F My Mobile Phone History - Babi a Fi

My Mobile Phone History

Not too long ago my mum came across her old Nokia, complete with the shiniest, goldest, most awful fascia you've ever seen. It got me thinking about my own phone history, which resulted in this post...

My Mobile Phone History (pinnable)

Philips C12
Philips C12 handset

My nan gave me this phone after winning it at bingo in 2000, back when I was 11 years old. I was so excited in spite of the fact I had nobody to stay in touch with on it. (Even if it was only 12p a text!) You could get your daily horoscope on it though, so we all used to check it out on our way to school.


Nokia 3310
Nokia 3310 handset

Next up was the trusty Nokia 3310, the phone of choice for seemingly everyone. It had cool clip on covers available at every market stall (like that gold monstrosity which kicked this post off) and Snake. Who didn't love Snake?


Sagem myC-3b
sagem myc-3b handset
Mine was silver and blue.

Things were simple back in the day (2004) and I was a huge fan of this phone because of the way it fit in my hand, and the satisfying snap it made when you opened and closed it. Others in my circle were not as impressed and it was dubbed 'the toilet seat' because of its shape...


Nokia 7373
Nokia 7373 pink phone

Part of Nokia's L'Armour fashion collection, the 7373 was released in 2006 boasting a 2 MP camera, 8x digital zoom, and a fabric tag sticking out the side of it. I loved this phone for the way it swiveled - round, and round, and round - though I was most upset when a character on Eastenders got it not long after I did, and turned it into a must have chav accessory. Still, I have very fond memories of the shutter noise it made when taking pictures, and the tinny sound of its speakers as it blared out my ringtone of choice (the Alvin and the Chipmunks theme tune).

Nokia 7373 Selfie
Taking a selfie before it was even called a selfie!


Samsung ???
samsung slide handset
I'm not sure which handset it was exactly, but similar to this one.

It was a big shift going from the weighty 7373 to the next one as it was pretty flimsy feeling. It did have a nice clicking sound when you slid it up and down though, and certainly looked more grown up. It didn't have much online capability though, and by the time my contract was coming to an end I was really feeling its limitations.


BlackBerry Bold 9780
BlackBerry Bold 9780 handset

Getting my first BlackBerry felt like I'd truly joined the working world. I spent all my time texting, emailing, and tweeting with that beautiful QWERTY keypad.


BlackBerry Bold 9790
BlackBerry Bold 9790 handset


I was never as much of a fan of the 9790 which I got in 2012. I mean, sure, it was more powerful, but it just didn't feel as substantial as its predecessor. It also had a touch screen which I didn't like. What was the point when you already had the track pad? By this time every man and his dog was switching to the all touch screen experience but I'm a) stubborn and b) have a weird dislike of touchscreen typing.


BlackBerry Passport
BlackBerry Passport handset

I upgraded to the BlackBerry Passport in April this year. It's taken plenty of flack, I know, but the large screen makes it so useful for work which is what BlackBerry has always been about. With this you don't need a laptop or even a tablet, it can handle agendas, spreadsheets, and is still just about small enough to fit in a clutch bag. ...And it has a keypad. I really hate typing on a touchscreen, so now the Passport is all that stands between me and one of those Doro phones your nan has.


It was weird seeing pictures of something I'd spent so many hours of my life looking at. Each one brought back memories of what I was doing when I owned that particular phone, who I was texting - who I was hoping was going to text me - and how each one provided me with new ways to fidget and ignore the world around me...

How many phones have you had? And which one was your favourite?



For more on the history - and evolution - of the mobile phone, check out the awesome timeline by Tiger Mobiles. Lots of great trivia there! :D









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29 comments:

  1. Oooo old school phones! My first phone was a Nokia but I can't remember which one! IT as the bulky one and it had Snake on it. Completely addictive game that was! And yes 12p a text - how expensive was having a phone back in the day! My current phone is an iPhone 5S - yeah I'm part of the Apple cult )oh the shame!). It was hubby's old phone which I inherited.

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    1. I was so addicted to Snake - so many family gatherings were spent hiding somewhere trying to beat my high score! :) They really were - and the character limit was really small too. I can't wait to tell my daughter about how deprived we were, with our tiny texts, while she's there with her super duper apple next gen whatsit... Hehe.

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  2. I loved the cover I had for my old Nokia phone.

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    1. Some of them were really nice - my mum's choice, not so much... ;)

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  3. It's so funny to look back on those first MASSIVE mobile phones!!! I had a gigantic one first for emergencies only. Then I had flip phones until I moved to Ireland. I have had iPhones since the iPhone 3 & haven't looked back. I have the 6 plus now & love it. The big screen is the best - I totally know where you are coning from on that one! x

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    1. It's crazy to think how much they've advanced in such a relatively short time! When I think about the tiny tiny screen on my first phone, vs the huge one on my current phone - and yet at the time I was so impressed with that first phone. I wonder what they'll be like in another 15 years! :)

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  4. nice post some of these old phones ring a bell

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  5. I don't know how many phones I've had! I got my first when I was 11, some kind of Sagem monstrosity! Since then I've gone through Nokias, Sony Ericssons, Blackberries and settled on a Sony Xperia M2 at the moment. The only one I avoid like the plague is iPhone!
    My friend had the 7373 and we were all so jealous of its prettiness!

