These days a mobile phone can do everything from video calling and shooting a film to paying bills and finding your way around a city. Most of this was unthinkable not too many years ago when internet on a mobile phone was limited to those extremely basic WAP websites, their cameras - if they had them - were notoriously terrible, and the screens sometimes weren't much better than a pocket calculator.
However, new research has revealed people in the UK still have plenty of nostalgia for the handsets of yesteryear, with a whopping 3 in 5 holding onto to old mobiles.
A Sky Mobile study of 2,000 adults found a lot of love for hanging on to brands that aren't quite as ubiquitous as they once were with 36 per cent of those hanging on to an old phone owning Nokia devices, and 15 per cent Motorola. The once dominant Blackberry is held on to by 9 per cent.
Samsung, which still has a huge market share in the UK, topped the poll with 37 per cent, though perhaps some of that was down to the Korean brand's iconic pre-Android handsets from the past such as the fan-favourite flip phone S300 from 2003, or those trendy slider devices like the D900.
However, many of the devices being kept in drawers are back-ups should the worse happen to our precious, and very expensive, smartphones. Indeed, 31 per cent admitted to keeping old iPhones though anything before an iPhone 6 is very much a 'vintage' device now with updates no longer being offered so would likely either be for nostalgia or emergency calls.
As to why people have such loving feelings for old phones, the standout answer was, of course, the long battery life with 29 per cent of Brits selecting it as the main thing they miss. Those too young to remember the likes of the beloved Nokia 3310 from 2000 may be shocked to learn of its standby battery life of up to 11 days - unthinkable on a smartphone.
Though devices today are packed with the latest innovations, they are all a bit 'samey' appearance-wise too, a far cry from the funky phones of the past that would flip, slide and swivel, or even have a proper physical keyboard. In fact, 12 per cent said the satisfying 'flip' when you answered a call or hung up on a clamshell device was a feature they missed, while 16 per cent said they especially missed the simplicity of old-school devices - no having 200 apps begging for your attention with endless notifications.
Meanwhile, 11 per cent mostly missed the classic games on old devices - such as the famous Snake - and 11 per cent had fond memories of sharing a ringtone for free with friends via infrared or Bluetooth. Who can forget composing a ringtone on an old Nokia too?
With the increasing help the latest smartphones can provide us, it’s also made us rely on simple features such as a contacts list more as well. Only half of Brits admit that they know at least one phone number off by heart, yet more than half (57 per cent) will always remember a phone number from their youth – whether it’s a parent’s landline or their old best friends.
Paul Sweeney, managing director of Sky Mobile commented: “It’s fascinating how many of us Brits are nostalgic for our retro devices, but we know there’s something exciting about the moment you can upgrade to the latest handset packed with new features.”
