There’s something incredibly satisfying about the way phones were designed back in the early 2000s. Whether it’s the nostalgic effect for all of us 90s babies, the plethora of buttons, or perhaps the fact that you never feared dropping them down a flight of 500 stairs, those little (sometimes not-so-little) devices sure made our childhoods more interesting.
So let’s use a metaphorical time machine to look back on some intriguing designs that make us look at our reflective touch-sensitive blocks of technology with a sense of disdain, with us asking, “Where did it all go so wrong?”
If you’re curious to learn more about modern-vintage (not sure if that’s a category, but it should be!) phones, make sure to check out this Bored Panda article right here. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites, dearest Pandarandas, and let’s get this phone rolling!
#1 My Grandma Gave Me This Old Phone Today As A Housewarming Gift. It Quacks When It Rings. I Was Terrified Of It When I Was A Child, So That’s Why She Gave It To Me
Image credits: Cas_PFantasy
#2 Siemens Xelibri 8
Image credits: oldcellphone
#3 Nokia 7600
Image credits: yajyay
#4 Motorola Aura A Premium Phone
Image credits: expressservicespb
#5 Nokia N-Gage
Image credits: cr8ivecodesmith
#6 Samsung Serenata
Image credits: mobilephonecollections
#7 Nokia 7380
Image credits: cellphonemuseum
#8 I Finally Got An Xperia Pureness
Image credits: DayOlderBread16
#9 Samsung Sph-N270
Image credits: HaoieZ
#10 Siemens Xelibri
Image credits: techformative557
#11 My Old Phone Has This Unusual Button
Image credits: Nawozane
#12 Two-Faced Samsung
Image credits: jis_vintage
#13 Newgen C620
Image credits: cellphonemuseum
#14 Toshiba G450. The Weird Little Phone
Image credits: Quantum_Dynamo
#15 Samsung Serene
Image credits: RyJones
#16 Virgin Mobile Lobster 700tv
Image credits: benwood
#17 This 20-Year-Old "Modern-Looking" Landline Phone
Image credits: fractionalhelium
#18 Fly Z300
Image credits: elena_arashi_valina
#19 Found My Old Cell Phone With Optional Clip On Chatboard For Easier Texting
Image credits: ontbijtkoek
#20 Motorola Startac Rainbow
Image credits: telefoniusati
#21 Motorola Flipout Mb511
Image credits: techformative557
#22 Simens SK65
Image credits: proedross
#23 Cool Old-School Crank Phone At My Work
Image credits: toottootputtoot
#24 The Nokia 3650. First Phone With A Video Camera. It Helped Establish Symbian Os In The Consumer Market
Image credits: _ITX_
#25 This Old Jaguar Still Has Its Car Phone
Image credits: Armistarphoto
#26 2003 Nokia 6810. An Unbelievable 71 Individual Buttons On A Handset This Size
Image credits: solid_state_vintage
#27 Motorola V100
Image credits: oldgadgetzreborn
#28 My Beautiful Motorola V50. In The Dark Gray Color, Which I Think Looks Best. Great Phone, Very Small, Compact, Has Great Range, And It Still Works On 2g Networks
Image credits: old_flip.phone_collector
#29 I Found So Many Old Phones While Decluttering My Grandpa's Office
Image credits: Trizocbs
#30 Nokia N-Gage
Image credits: L. Cohen
#31 Ericsson T60d. Limited Edition Spider-Man Version
Image credits: D_G599
#32 Samsung Dual Flip
Image credits: Lucy Langford
#33 The Year Was 2010. I Was Being Handed Down This Phone From My Brother. Suddenly I Felt Like The Coolest Kid In the Class. This Is My LG KU990i
Image credits: TDIRocker99
#34 Introducing My 2009 Samsung Gloss Sch-U440
Image credits: WholeGrainCamper
#35 Sierra Wireless Voq
Image credits: Don MacKinnon
#36 During The '90s Motorola Service Centers Offered "Express Exchange" Loaner Phones To Customers While Their Phones Were Out For Repair
Image credits: Sfphiynckxs
#37 Motorola 308 Startac
Image credits: cellphonemuseum
#38 This Is The Google Sooner, Which Is A Prototype For The First Android Phone. It Runs A Super Early Version Of The Android
Image credits: JustinN2002
#39 Nokia 7700
Image credits: Shritwod
#40 Nokia E90
Image credits: _ITX_
#41 I Still Like My Nokia 9110 Communicator
Image credits: espero
#42 Nokia 5510
Image credits: Ben Wood
#43 Motorola StarTac 6000e
Image credits: Sfphiynckxs
#44 My Old Mobile Phone Is Cool. Samsung P300 From 2005
Image credits: sipeyskeyk
#45 My Phone's Battery And Main PC's HDD Both Started Failing At The Same Time, So I'm Relying On These Two A Lot More For The Time Being
Image credits: BowzasaurusRex
#46 Sidekick II
Image credits: LatencyVariation
#47 My Old High School Cell Phone And The Phone I Got After It
Image credits: Dropkicklover
#48 Samsung P910 TV
Image credits: cellphonemuseum
#49 Sch-V870
Image credits: Jessica Dolcourt
#50 Nokia 9210
Image credits: cellphonemuseum
