If you couldn’t afford the StarTAC in the 1990s, then you got the D160. It’s also remembered as being one of the first PAYG (pay-as-you-go) phones.
Motorola I1000 Plus (1998)
The i1000plus seemingly had it all. it was a phone, two-way radio, pager, web browser and more.
The i1000plus was the world’s first handset to combine a digital phone, two-way radio, alphanumeric pager, Internet microbrowser, e-mail, fax and two-way messaging.
Motorola Timeport (1999)
The Motorola Timeport is one of several candybar phones manufactured by Motorola.
Its design included an organic electroluminescent display, which wasn’t fully colour but included classic greens, blues and reds of the time. The Timeport made its name by working on GSM 900MHz, 1800MHz and 1900MHz networks meaning it could work in the UK, most of Europe and the United States too. This phone was the executive’s phone of choice at the time.
Motorola V100 (1999)
Described as a personal communicator as well as a phone, the V100 propelled the two-way messaging craze. Vibration alerts, mono ringtones and a funky design made this one pretty popular.
Motorola Timeport P7389i (2000)
Motorola and Cisco Systems supplied the world’s first commercial GPRS cellular network to BT Cellnet in the UK. The Timeport P7389i then became the first GPRS cellular phone.
Motorola V70 (2002)
The V70 certainly sported a pretty cool look. This instantly recognisable design was considered a fashion phone back in its day.
A swivelling circular monochrome panel with a neon backlight keypad and interchangeable frames made this a pretty snazzy device from Motorola. The Motorola V70 had a WAP browser, GPRS capabilities, a vibrating mode and voice dialling.
Motorola T720 (2002)
This phone was customisable with swappable back and front plates. Which made it fairly unique at the time.
Often described as a cross between the StarTAC and V60 series, the T720 notably included customisation features. Owners were able to change the phone’s front and black plates to customise and personalise the look of their device.