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    1. That does sound like a lot! The last few years I've been really loyal to BlackBerry, but it'll be interesting to see what's out next time I'd due an upgrade! I was so proud of the 7373 at the time - I thought it was so cool! :)

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  6. I have no idea what my first phone was but it was back in 1994 and it was HUGE. It had a sad end though, my ex left it on top of the car when he put the baby in his csr seat and it was never seen again. Other phones habe died when being dropped on the floor, put in the washing machine and lost in pubs.
    Thanks for linking up, Tracey xx #abitofeverything xx

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    1. That is quite an impressive catalogue of endings! I've been quite lucky - touch wood - though there have been lots of near misses!

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  7. Yes, absolutely everyone has had a nokia 310, haven't they? (Except my mum!) I'm impressed you can remember them all - I'd have no hope! #KCACOLS

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    1. I could remember what they looked like, but I didn't have a clue on most of the names - the Sagem drove me mad because it took me so long to google! :)

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  8. Love this post but its making me feel old. I had my first mobile at the grand old age of 21, some massive Nokia thing I imagine that a boyfriend gave to me but I was too embarrassed to use as no-one else seemed to have one! I loved Blackberry for a long time but am now using the iPhone 6. I'm sucked in by all things Apple! x #KCACOLS

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    1. I'm always worried that Blackberry really are going to go bust and bow out, then I'll have no choice but to either give in and go apple - or else have to get one of those 'easy to use' phones from the supermarket if I want a keypad! lol.

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  9. OH the days of cell phones and how fast and much they have changed from their beginning which wasn't too long ago. I love this memory lane post. lol Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. #sharewithme

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    1. I love looking at the history of consumer electronics - some things change so fast, and others hardly seem to change at all!

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  10. I'm going to gloss over the fact I was 20 in the year 2000...ahem! I had the popular Nokia 3310 and remember thinking it was the best phone ever. And I actually used it as a phone! Now I have an iPhone 6 and use it for everything but phone calls :) #KCACOLS

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    1. Haha, so true - I never make make / answer a call if I can help it! :)

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  11. My very first mobile was a motorola one with an aerial!!!!! way back when I was 17 or 18 in erm about '98 or '99 ish! Is it odd that I have only recently made the switch to a full touchscreen phone? I was a big fan of Blackberry and it's keypad but I have a windows phone now! #KCACOLS

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    1. It's not odd at all (but then I am a bit biased!) ;) I had a huge old phone with an aerial for a fancy dress party once - I was a yuppy. Oh, the sophistication! :D

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  12. Oh wow you have had lots of mobiles! I don't even remember how many I have had!! But I remember that my first one was a motorola one which I liked it but then I swifted to Nokia. I also used to have a Nextel which I'm not sure if you have heard of them here in the UK as I think they were more well known in America. They are basically mobile phones but with a radio installed so the cost was really low and it was so much fun to use the radio with your friends! I've never had a Blackberry before. Obviously now I only like the touchscreen ones!! Thanks for sharing this at #KCAKOLS. I love reading this post. I'm always so happy to have you here especially because you know how to spread so much love here!! Love it! :-) xx

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    1. I've never heard of the Nextel before but they sound really fun! The thing with all these phones is that I never remember actually making many calls with any of them - it's all about the games, and wasting time with them, lol.

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  13. I was never a big cell phone person. My first one was a blackberry for work because they forced it on me. When I was expecting our son, we finally joined the rest of the world with cell phones. Thanks for partying with us on the #FridayFrivolity party. I hope you will join us again next week.

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    1. I'd be lost without my phone these days, especially the ability to just google anything!

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  14. I had that third one, the Nokia, tooooooo! And I also loved the "snap" of the flip phone... I miss that snap... ;P

    I'm fascinated by the Blackberry Passport... I don't know ANYONE who has a Blackberry any more and haven't even ever seen that thing advertised. It's all iPhones and Androids here... is it pretty common in the UK??

    And none of the latest generation smart phones over here have keyboards... I was pretty irritated when I had to transition to the screen keyboard, but there really wasn't a choice... all that to say, I think I'm little jealous of that passport hehehe.

    Thanks for linking up at #FridayFrivolity! Pinning and tweeting! :D

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    1. PS Your first selfie is the CUTEST. Love it!!

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    2. The snap was awesome - though probably not for anyone who had to sit next to me! Quite a lot of people still have ordinary blackberries as work phones, but I don't know anyone else with a passport. When I'm out and about with it people often ask me what it is because it is so big and unusual looking! I absolutely love it though. I hated having to carry a tablet around just to read agendas, now I can just do everything on my phone. :)

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